Stojy watches WWE 2002

[Stojy]

WWF January 2002

Top 5 Matches of the month​

WWF Undisputed Championship Match: Chris Jericho (c) vs. The Rock – Royal Rumble. (match of the month)
Number One Contenders Match: Kurt Angle vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin – January 28th, Raw
Kurt Angle vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin – January 10th, Smackdown
Street Fight: Ric Flair vs Vince McMahon – Royal Rumble
Chris Jericho and Test vs. Rob Van Dam and The Rock – January 10th Smackdown

Bottom 5 Matches of the month​

Bubba Ray Dudley w/D’Von Dudley vs. Spike Dudley w/Tazz – January 14th, Raw
Billy and Chuck vs. Kane and The Big Show – January 21st, Raw
Jazz vs. Trish Stratus – January 24th, Smackdown
Chris Jericho, Christian and Lance Storm vs. Rikishi and The APA – January 14th, Raw
Booker T vs. The Big Show – January 14th, Raw

Top 5 Wrestlers of the month​

The Rock
Stone Cold Steve Austin
Kurt Angle
The Undertaker
Chris Jericho

Bottom 5 Wrestlers of the month​

Jazz
Trish Stratus
Faarooq
Bradshaw
Chuck

 

[Stojy]

WWF Heat
February 3rd, 2002
Norfolk, Virginia

Match One
Funaki vs. The Godfather

As usual, The Godfather gets quite the ovation because everybody in the crowd is a fan of the Ho’s. It turns out the fans aren’t the only ones, as Funaki initially shows interest in wanting to spend time with the girls, as opposed to wrestling The Godfather. The Godfather hands over his escort services card because he’s legitimate now, but in the biggest heel move of the year so far, Funaki rips the card up. The Godfather is pissed and dominates the match, until Funaki manages to get some fingers in the eyes. Funaki takes over, dropping Godfather and hammering away, but Godfather is quickly back up with a Short Arm Clothesline. He sends Funaki into the corner, Ho Train connects, followed by the Pimp Drop, and by god, it feels like it’s 1999 all over again. An extended squash here, with the Ho’s getting the best reaction of all the talent involved. Godfather character never reconnected after the Right To Censor run, and funnily enough, there’s another talent on the show which was probably hurt even worse than Godfather by being a part of that faction. Anyway, this match was pretty poor and there’s no real reason to care for it. *

Match Two
Lance Storm vs. The Hurricane

These two begin with some mat wrestling, with Hurricane taking Storm down with a nifty Fireman’s Carry. The Superhero remains on top, which infuriates Storm, and Hurricane eventually throws Storm over the top rope and to the outside. After some action on the outside, they get back in and Storm attempts a Back Suplex, but Hurricane reverses and connects with a Neckbreaker. Hurricane fails to get the win here and gets another near fall, after ducking a Clothesline and scoring with a Roll Up. Storm is able to take over with a Snap Suplex, and then sends Hurricane crashing face first into the corner. Now it’s Hurricane’s turn to fight back as he lands a Headscissors Takedown. The momentum sends Storm through the ropes and to the outside, allowing Hurricane to get a high risk move on the outside. The finish comes when they get back inside, and Storm blocks a Superkick from Hurricane, only to connect with one of his own for the win. Again, not much to write home about here, a throw away Heat match, although I’m all for Storm getting a victory. Still frustrates me how little was done with him during his WWF/WWE run. *1/2​

Val Venis is out for the next match. Just to make it super clear, Val is the wrestler I was referring to earlier that was ruined by the Right To Censor. I’d argue late ’99, early ’00 saw Val on the run of his career, and he was putting on good matches with the awesome WWF mid card of the time. After joining RTC, it all went down the drain and he never truly recovered under the Val Venis gimmick. Anyway, Val gets the mic and goes with his usual gimmick here, bringing a lady from the crowd to take off his towel. He tells the lady that he doesn’t want to know her name, so she doesn’t get attached. She removes the towel, and they swap saliva to apparently give us some excitement before the next match.

Match Three
Perry Saturn vs. Val Venis

The fun and games are over once the match starts, with Saturn starting strong with a Knee Lift, and having his way with Val in the corner. After being beaten up, Venis fights out of the corner with some Clotheslines and right hands. Saturn eventually sends Val chest first into the corner and when Venis stumbles back towards the centre of the ring, Saturn gets him with a Leg Sweep. Love this because it reminds me of TOTAL ELIMINATION~! Saturn continues on the offensive, including hitting a Swinging Neckbreaker for a near fall. Saturn gets a bit cocky here and begins focusing on mocking the fans to much, and it allows Val to recover, and hit him with a Dropkick to the knee in the next sequence. Val continues to work on the leg now, taking Saturn down with a Chop Block. Saturn shows some fight, hitting a Northern Lights Suplex for the near fall, but the story here is his suddenly bad leg. Val gets back onto it after taking Saturn back down with a Drop Toe Hold, and then locks in an Indian Death Lock. And holy shit, Saturn actually taps. Did not expect that ending at all. I guess it’s a pretty basic story here though. Val found an injured limb, focused on it and used to win, but definitely the first time I’ve seen Val win a match by submission before. Despite the effort to tell somewhat of a coherent story, really not a good/interesting match. Typical Heat really. *1/2

Match Four
Big Bossman vs. Crash Holly

It’s a relief to finally have a match that feels like it has some sort of atmosphere behind it. In 2002, Crash isn’t exactly the most over babyface in the world, but Bossman manages to generate some hatred from the fans, with a few “Bossman sucks” chants thrown in. Crash tries to stick and move in the early stages, until Bossman catches him with a knee in the mid-section, allowing him to hammer away with right hands. Crash’s speed continues to give Bossman trouble, until Crash plays to the fans, giving Bossman time to drop him again. After hanging Crash on the middle rope, Bossman does his awesome slide to the floor and land a right-hand move. I thought that was the coolest thing ever growing up, and apparently, I still like it now. Bossman gets back in the ring and continues the assault, blatantly choking Crash in the middle of the ring. Bossman just casually sits on Crash for the pin, in what felt like a weird spot, but Crash reverses into a Roll Up for a near fall of his own. I get the idea of giving Crash a flash pin false finish, but the set up felt very unnatural. Once they’re both back up, Crash tried to build some momentum but runs straight into the Bossman Slam, which sees the end of this one. A long running squash more than anything, neither man is doing anything overly exciting at this point and it’s likely to stay that way. Match wasn’t good. *

Match Five
Scotty Too Hotty vs. Tajiri

It’s an all babyface main event here so let’s see how we go. The match is very back and forth in the early stages, with Tajiri landing a Suplex, but Scotty able to quickly come back and send Tajiri falling to the canvas. They then take turns with Dropkicks, with Scotty landing the more traditional version, whilst Tajiri then lands a Dropkick to the back of Scotty, to set up a Standing Moonsault. Tajiri unleashes some of his vicious kicks in the corner of the ring, but Scotty gets a Tilt A Whirl Backbreaker out of nowhere. Scotty blocks Tajiri’s Handspring Elbow, and both men end up down after a Double Clothesline. The finishing sequence sees a lot of reversals, or blocks starting with Tajiri missing a Moonsault. Scotty tries for his Bulldog, but Tajiri blocks and tries the Tarantula, but Scotty escapes before it’s locked in. Scotty goes to the well again with the Tilt A Whirl, but this time Tajiri gets out and scores with a Roll Up, which gets the three count. Not much here in terms of match as well, but definitely glad that Tajiri is the winner, with much more upside for him. *1/2 ​

A pretty meh episode of Heat if I’m honest. Thankfully the show is short.

 

[Stojy]

WWF Raw
February 4th, 2002
Las Vegas, Nevada

In what makes perfect sense after the way Smackdown went off the air, Michael Cole interviews Ric Flair to start the show, asking him whether he’s having second thoughts about his decision to not sell his stock back to Vince McMahon. Flair admits having second thoughts all week long, but he stands by his decision. When Cole further pushes about the ramifications of his actions, Flair admits that if Vince does bring in the NWO, there will be a huge problem. Can’t fault this really, makes sense to open up with something like this after the events of Smackdown.

We then bet the pyro and ballyhoo of the standard opening to a WWE show, as the commentators hype a tag team match tonight which will be Chris Jericho and The Undertaker vs. Stone Cold and The Rock.

Triple H comes out to the ring in his wrestling gear, and he doesn’t look to be in a good mood. A furious Triple H talks about how Kurt Angle made two mistakes on Smackdown when he tried to break his ankle, Kurt didn’t get the job done and he screwed with the wrong guy. Triple H calls Kurt out by telling him to bring his “Olympic Ass” out here, but Booker T makes an appearance instead. Trips is annoyed at this as Booker basically calls Triple H a loser and tells him he’s going to beat his ass on national TV for the second week in a row. Eh, solid enough way to set up an opening matching, I guess.

Match One
Booker T vs. Triple H

Triple H is a bad ass in case you hadn’t realised by now, and he’s pissed too. Trips meets Booker halfway down the ramp and beats him up on the outside, including sending him into the steel steps. After this, he gets Booker into the ring and the match officially begins. Whilst this is short and sharp and gets nowhere near the time last week’s match on Raw got (if I remember correctly), it actually makes the match more enjoyable. Both guys weaknesses are hidden well, as we just have big move after big move and a bunch of cool exchanges in what is basically a sprint. In the end, Trips looks for the Pedigree, but Booker escapes and goes for the Scissors Kick. Hunter moves and this time he’s able to nail the Pedigree. The sequence was smooth so props to these guys, and as Triple H goes for the pin, Kurt Angle breaks up the count, ending this match in a DQ. Fun for what it was, and I guess at least they only semi squashed Booker, and didn’t completely bury him by completing the three count. **1/2

After the match, Kurt Angle pounds on Triple H in the corner, before finishing him off with the Angle Slam.

In the back, Triple H is FURIOUS, stomping through the halls like only he can, looking for Kurt Angle. He finds one of the WWE officials and asks them, and they tell Triple H that they saw Kurt heading to Vince McMahon’s office. Maybe could have done with something else here before we got more Triple H so soon. I get he’d be furious after Angle got the better of him, but I would have preferred some selling of the beat down.

Now we head to the women’s locker room where Stacy Keibler and Torrie Wilson look hot… Oh and they also argue over some bullshit lipstick, until Billy and Chuck appear showing off their surely hilarious calendar. They gloat that it blows the Divas calendar away, but Torrie and Stacy don’t seem very impressed. Stacy says that her and Torrie could do all of those poses better and it ends with Billy and Chuck challenging the Divas to a pose down on Smackdown. They also mention that they’ll be able to pose with the Tag Titles after they win them tonight. I’m probably in the minority here, but whilst I thought Billy and Chuck sucked in ring as a team, the gimmick had potential even if they weren’t to be taken to seriously. Harmless fun, and I’m all for a pose down.

By this stage, the angry Triple H has found his way to Vince McMahon’s office, but the door is blocked by some police officers. Triple H can’t get through and is even ANGRIER, when Kurt Angle decides to open the door and stick his head out. With a sly grin, Kurt says he just finished speaking to Vince, and they will meet at No Way Out with Triple H’s title shot on the line. I’m not the biggest fan of Rumble winners defending their title shots. Still think these two have plenty of heat here though so I’m okay with how this has all come about, would just prefer it without the stipulation.

Match Two
Bubba Ray Dudley w/D’Von Dudley and Stacy Keibler vs. Rob Van Dam

The story in this one is quite simple; they play on the number’s advantage. RVD continuously looks a class above, but the numbers continue to allow Bubba to get back into the contest. D’Von distracts Van Dam for Bubba to get the jump early, then when Van Dam makes a comeback and hits Rolling Thunder, Stacy distracts the ref so D’Von can get involved again. This time the interferes get caught and the ref ejects them both. Bubba still manages to hit the Bubba Bomb and have his short period of domination here. Van Dam bumps great like usual and there’s a really cool moment where Bubba calls for D’Von to get the tables, but he isn’t out there. Love the idea of Bubba instinctively expecting D'Von to be there by his side as he is in basically all their other matches. In the end though, RVD makes a pretty basic comeback and finishes things off with the Five Star Frog Splash. Not a lot of time and nothing special *3/4

After the match, Van Dam’s celebration is interrupted because it’s time for another Shattered Dreams production. Awesome bit of Goldust dialogue as usual, where he tells Van Dam then when you wish upon a star, your dreams come true. Goldust admits that RVD is the rising star that he’s had his eyes on, but Van Dam’s dreams are about to be shattered. As Van Dam looks confused, Goldust comes from behind and beats the shit out of Van Dam, including nailing him with the Shattered Dreams, and an awesome Falling Neckbreaker. RVD is generally pretty good at this time, and Goldust’s promo work to build to this moment has been brilliant. Colour me excited for this angle.

In the back, Triple H is STILL FURIOUS, as he yells to Stephanie McMahon Helmsley about what Vince McMahon and Kurt Angle have concocted. Steph has a smile on her face which pisses Hunter more, so he yells at her about it. She stays calm and says that she has news which will change Triple H’s world which she will announce later tonight. I know Steph is supposed to be the bitch that everybody hates, but this isn’t the first segment between them where Triple H has just come across like a verbally abusive/shit husband when barely provoked. Probably not the exact dynamic they are going for with their babyface right?

Michael Cole tries to interview The Undertaker but ‘Taker just bullies him, making sure that Cole is scared of him. He’s glad that Cole fears him because that shows a sign of respect. ‘Taker then segues into talking about The Rock, saying lately The Rock has shown him disrespect, but tonight, ‘Taker would teach him the meaning of the word. After he’s done with The Rock, he’ll teach Austin as well. ‘Taker’s tag team partner for later tonight, the WWF Undisputed Champion Chris Jericho then appears and after sucking up to ‘Taker, and tooting his own horn, Jericho says if ‘Taker has any problem teaching Austin and Rock about respect tonight, Jericho has his back. The Undertaker doesn’t seem all that impressed with his partner as we fade away. Solid enough promo to hype tonight’s main event.

WWF Tag Team Championship;
Elimination Match:
Spike Dudley and Tazz (c) vs. Billy and Chuck vs. The Acolytes

I know for a majority of their more recent history, the WWE hasn’t really given a toss about their tag division, but this getting less time than the Trips/Booker match which barely hit four minutes irritates me. Not entirely sure why you’d look at booking an Elimination match in such short time. A terrible decision and one that’s always going to struggle to make the talent losing look like anything less than easybeats. I’ve also really enjoyed Spike and Tazz’s title reign so it’s a little sad to see them not get a little more time to put on a show here. The APA are probably actually involved in the action and the match for probably less than one minute when Bradshaw gets eliminated by Billy thanks to the Fameasser. Wow. The APA look like a worthy team now, don’t they? Pretty generic fun stuff after the first elimination, and despite the lack of time, Spike and Tazz manage to carry Billy and Chuck to something that somewhat resembles fun. The earlier elimination comes back to bite Billy and Chuck though, with Bradshaw tripping Billy when he hits the ropes, allowing Spike to get the Dudley Dog for the victory. Wish this had more time because by the end, I actually think Spike and Tazz could have dragged this into something good. Still, I feel like I’ve sounded quite negative, but this was far from offensive. **

It’s time for more follow up from the big events on Smackdown as Vince McMahon makes his way out to the ring. Vince says last week on Smackdown, Flair was supposed to do the right thing, but the lying SOB didn’t. McMahon doesn’t understand what explanation Flair can have for this, but they are all about to find out. Vince calls Flair out, and it doesn’t take long for The Nature Boy to make his way down the ramp. Before Flair can talk, Vince jumps the gun and says he thinks he knows why Flair backflipped. He thinks Flair is selfish and wanted to keep himself in the spotlight. Flair shoots down that reason, so Vince asks if it was because of Austin. Again, Flair says it wasn’t. Vince is confused as he stops guessing and asks Flair why then? Ric says it was because of the fans. Vince says the fans don’t know what’s good for them, but that’s all fine because now nobody can stop these men from coming into the WWF. In an EPIC moment, Hollywood Hogan, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall images appear on the titantron, and Vince confirms that these three men will be coming and there will be No Way Out. Another really nice building block for the eventual debut of the NWO. Trying to forget about what becomes of this angle, it’s looking really positive with the way they’ve made it feel like such a huge deal to this point.

In the back, we get a STOOGE’S appearance as Pat Patterson and Gerald Briscoe ask Arn Anderson about the NWO. Arn tells them that he knows firsthand what the NWO is about because they are poison and to powerful. Arn believes Flair made the wrong call on Smackdown. Adding to my thoughts on the above, Double A disagreeing with Flair’s judgment is a really big deal considering their history. Nice little touch.

Match Four
WWF Intercontinental Championship Match
William Regal (c) vs. Rikishi

As is usual with Regal during this time period, I love his facial expressions as he looks offended as hell. Why? Because referee Teddy Long decides to search him for brass knucks before the match begins. Again, relatively short and not having a definitive finish probably hurts this one, but what we did get to see was quite fun. His head wrench, his stiff strikes, Regal is just so savage on offense that it’s hard not to enjoy, and whilst Rikishi is nowhere near as consistent as he was in 2000 in the year 2002, I thought he had a fine enough performance here. Eventually, Rikishi gets on top and ascends the ropes to go for the Bonzai Drop, but Regal rolls out of the way. Finally, the champion then gets his hands on the brass knucks, but before he can do anything with them, he gets Speared to the mat by Edge. Regal wins by DQ. Really fun well it lasted, my favourite match of the night so far. **3/4

After the match, Edge continues to hammer away on Regal until a whole bunch of people come to drag the furious Edge away from Regal. As this happens, Rikishi recovers and decides to give Regal the Stinkface.

Over at WWF New York, we see the new WWF European Champion Diamond Dallas Page having a fun time with his fans.

The Coach interviews The Rock and asks him about a big announcement that he apparently has to make. The Rock says that his announcement has nothing to do with the NWO, his announcement has everything to do with The Undertaker. He talks about how two weeks ago, The Undertaker cost him the WWF Undisputed Championship so now at No Way Out, he gets to go one on one with The Great One. I guess that’s a challenge from The Rock. The Rock talks about how he doesn’t care if ‘Taker is mad about Rock talking about Maven eliminating ‘Taker from the Rumble (uh oh, he did it again), because he’s not The Undertaker’s Champion, he’s The People’s Champion. From there, Rocky sings some Viva Rock Vegas, hits the If You Smell and leaves. I love a Rock promo, and this was fun but surely, he could have mentioned a little more about the main event tag match that isn’t all that far away on tonight’s show.

Stephanie McMahon Helmsley comes down to the ring and she’s all happy and smiles just as she was earlier in the night. Her dick of a husband can’t hold her down, damn it. Anyway, smile still on, Steph starts by calling out Triple H to be here for her announcement. Triple H makes his way out to the ring and surprise, surprise, he looks irritated again. Stephanie talks about how her interview with JR gave her an epiphany, because their marriage is falling apart, and they need to do something to change that. Next week on Raw, they will renew their wedding vows. Triple H screws up his face and shoots the idea down pretty quickly. Despite Hunter calling it the stupidest idea he’s ever heard; Stephanie goes on a long tirade about them proving their love. Again, Triple H shoots it down, and now Steph brings on the water works. She starts crying and says he HAS to do this for her. He doesn’t like that, losing his shit as he says no again because not everything is about her. Triple H looks set to leave the ring but then a panicked Steph blurts out that she’s pregnant. That’s apparently why she’s been so moody lately, but she knows how bad they both want this, which is why they should renew their vowels so they can be a family. After Triple H pauses, building the anticipation, he runs and hugs and kisses Steph, all happy that he’s going to be a dad and seemingly happy to renew the vows next week as well. Let’s not get into the whole wrestling and wedding angle fixations. I dislike them, and I’m not looking forward to the segment next week, however the one thing I think they got right here, is Triple H is happy and content with Steph in the end. He really has come across like a dick so far, which does him no good. Now that he’s doing the right thing and looking a little more like a nice guy/loving husband/willing father, at least when shit goes down, there’s some reasons to feel some sympathy towards him. So yes, I hate this direction, but I still think there was a step in the right direction in terms of Triple H’s attitude towards Steph.

After a break, we see a quick glimpse of Triple H and Stephanie leaving the arena, and Trips is holding all the luggage because his baby momma’ can’t be straining.

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

I was probably a little surprised with this match. No, it wasn’t a barnburner and it’s not going to win any match of the year awards, but I thought this was a solid effort from both. After missing the Crossbody and landing on her injured hand, I thought the selling of that from Trish throughout was class. Probably some of the best we’ve seen to this point from the women. Meanwhile, as much as I dislike Jazz, it even seemed like she was trying extra hard tonight. She was solid enough on offense, and in the end, she wins the title cleanly with the Fisherman’s Buster. Nothing overly amazing, not by a long shot, but better than what I expected based on what I’d seen previously. *3/4

Match Six
Chris Jericho and The Undertaker vs. Steve Austin and The Rock

The match begins with Jericho and ‘Taker taking their time on the outside, and Austin/Rock get frustrated, meeting them out there and starting a fun brawl all around ringside. Of course, eventually the match settles down, and this was okay, but I can’t help but be a little disappointed. Jericho and ‘Taker kind of eventually isolated Austin after the faces started on fire, and it was solid enough, I guess. In this match, Austin had none of the usual energy and fire that he brings, and to be honest, looked a far cry from the world beater that he was for 2001. Austin his able to fight back after some half assed work on his shoulder and he makes the hot tag to The Rock. All hell breaks loose not long after this and we end up with Rock/Jericho in the ring and Taker/Austin brawling on the outside. I guess it’s smart to pair the opposite with each other so that the PPV matches still feel somewhat fresh once they come along. The Rock managed to land a Rock Bottom, but the ref isn’t around to count the three due to a previous ref bump. ‘Taker manages to grab a pipe from his bike and nail The Rock with it, and then whilst Austin is distracted with ‘Taker on the outside, Jericho gets the pin. Not bad but not at the level I thought it would be either. Slightly disappointing finish to the show. **1/4

A pretty mediocre show. Outside of the NWO stuff and the brief Goldust/RVD segment, there wasn’t much on this show worth viewing. I was tired of Triple H by the end of it and have no interest in the wedding next week. The main event wasn’t what I thought it would be, and any other match that had potential did not get enough time to shine. ​

 

[Stojy]

WWF Smackdown
February 7th, 2002
Los Angeles, California

We open the show with The Rock who clearly isn’t in a good mood after being hit with a lead pipe by The Undertaker on Raw. The Rock talks a little about how The Undertaker wants respect, and Rock says he has respect for him. After the pipe shot though, he doesn’t care about The Undertaker’s match with Maven tonight, he’s calling him out right now. Booker T interrupts (he seems to be making a habit of this) and says he can’t stand a suck up with a big ego. Booker talks about how he beat Triple H’s ass last week and now tonight, he’ll make an example of The Rock. Rock tells Booker he can be in a movie called ‘Rock Whoopin Your Ass All Over Smackdown’ and that’s enough for Booker to run down and start a brawl, which turns into an impromptu match. The Rock calling out ‘Taker makes sense, Booker just kind of being inserted into this jobber to the stars roll makes me sad. Especially to the point where he’s basically doing the same thing, he did with Triple H twice here. At least mix up the formula or something. Both these guys are enjoyable on the mic though, so whilst I don’t agree with the booking, the segment itself was still fine.

Match One
Booker T vs. The Rock

A by the numbers match here, nothing overly exciting. After the war of words, of course they begin with some basic brawling, and after landing a Hook Kick, Booker takes the action to the outside. Booker sends The Rock into the barricade into a few times where they end up back in the ring. There’s a heated back and forth run to the finish, however after Booker nails the Scissors Kick, he opts for the Spinaroonie. This ends up being his undoing as he leaves himself open for the Spinebuster and The Peoples Elbow. The Rock wins. This was maybe a little better than their match they had earlier in the year, but it still wasn’t great by any means. Come to think of it, I don’t think these two have had that one really good match together, even during their series in 2001 where both men were running hot. The Rock is still running hot, but I do wonder if the awful booking has made Booker a little demotivated because he looked a shell of himself here if I’m honest. Hopefully that doesn’t last to long. **1/4

In the back, Stephanie McMahon Helmsley introduces Triple H to her doctor. The doctor shows the sonogram and talks about how the baby is as should be at eight weeks. Steph says that they already had their problems but now they know the baby is the most important thing. She then states that they are renewing their vows on Raw. I can’t wait for this to be over, at least they aren’t building towards the vow’s ceremony for over a month or something crazy.

Kurt Angle makes his way to the ring wheeling a baby’s pram into the ring. Kurt starts off by talking about how he’ll be going to WrestleMania now that Vince McMahon has given him the match, he deserves against Triple H at No Way Out. Angle talks about how he believes Stephanie will make a great mum, but can you imagine Triple H as a dad. Kurt says that Triple H is already stupider than the foetus, basically making references to say Triple H isn’t human. He goes on with it, saying that he knows the baby will look like, and he pulls out an ape teddy. To make this even better, there’s a large, fake nose stuck to the ape’s face. Kurt says he has a gift for the baby, and he pulls out some bananas, and even epically says that they’re that damn good. What an awesome time to pull out that line. A furious Triple H eventually comes to the ring and throws Kurt from the ring, before throwing the pram after him. The only good thing to come out of this fake pregnancy angle. A fun performance from Kurt here for sure, and it’s not all just humour, as it still adds head to this high-profile feud.

Match Two
Edge, Rikishi and Rob Van Dam vs. The Dudley Boyz and William Regal

A pretty formulaic approach here (as with most WWE tag matches to be fair), with the faces starting off on fire, with RVD doing some damage, before making the tag to Edge. Edge then also rolls through some offense, before Bubba and Regal illegally attack Edge to give the heels the advantage. Edge is isolated momentarily, before making the hot tag to The Big Kish. As expected, all hell breaks loose, and it ends up with everybody in the ring hitting big moves on each other. Rikishi manages to land the Stinkface on Bubba Ray, but he leaves himself vulnerable to get caught with the 3D. The heels win. This was okay but I thought it could have been better. Considering their standing in the company at the moment, it seemed really strange that Van Dam had such a miniscule role, Edge was the face in peril, and then Rikishi is the guy getting the hot tag and turning the match. Just felt strange and unnatural and I felt like it hurt the match some, but overall, these guys clearly tried really hard. **1/2

After the match, Edge continues his angry gimmick, attacking and beating the hell out of Regal on the ramp, only for The Dudleyz to stop him. The Dudleyz pull him back and hold him, allowing Regal to land a brutal brass knucks shot to the mid-section. Edge goes down and a furious Regal applies the Regal Stretch.

A quick promo for the NWO airs, including mixing in images of Hogan and comparing him to Adolf Hitler. Holy shit, this was awesome, but man would they probably get cancelled today for this.

The WWF Undisputed Champion Chris Jericho is out next, and he brags about beating The Rock for the sixth time. He says you’d think after that, people would respect Jericho, but no, instead everybody just thinks that Stone Cold is going to kick his ass at No Way Out. A fired-up Jericho says well screw that and screw No Way Out, Jericho wants to fight Austin tonight so he calls him out. Instead of Austin actually coming out, it’s Will Sasso from Mad TV doing an Austin impression. Sasso does his schtick but compliments and talks up Jericho which obviously annoys the fans. Sasso says his watch tells him it’s time to admit that Jericho is the better man, and that’s the final straw. The real Stone Cold comes down and Jericho immediately escapes the ring, staying away from Austin. Austin insults Sasso quite a bit, until Jericho attempts a sneak attack. It fails though and Austin sends Jericho to the outside. Jericho gives up for the night and then Austin does his beer drinking bit with Sasso, leading to Sasso getting a Stunner. I don’t think we needed this here tonight after the Angle/ape segment which was heaps better. I’m probably even more sour on this because I think the impression is genuinely bad and unfunny. I guess it adds more heat to Jericho/Austin but meh, didn’t completely feel this.

In the back, Al Snow pumps up Maven for his match tonight with The Undertaker. Snow makes sure to tell Maven he’s proud of him, probably just making sure he says it before Maven dies tonight.

In a different area in the back, Chris Jericho is approached by Ric Flair. Being the face authority figure, Flair has to get back at Jericho for what he did just before, so he lets Jericho know he’ll be facing Triple H in a non-title match tonight. Flair trying to get at Jericho and be the face authority figure is fine in theory, but booking your World Champion against your Royal Rumble winner in a singles match for free only a month or so away from when they are supposed to headline WrestleMania is awful booking. I know kayfabe wise, the ‘Mania main event could still change based on No Way Out results, but we all know the way this pans out. Terrible decision making here.

Match Three
WWF Hardcore Championship Match
The Undertaker (c) vs. Maven w/Al Snow

As The Undertaker makes his way out, Al arms Maven with a trash can lid, and Maven swings for the fences with it, however it’s only a matter of time until ‘Taker slaps it away and gets to work. From here, it’s brutal ‘Taker domination, and the only times Maven even looks like he’ll get in some offense is when Snow interferes. To be fair, that’s probably how it should be to. Even after copping a ring bell shot from Snow, ‘Taker is still able to bounce back up and land a Big Boot to send Snow tumbling to the outside. With no further support, Maven is in trouble as ‘Taker locks in the Dragon Sleeper, but The Rock comes from nowhere and hits ‘Taker with a chair. Rock follows up with The Rock Bottom and Maven gets the pin for the HUGE upset. I actually thought ‘Taker was a good Hardcore Champ when he actually defended the title. His brutal style worked here, and Maven’s average but at least he tries. **

Okay folks, it’s time for the highly anticipated pose down seeing Billy and Chuck go up against Stacy Keibler and Torrie Wilson. The King is hosting this as well for those who care. Billy and Chuck take off their robes to reveal hilarious bathing suits, whilst the girls show off in bikinis. It’s obvious who is winning this before it even starts to be honest. Anyway, they go through three poses each, and Billy and Chuck get laughed at, whilst Torrie and Stacy win because they look hot, and a majority of the fans are male. Afterwards, Torrie and Stacy celebrate in what is a feel good moment I guess. A nothing segment as expected, but I would have liked this to somehow do something for Billy and Chuck. Maybe The APA could have made an appearance or something? I don’t know.

In the back, Triple H walks into Vince McMahon’s office and confronts him. Triple H talks about how he injured himself putting money in Vince’s pocket. He doesn’t understand why Vince hates him so much and after all this, Trips comes back, wins the Rumble, and now he’s still trying to take Triple H’s title shot away. Vince looks to respond but Hunter cuts him off and tells him to shut up. Trips basically says that despite everything, Stephanie still loves Vince and would love for Vince to walk her down the aisle on Raw. McMahon says he’ll think about it, and Trips also tells him to think about the fact that Vince will never get near their kid. Vince then tells Triple H to think about his match tonight now being a Handicap match against Angle and Jericho. This was great. Triple H again putting his differences aside with Vince to try and do the right thing for his wife. He looks like a good husband again here, which is how he needs to look for people to feel empathetic later. After my rant earlier, I’m also glad they switched away from the one on one Jericho/Triple H match.

The Coach interviews The Rock in the parking lot and asks if Rock and The Undertaker are even now that The Rock cost him the Hardcore Title. Rocky says that they aren’t even because ‘Taker cost The Rock a shot at the Undisputed Title. The Undertaker then attacks the Rock, culminating with a Chokeslam on the hood of the car, and an even better Tombstone on the roof of the car. ‘Taker says that The Rock’s right, they are not even. This was a fun attack, although after reading a similar review elsewhere, I saw somebody mention that the driver just stayed in the car the entire time which was weird. Heaps of fun though.

After the break, EMT’s are working on The Rock to put over the damage done by The Undertaker’s attack.

Match Four
Handicap Match
Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle vs. Triple H

All these guys can be good performers and nothing was overly wrong with this, but I just think it’s the booking that irritated me here. In doing so, it brought down the enjoyment of the match for me for sure. Chris Jericho is the Undisputed Champion, Angle is also one of your top guys, and I just felt like Triple H got WAY too much in here. It just felt to close for my liking. Triple H started out on fire, which is typical and fine, but eventually Angle snaps off a German Suplex to get control. Jericho and Angle even double team Triple H some, really putting over their numbers advantage. The end sequence with Triple H making his comeback is where I got annoyed. I just thought Triple H looked to good. He drills Jericho with a Spinebuster, locks in the Walls of Jericho, and then he goes ahead and applies the Ankle Lock to Angle. Trips then almost has the Pedigree hit three times, twice on Angle and once on Jericho, only luckily the other one is able to make the save. In the end, Angle gets the Angle Slam for the win, but this was a little more competitive than it needed to be. I will say that Kurt pinning Triple H pre-No Way Out is the right call, it makes it look like he’s a legitimate chance to take the number one contender spot at No Way Out. Or does it after how much help he needed from Jericho? I’m probably over analysing here. Not the biggest fan of the booking, but a solid enough performance from all involved. **1/2

Solid show but far from perfect. Wrestling was consistently okayish throughout. My main concern is that the three big in ring segments were all surrounded by comedy. I don’t mind comedy in wrestling, but I don’t like it being the main aspect of the show. The only one that hit the mark was the Angle one, Jericho’s and the pose down not so much. Maybe if they all hit, I wouldn’t be complaining.​

 

[Stojy]

WWF Heat
February 10th, 2002
Los Angeles, California

Match One
Lance Storm vs. Tajiri w/Torrie Wilson

Storm takes Tajiri down in the early stages with a Side Headlock Takedown, which he then transitions into some arm work to keep Tajiri grounded. Eventually Tajiri battles to his feet and he’s able to throw away Storm with a Hip Toss, which he follows up with a Dropkick. Pausing on the action for a moment to also say Torrie is looking fine at ringside. Backing into the corner after the Dropkick, Storm explodes with a Roll Up, but Tajiri rolls through and then lands a Basement Dropkick! In control, Tajiri is then able to take things to the opposite corner and he locks in the Tarantula! As awesome as the Tarantula is, it’s not a legal move so the referee ensures that Tajiri breaks before the count t of five. Tajiri then nails one of his famous kicks to Storm on the apron. He then goes for a Suplex, but Storm lands on his feet, before landing a kick of his own to send Tajiri crashing outside of the ring. The Canadian rams Tajiri’s head into the apron before bringing him back to the ring. Back inside, Lance hits a Clothesline and then gets a Headlock! Tajiri fights back up before hitting a kick to the head, followed by a Standing Hurricanrana. This gains a near fall and Tajiri soon follows up with both a Catapult and a German Suplex. Tajiri then goes for his Handspring Back Elbow, but lands on his feet as Storm moves out of the way. Storm’s good enough to quickly hit Tajiri with a Powerbomb, and immediately follows up with the Half Boston Crab, which is enough for Tajiri to tap. These two are capable of better, but considering this is an episode of Heat, I’ll take this over most of what gets served up. **
​

Kurt Angle is in a limo, apparently on his way to WWF New York, which he notes if full of weirdos. So yeah, Angle is the special guest for Heat this week and he’s lost somewhere in the city because the limo driver doesn’t know how to get there.

Match Two
Spike Dudley vs. Test

Full of arrogance, Test shoves Spike to the mat to show off his strength, and he quickly drops down to his knees to tease Spike for it too. Spike retaliates with a hard slap to the face of Test, before quickly running from the ring. As Spike slides back in, with Test chasing him, Spike uses his pace to catch Test with a Baseball Slide Dropkick! Spike heads to the apron and leaps off onto Test, but Test catches him and drops Spike over the crowd barricade. With the advantage, Test gets the action back in the ring, where he hammers away on Spike in the corner. Test then whips Spike into the other corner, charging in to follow up with a Corner Clothesline! Test Scoop Slams Spike, before attempting an Elbow Drop but Spike rolls out of the way. Spike starts a comeback with his unique Missile Headbutts to the, erm, mid-section of Test. Catching Test off guard, Spike looks for the Dudley Dog, but Test shrugs him off. Test looks for the Big Boot, but Spike ducks and bounces off the ropes, running into the Big Boot from the other side. That’s enough for Test to get the win. Not a good match. *1/2​

Kurt Angle walks into a random store, asking for directions on how to get to WWF New York. It’s a punk clothing store, and Angle seems to annoy the workers there, so they give him directions to Harlem.

After the break, Kurt Angle is apparently now in Harlem, asking a couple of black men for directions. He tries to talk music with them and rap a little, and he greets them by saying “words to you and your mothers”. The men basically brush him off, sending him to speak to a woman named Strawberry. Angle is appreciative to the “brothers”, before leaving. This segment was hilarious from Angle.

Match Three
Scotty 2 Hotty vs. The Hurricane w/Mighty Molly

The two babyfaces shake hands to show their respect for each other to start the match. After some reversals, The Hurricane nails a Monkey Flip to gain the advantage. I should probably also mention the Jacqueline as a referee experiment continues here, as she’s the ref for this match. Hurricane eventually Clotheslines Scotty to the outside. As Scotty gets back to his feet, Hurricane lands an awesome Somersault Senton onto Scotty. Michael Cole might be getting his flowers now in 2024, but he kind of mumbles his way through the high risk move, not entirely sure what to call it. It was that bad that it caught my attention. Inside of the ring, Hurricane heads up to the top rope, but Scotty is able to crotch him on the top. Hurricane stumbles off the ropes, and gets dropped, allowing Scotty to nail him with The Worm. After it lands, Hurricane smartly rolls to the floor. When he gets back in the ring, he finds himself in position to land The Eye Of The Hurricane, but Scotty reverses into a Roll Up with a bridge and that’s enough to get the win. Way to short to become anything meaningful. * ​

After the match, Scotty and Hurricane remind us that they are both still friendly with each other, and in a fun moment, they end up dancing together.

We’re back in Harlem where Kurt Angle seems to have found Strawberry. Strawberry turns around when they approach, and it turns out Strawberry is a man. He’s actually a male prostitute with a red wig. Angle is freaked out by it all, but the limo driver decided he’d rather spend time with Strawberry than leave with Kurt Angle. Angle gets the keys from the limo driver and calls them freaks. More harmless fun here.

After the next break, we get another Kurt Angle segment as now he believes he’s closer to WWF New York. Angle approaches an old woman on the street and asks where WWF New York is, and she tells him it’s right behind him. Once Angle realises, the lady does the Austin “WHAT” routine on Angle. Kurt is rude to her and when he leaves, she calls him a jackass. Another solid Angle comedy routine really.

Match Four
Christian vs. Kane

Yeah, so Christian losing a lot lately and it looks like that will most likely continue here, considering he’s facing Kane of all people. Christian tries to attack Kane before the bell rings, but Kane almost immediately tosses Christian into the corner and hammers away with right hands. Kane then Gorilla Presses Christian, doing his best Ultimate Warrior impersonation. Kane then lifts Christian back up by his throat, before Clotheslining him over the top rope and to the outside. Christian manages to trip Kane on the outside, causing him to crash face first into the steel steps to change the course of this match. Christian sends Kane back inside, before landing a Shoulder Block from the top rope to score a near fall. Christian heads to the outside and grabs himself a steel chair, but the referee manages to convince Christian to drop the chair. This time wasting allows Kane to recover and he decks Christian with a right hand. Christian gets up into the corner and Kane runs at him, but Christian gets his boots up. Christian then climbs up to the top again, but this time Kane catches him and throws him off the top rope. Kane immediately follows up with a Tilt A Whirl Slam! The Big Red Machine then heads up to the top rope to connect with his Flying Clothesline. Somehow, Christian manages to get his hands on the chair and hit Kane across the back without the ref seeing. He follows this with a Reverse DDT, but still only gets a two count. In typical fashion during this time, Christian starts throwing a temper tantrum, so Kane sits up, and Chokeslams Christian out of his misery. That’s enough for the three count. A little more competitive than I thought it would be and both did a decent job, but it’s Heat, so no super efforts given. ** ​

We get another Kurt Angle segment as now he has finally made it to WWF New York. He starts off by making fun of the New York people in attendance. He then talks about how he is happy for Triple H and Stephanie to renew their wedding vows. He continues to cut his promo, going along with the “WHAT” chants from the crowd. Angle says No Way Out will be the worst day of Triple H’s life as Angle will be the one to go to WrestleMania to wrestle for the WWF Undisputed Championship. It seems like maybe Angle was going to go a bit longer, but the Heat theme music started, basically cutting Angle short. A shame, because these Angle segments were a highlight for me.

Heat is so up and down but with the entertaining Angle segments, main event and opening match, this was a strong version of Heat. More of this would make me happy.

 

[Stojy]

WWF Raw
February 11th, 2002
Jonesboro, Arkansas ​

Considering tonight’s show is going to mainly surrounding the Triple H/Stephanie McMahon Helmsley saga, the show opens up with a video hyping their vow renewal. Pretty funny that they show Steph all dolled up in a gown and stuff but that’s clearly from when she was prepping to marry Test. According to the label given to their marriage in this video package, getting drugged and taken through a drive through wedding chapel by your dad’s enemy makes for a storybook wedding. Awesome.

Of course, when the commentators are hyping up the show, they go crazy about the renewal of the vows tonight. They also sell the upcoming Bikini Contest between Stacy Keibler and Torrie Wilson, but they don’t promote the fact that their WWF Undisputed Champion Chris Jericho will be in action tonight. Priorities in order it seems.

The Undertaker’s out first tonight to follow up on his brutal attack on The Rock at Smackdown. The ovation he gets here is huge considering he’s ‘supposed’ to be a heel. I mean, he’s gotten favourable reactions still in a bunch of places, but this ovation really stood out as being extra positive. He acknowledges the ovation to another pop, before stating that he’s glad that the fans respect the man who finally shut The Rock’s mouth. Safe to say the positive response from the crowd is gone after that, well played, Deadman. Once he starts getting booed, Taker claims that this is the type of backwoods response he’d expect from these drunken hillbillies. After insulting the crowd, he gets back onto The Rock, basically stating that the beatings will continue until The Rock respects him. Co-Owner of the WWF, Ric Flair interrupts and he seems a little confused. He says in his opinion, ‘Taker was one of the most respected wrestlers of all time until he tried to end The Rock’s career on Smackdown. This pisses ‘Taker off, as he asks Flair who the hell, he is not to respect him, and Flair tells him he owns half the company. An annoyed Undertaker says that when the real boss (obviously referring to Vince McMahon) gives him the word, he’s going to bust Flair’s ass. Flair says until that happens, Flair can tell ‘Taker that The Rock will be at No Way Out and tonight, Undertaker will face Stone Cold. Smart to follow up on ‘Taker’s big attack on The Rock here, and this obviously sets things in motion for much bigger things between Flair and ‘Taker as well. This segment get a tick from me.

We then get another really cool NWO video package which references them showing up at No Way Out. The fact that it’s set to “The End”, which is one of my favourite WWE themes ever makes it that much better and suits the angle perfectly.

Match One
Chris Jericho vs. Edge

This match was solid but far from perfect. Edge started off on top, attacking Jericho as he’s performing his entrance theatrics in the ring, and eventually Jericho takes over. It doesn’t take long for Jericho to focus on the taped-up ribs of Edge, who is selling Regal’s brass knucks shot from last week. Jericho’s work on the ribs is completely fine, including an awesome rib breaker. My issue is that Edge’s selling of the ribs throughout the match was poor. Outside of right after direct contact, it’s like he forgot the ribs were taped up, barely even pausing to even put a hand over them on occasion. This hurt the match. They did have a fun finishing run with some cool reversals and stuff, however they kind of botched the ending here for me. Jericho hits Edge in the ribs with the title belt which is fine if the referee is distracted or knocked out, but he literally does it right in front of the ref, and there’s no DQ call. Very strange and the Breakdown finishes things off. This one was okay, but it had its faults also, mainly due to Edge. **1/2

Michael Cole interviews Vince McMahon in the back and asks him why he’s here tonight, which is a strange question to ask one of the owners of the company. Anyway, Vince says maybe he’s here because he likes hogs, maybe he’s here because he’s the owner, or maybe he’s here because this is the last Raw before the NWO appear at No Way Out. Cole no sells the NWO stuff and asks if he’s going to walk Stephanie down the aisle tonight. Vince basically just says maybe.

Triple H is all dressed up in his tuxedo and sees a replay of Smackdown on the monitor where Kurt Angle shoved him into Stephanie, causing her to fall down in the process. Trips is pissed off but Steph reassures him that the baby is fine and tells him to calm down. She tells him he promised not to fight tonight, and he admits that he promised not to fight Kurt tonight, but he does have something to take care of.

Match Two
Goldust vs. Rikishi

I’m a Goldust/Rhodes fan so this was a lot of fun for the two or so minutes that they actually got before the booking came about. They go back and forth for two minutes until Rikishi looks for the Bonzai Drop, but Goldust gets his knees up. Goldust sets Rikishi up for Shattered Dreams, but before he can connect, Rob Van Dam nails Goldust with a Flying Sidekick off the top rope for the DQ. This was fun well it lasted. **1/4​

After the match, RVD/Goldust brawl until Van Dam sends Goldust straight into a Rikishi Sidekick. Goldust then smartly bails. This is all solid progression for me. Makes sense for a fiery RVD to want revenge after the attack/reveal from Goldust last week.

In a random hallway in the back, Arn Anderson finds Triple H and gives him a package that apparently showed up at Ric Flair’s office for him. Here…We…Go…

The Coach interviews Stone Cold and asks him about his match with The Undertaker, and whether it could impact Austin before his WWF Undisputed Championship match with Chris Jericho at No Way Out. Austin talks about how he was excited initially but he got nervous when he found they are in a dry county. He then does his “WHAT” shtick whilst listing all the different alcohol he bought before coming here so he could drink all night long. He then says he and the fans are going to disrespect all over ‘Taker’s ass tonight and on Sunday he will win the title.

We see singers rehearsing ahead of the big vow renewal later tonight.

Match Three
Kurt Angle vs. The Godfather w/Hos

A squash match. Kurt attacks Godfather as he’s helping the ho’s out of the ring, and in relatively quick fashion, Kurt gets the Ankle Lock on for the easy submission victory. I guess if there is a guy I like to dominate in a squash, it’s Kurt Angle. *1/2​

After the match, Angle briefly beats on The Godfather again before grabbing himself a microphone. Kurt says that whilst today is supposed to be Triple H and Steph’s big night, he believes Stephanie McMahon Helmsley can do better. Kurt does have a vow of his own to make tonight though, he’ll kick Triple H’s butt and make him tap at No Way Out so he becomes the number one contender for the Undisputed Title at ‘Mania.

We get another NWO promo, this one showing clips of the finger poke of doom and some of the other mayhem they caused in WCW.

Triple H returns to his locker room and asks that everybody else in there except for Stephanie leaves. He then tells her that he had to go get something before pulling out a massive diamond ring. As he hands over the ring, he tells her he’s been meaning to give her the ring for awhile.

As Stone Cold is making his way out for his match, Chris Jericho attacks him from behind and puts a nice beating on his back, before applying the Walls of Jericho. Referees and what not are forced to pull Jericho away as The Undertaker now heads towards Austin to start the match with a significant advantage.

Match Four
Stone Cold vs. The Undertaker

Well, it’s safe to say this one isn’t exactly the highway to hell in terms of something to be excited about. ‘Taker has the advantage in the early stages after Jericho’s attack, only for Austin to come back with some brawling and a Thesz Press. ‘Taker takes back over with a Flying Clothesline, before they head to the outside and trade some blows, including ‘Taker getting sent into the steps. Back in the ring, ‘Taker gets back on top and looks for the Tombstone, but Austin escaped and hits a flash Stunner out of nowhere. As Austin crawls over and makes the cover, Jericho comes via the crowd this time and breaks up the count to end the match in a DQ. Considering the guys involved, the lack of care, lack of hype, and lack of energy in performance from the two guys made this one pretty disappointing. *1/2
​

After the match, Jericho looks ready to hit Austin with one of the title belts, but as he charges, Austin drops Jericho with a Spinebuster. It takes The Deadman to get involved and drop Austin with a Big Boot to allow Jericho to then be able to land the originally intended title shot. In a bit of a fun moment, Jericho has some beer before smashing Austin with the can, and the cooler, before pouring beer over Austin.

We see clips of during the break, where Chris Jericho immediately got a limo and left the arena to get out of dodge.

Match Five
Booker T w/Test vs. Tazz w/Spike Dudley

The two go back and forth with basic brawling until Tazz starts throwing Booker around with some of his awesome Suplexes. Booker fights back and is eventually able to land the Scissors Kick, but he takes to long to celebrate and perform the Spinaroonie. This allows Tazz to come from behind and lock in the Tazzmission. In what I thought was actually a really smart move from Test, he fakes getting into the ring, which causes Spike to get onto the apron. With the referee distracted by Spike, Test actually does get in and he drills Tazz with the Big Boot. This is enough for Booker to get the win. This was fine for what it was, and I enjoyed the intricacy of Test’s well planned out interference. ** ​

At WWF New York, The Dudleyz talk about how much better Stacy Keibler is than Torrie Wilson, and they say those two meeting in a Bikini match is just going to be embarrassing for Torrie. Bubba Ray then wonders why The Dudleyz haven’t given a tag team title shot at No Way Out.

We get another NWO video package, this one focusing on all the epic spray painting they have done over the years.

Match Six
Bikini Match
Stacy Keibler vs. Torrie Wilson

I know this isn’t very of the times of me but if anybody was wondering, both these women looked damn good in their bikinis. Stacy is donning yellow and pink, whilst Torrie rolls with a nice little aqua number. As you can probably imagine with these two, the match is pretty basic, with slaps and terrible offense until they begin the dreaded pinfall reversal sequence to show off their bodies some more. In the end, after a hard slap to the face, Torrie runs at Stacy, who avoids her and gets a School Girl pin for the victory. Eh, I’m not rating this one because it was whatever the hell it was.​

Triple H still has the package that Arn Anderson delivered earlier but he’s still yet to open in. Stephanie is with him and she’s complaining about not hearing from her dad so it looks like he won’t be walking her down the aisle. Triple H doesn’t care because the night is about them. The two then share a kiss before Steph disappears to get dressed.

We now see Mr. Perfect playing chess against the US 1999 Amateur Champion. Mr. Perfect cheats when his opponent is distracted, removing some pieces from the board which allows him to get the win. Epic Mr. Perfect move, loved this.

Match Seven
Christian vs. Rob Van Dam

This got about six minutes to shine which is pretty decent time for a mid card match on a weekly show in this era. Christian got the jump early by running out and attacking RVD as he posed to the fans towards the end of his entrance. Of course, Van Dam fought back, but I was rather surprised to see that this looked like a bit of an off night for Van Dam. He landed a little awkwardly or barely hit/missed some of his high impact kicks/high risk moves throughout, so he just seemed a little sloppy. This was still solid though and he was good outside of a few missteps. In the end, Christian hits a Reverse DDT for a near fall, and then throws his temper tantrum. I thought the ending was pretty cool as Christian is throwing himself around on the canvas during his tantrum, he manoeuvres himself into perfect position for RVD to land the Five Star Frog Splash. That’s all she wrote to end a solid match with is easily the match of the night. **3/4​

As RVD prepares to leave the arena, Goldust appears on the titantron and says RVD’s attack earlier tonight was a matinee, but he should fear the featured attraction at No Way Out. This is the big time and RVD will go toe to toe with…. Goldust.

Arn Anderson finds Triple H for the second time tonight to tell him that Linda McMahon has been calling Ric Flair’s office constantly, trying to reach Triple H.

After the commercial break, Triple H receives a phone call from Linda McMahon. Linda tells Triple H that there’s a video tape in the package that she sent him. As soon as she received it, she forwarded it on to him. Trips plays the tape and it shows the doctor from earlier tonight doing a travel commercial, showing that he’s actually an actor, which Linda confirms. Triple H looks shocked which turns to fury and admittedly he does a decent job with his own acting here, whilst Linda apologised and confirms that Stephanie isn’t pregnant. Triple H is furious as he apologises as well before hanging up.

Stephanie is showing off her dress to the singers, before Vince McMahon walks in and forces everybody to leave. Vince compliments her and says he won’t forget everything she’s done to him, but damn it, she’s his daughter and she’s a McMahon so he will walk her down the aisle. Obviously Stephanie is really happy now.

It’s renewing of the vows ceremony time, folks. In typical sports entertainment fashion, Triple H makes his way to the ceremony with his heavy, rock song entrance music playing. I’m sure that’s what everybody uses to walk into their wedding. Triple H has a pleasant, fake smile on his face the entire time also. Vince and Stephanie do their walk next and one thing I saw pointed out in a review I read somewhere is that on commentary, The King says it’s like deja vu. But that doesn’t really make a lot of sense considering how the dodgy wedding of Triple H and Steph actually went down. As the minister runs through their bit, the crowd have their fun with “WHAT” chants. I’m not going to go into incredible detail but Steph does her vows, and then Triple starts and says he sees her now for what she truly is… “A no good lying bitch”!!! Awesome pop for that as Triple H yells at her for playing with his emotions and lying about being pregnant. He says even he wouldn’t do that. He goes on to say that everything about them has always been about her, but now this marriage is over. Vince is furious with the disrespect for his daughter and tries to make a move, but Trips easily drops him. As with all WWE weddings, the set gets torn apart now as Triple H goes nuts, before hitting Vince with the Pedigree. Stephanie confronts Triple H now, yelling at him, but Trips pie faces her, throws off his wedding ring and storms off. Stephanie looks damn vengeful to end the show. I hate these wedding segments in general, but I guess this one did what it needed to. As much as I disliked the whole fake pregnancy angle, I'm grateful it only lasted a week.

Not a good show. Not a lot of hype for No Way Out, with the exception of the awesome NWO video packages, the PPV felt like an afterthought to the Triple H/Stephanie saga. The worst part is their drama isn’t enjoyable over.

 

[Stojy]

WWF Smackdown
February 14th, 2002
Little Rock, Arkansas ​

The show starts off with Vince McMahon and Stephanie McMahon Helmsley making their way to the ring arm in arm, seemingly reunited in their joint hatred for Triple H. Vince talks about how despite everything that happened between them, Steph is still daddy’s little girl, and he’ll always stand by family in a crisis. Vince admits that Steph lied about being pregnant, but people lie every day, and he calls all the audience liars as well. Vince states that Triple H unforgivably struck them both down, so he will pay the price at No Way Out and lose his Undisputed Title shot to Kurt Angle. There’s truly No Way Out for Triple H. Stephanie claims that Triple H forced her to lie by never paying her attention, so she went and tore up all their happily married photos. She goes on and says she destroyed his video tape collection of his matches and previous matches he’s studied. She vows to make his life a living hell. Vince McMahon says that hell will start tonight when Triple H teams up with Maven to take on Kurt Angle and The Undertaker. Stephanie also promises to give Triple H a special Valentines Day gift before the end of the night. I guess this was okay in terms of a response from the McMahon after the failed vows ceremony. Triple H has just recently been put in a Handicap match by Vince, so allowing him a partner (even if it is Maven) hardly feels like some severe punishment though which irks me a little.

In the backstage area, Test barges into Booker T’s locker room and the two talk about how they are really concerned about Booker’s match against Spike Dudley tonight. They then burst out laughing, clearly being sarcastic douches. Test talks about how they are a chance to become three-time champs at No Way Out, and Booker T says he’ll destroy Spike tonight.

We get an epic Valentines Day advertisement for The Godfather’s escort service. Two for the price of one. Awesome.

Match One
Booker T vs. Spike Dudley

Not a lot to say about this one, simply Booker T demolishing Spike in what has all the potential to be a squash, until the end of course. Booker dominates Spike and after a Spinaroonie, he takes Spike to the top rope. Booker comes off with the Superplex, but Spike latches on to an Inside Cradle upon impact and gets the shock three count. I hate this finish, one it shows how far Booker has fallen, but more importantly, I hate how this is kind of a no sell of the Superplex. That just shouldn’t happen. Not much of a match due to the one-sided nature of it, and then an average ending. *1/2​

Ric Flair and WWF Undisputed Champion Chris Jericho bump into each other in the back. Flair summons Jericho to his office, but Jericho arrogantly says that he’s the champ so they should meet in HIS office. Flair says that since he’s the co-owner, they’ll meet in his office. I guess Flair won the pissing contest then.

After the break, Flair and Jericho are in Flair’s office and Flair shows Jericho a replay of his beatdown on Austin from Raw. Flair tells Jericho that he’s giving him the opportunity to leave the arena tonight before Stone Cold gets here. Flair is worried Austin will rip him apart and ruin this Sunday’s main event. Jericho scoffs and claims he’s not afraid of Austin, but Austin is afraid of the larger than life, living legend, Undisputed Champ. He then bags Flair for being scared when going face to face with The Undertaker on Raw, before realising that he doesn’t like Little Rock, so he’ll take the night off. Jericho’s pissed off Flair, who has decided Jericho should be on the show, so he books Jericho vs. Kane for tonight’s show. Jericho whines that’ll make him a sitting duck, and Flair says no, he'll be a larger than life, living legend, Undisputed Champion sitting duck. Solid enough segment to book another match for tonight’s show.

In the back, Billy and Chuck have gotten each other Valentines Day gifts, and they end up trading the same box of chocolates. They had the same gold wrapping paper as well just to prove their connection, I guess. Billy then tells Chuck how much he cares about him as a tag team partner, before they share a loving hug. Again, think this heel gimmick works well, if they were better in the ring, this would have been a good act.

Match Two
Billy and Chuck vs. The APA

Convince me otherwise but damn it, in a marquee moment in the history of the WWE, this is the first time that the “You look so good to me” theme is used by Billy and Chuck. What a classic. Suited their gimmick perfectly. They feed other chocolates before the match, but as they are disrobing, The APA decides they’ve had enough and go on the attack. The APA basically dominate this from start to finish, just doing bland power stuff and brawling to beat the piss out of Billy and Chuck. On the outside, Chuck manages to send Bradshaw into the steps, which allows him to hit Faarooq with the chocolates. Normally, you wouldn’t think that would do any real damage, however it’s revealed there’s a weight in the chocolate box. Awesome heel tactic to get the win as Billy sneaks on top for the cover. Benefit of this match was probably that it was too short to become unbearable, these teams don’t match up well together. I don’t think Billy and Chuck ever really get it together in the ring, and The APA genuinely don’t look like they really care to put into much effort at the moment either. Average at best. *3/4 ​

Stone Cold has arrived to the arena. Yay.

Stone Cold makes his way to the ring and it’s clear that he’s not in the best of moods after what happened on Raw with Jericho. He doesn’t necessarily looks super pissed, but just looks incredibly intense and focused. I actually really like this approach considering he is three days away from getting a title shot. Anyway, Austin reminisces on some of the good times, all the Stunners, all the beers, all the hell he’s raised, before he says he has to admit something tonight. “My name is Stone Cold Steve Austin, and I am a drug addict”. Austin’s drug of choice is the WWF Undisputed Championship. He talks about how he needs the title, and he can’t live without it. He’ll do anything to himself and Chris Jericho to get his hands on the two title belts. He talks about how he’s going to hit Jericho with the Stunner, put some stink on it, and on this bloody Sunday, Jericho will have No Way Out. And that’s the bottom line because Stone Cold said so. I thought this was awesome. The Undisputed Title is supposed to be the most prized possession, so I like Austin moving away from his humour and cutting a serious promo here. This was needed and was an awesome idea. If you look back at this historically also, Austin was DESPERATE heading for the title at Mania X7, and the way he talks about needing the title kind of tells me that a year later, he’s just as desperate. This was awesome.

Before the next match, Val Venis does his Hello Ladies bit, before picking a female fan from the crowd to remove his towel. She gets in as he tells her to come to daddy, but he decides not to let her do the towel. He removes it himself because he has a special heart on for her. I guess that’s a tick for the innuendo with heart on sounding like hard on. Oh Val. He actually has a heart stuck to his trunks, so he gives that to the girl, before convincing her to take off her bra and then they make out.

Match Three
Val Venis vs. William Regal

I maintain the opinion that Val Venis is awesome so if these two got some good time, they’d put on a really good match. Unfortunately, they don’t get that opportunity here. After being searched for brass knucks, Regal gets into the ring and is dominated by Venis, until Val looks to climb the ropes for the Money Shot, but Regal shoves the referee into the ropes. As Venis falls, Regal manages to sort out the brass knucks and gets the win. Literally this probably went for less than two minutes, and I wish this was a teaser for a big match for them down the track. I’m pretty sure it’s not, but this made me pine for it. Good well it lasted. **1/4​

After the match, The Coach catches up with Regal and asks him how he feels about defending the IC title in a Brass Knuckles on a Pole match against Edge at No Way Out. Holy shit, Regal just responds by dropping Coach with the knucks shot which I definitely didn’t expect. Before Regal can do anymore damage, Edge comes out and Spears Regal on the stage, before continuing to beat on him until referees and security drag him away.

Chris Jericho walks into his locker room and sees some cans of beer sitting there. He then hears a can open and looks to see Stone Cold standing in the corner of the locker room. Jericho looks worried as Austin demands that Jericho pick up a beer and have a drink since Jericho didn’t mind wasting Stone Cold’s beer on Raw. Austin tells Jericho they are going to do a toast and Jericho looks petrified, so he goes along with it, and Austin tells Jericho that the titles and Jericho belong to Austin at No Way Out. Austin then toasts to the champ and knocks the beer out of his hand. Jericho looked like a complete wimp here which I didn’t really like. This did absolutely nothing positive for the champ.

In the back, The Dudleyz storm into Ric Flair’s office because they want to know why they aren’t getting a tag team title shot at No Way Out. Before Flair can respond, Christian and Lance Storm barge into the office and they also want the title shot at No Way Out. Flair tells them that there will be a Tag Team Turmoil match at No Way Out to determine new number one contenders. It will feature both teams here right now as well as Albert and Scotty Too Hotty, Billy and Chuck, The APA and The Hardyz.

Match Four
Goldust vs. Tajiri w/Torrie Wilson

Not a full squash match by any means, but this is more of a Goldust showcase than a competitive match. Tajiri still gets in some offense, and gets a really close near fall, after a Torrie Wilson slap leaves Goldust open for one of Tajiri’s deadly kicks. Goldust fights back and gets a Neckbreaker for the three count. Both these guys are great, and whilst nothing special and still not afforded a lot of time, this match did exactly what it needed to. It got Goldust ready and has him looking good ahead of his match with Rob Van Dam at No Way Out. Plus, my bias for these guys probably impacts this rating somewhat as well. Sorry. **1/2​

After the match, Goldust stalks Torrie before grabbing a hold of her, but before he can do any damage, RVD makes the save. Van Dam drops Goldust with a kick, before heading to the top rope and nailing the Five Star Frog Splash. Meh, I was okay with the RVD save, but not sure he needed to dominate this exchange this definitively three days before the PPV.

Chris Jericho is walking through the arena, preparing to head to the ring for his match, when that familiar noise of a can of beer opening is heard. Jericho looks around and sees Austin just watching him from a distance.

Match Five
Chris Jericho vs. Kane

As Jericho makes his entrance and waits in the ring, he further sells his fear (ugh) of Austin, constantly looking behind him to make sure he’s not there. Being the heel that he is, Jericho attacks Kane as he’s setting off his pyro to gain the early advantage. When this strategy fails, Jericho bails, grabs his titles and attempts to leave. Kane grabs Jericho from inside the ring to stop him, but this allows Jericho to hang Kane off the top rope and follow up with a Dropkick from the top. He has the advantage for a few seconds, before Kane immediately fights back and throws Jericho from the ring. Jericho looks to leave again, but when Kane tries to stop him, this time Jericho hits Kane with one of the titles. Solid enough without being anything special. Much like what feels like every match on this show, it wasn’t really given much time to breathe. **1/4​

After the match and having done his dirty deed, Jericho looks set to leave, but Stone Cold comes out. Austin sends him back into the ring and drills him with a Stunner. Austin then has some beers and pours some on Jericho for revenge. I don’t mind this payback for Raw from Austin, but after Austin’s awesome promo earlier in the night, the complete bitching out of Jericho has soured this for me by this time.

Vince and Stephanie McMahon are in the back, and Vince is apparently on the phone with Hollywood Hogan when The Undertaker walks in. ‘Taker starts by mentioning that what Triple H did on Raw was wrong, before wondering if they like the quiet with The Rock gone. ‘Taker says he likes it and he’s going to make Rock being gone permanent at No Way Out. Kurt Angle then joins the party and starts off by apologising for knocking over Steph last week. Angle says he’s going to make Triple H suffer and he’ll break every bone in his body. ‘Taker says they’ll bring back a body part, and Steph says since it’s Valentines Day, she wants them to rip out his heart. Solid hype for the main event.

Match Six
Kurt Angle and The Undertaker vs. Maven and Triple H

Oh hey, it’s the main event and it easily wins match of the night honours from me. About time we get some good wrestling on this show. The Undertaker sends Maven into the steps early, leaving Triple H on his own for the early part of this match, but he manages to hold his own for a little while. All of the Triple H/Kurt Angle exchanges in this are really good, with Trips dominating and looking like a badass, and Kurt bumping like crazy. This is arguably the best Maven has looked so far in his career also, not only from a performance standpoint, but he’s booked relatively cleverly. He just has moments where he chimes in, such as delivering a Missile Dropkick to Angle to help Triple H out during his hot tag finishing run. He’s still clearly the weak link in the team, but he doesn’t necessarily look like he’s going to cost them the match at all times. Triple H’s hot tag was probably his best performance since his return also, as he takes on both men. As he sets up Kurt for the Pedigree, ‘Taker interrupts with the Big Boot, which leads to Maven landing his Dropkick on Angle that I mentioned earlier. ‘Taker and Maven eventually end up on the outside where ‘Taker brutally nails the Last Ride through the announcer’s table. It’s a two on one, but due to an ill-timed Clothesline from ‘Taker, Trips is able to set him up for the Pedigree but Kurt nails him in the back with a chair for the DQ. I feel like every second match with any level of main eventer is a DQ during this 2002 project at the moment. Still, match of the night by a fair distance, and props to Maven for not looking completely out of place. Good match. ***​

After the match, Angle continues to land more chair shots to Triple H, and then ‘Taker chimes in with a Chokeslam. They get Trips in position for the driving the chair into the larynx spot that ‘Taker used around this time, but Ric Flair makes the save. Flair takes the chair away, and he and ‘Taker argue, until ‘Taker decides to drop him with a Big Boot. ‘Taker sets Flair up for the Last Ride, but Vince and Stephanie run down, with Vince surprisingly stopping ‘Taker. He doesn’t want Flair finished yet, because he wants Flair to make it to No Way Out where he can see the NWO enter the WWF. He wants that on Flair’s conscience. As ‘Taker and Angle hold up Triple H, Stephanie announces that at No Way Out, she will be the Special Guest Referee in Triple H’s match against Kurt Angle. She then wishes Triple H a happy Valentine’s day, before Kurt goes to work with the chair again. I’ve been critical of the Triple H/Steph angle quite a bit, and I probably will be a lot more moving forward. I will say that this progression feels logical though. Of course, Steph is going to do all she can to cost Triple H what he wants the most (the title shot) after he embarrassed her. The only downside is I’m sure Stephanie being in the ring at all times will take away from Angle and Triple H going at it.

Austin’s promo was awesome, and the main event was good, and the rest of this wasn’t good. Nothing really hit the mark for me, and for some reason after all the video packages, all the hype for the NWO over the last month, they barely got a mention three days before their big PPV debut. A couple of gems in here but not enough to carry the show.

 

[Stojy]

WWF Heat
February 17th, 2002
Milwaukee, Wisconsin ​

It’s the evening of No Way Out, but before we get there, we’ve got one more episode of Heat to get through, folks. The show starts off with another vignette hyping up the arrival of the New World Order tonight. I’m at least happy that the NWO are getting mentioned here, after being completely bypassed on Smackdown.

We also get a video package of The Rock vs. The Undertaker feud, which will be settled tonight at the PPV.

After a break, there’s another New World Order video package. I guess they’re trying to make up for the ones they should have played on Smackdown.

After a video package hyping William Regal defending the IC Title against Edge in a Brass Knuckles on a Pole match, Lilian Garcia interviews William Regal. Regal talks about how the match stipulation is barbaric and he’s appalled and can’t believe that Ric Flair would make this kind of match. Regal denies that he uses brass knucks and mentions that people from England have thought of ways to torture people for many years. He finishes up by proclaiming confidence in victory as he puts over his power of the punch. Solid enough hype interview.

Next, we see some highlights of Stone Cold’s appearance on mad TV. No further details being put here because I don’t really care.

Now Lilian Garcia is backstage with Rob Van Dam, and she wants to know about his scheduled match with Goldust later tonight. RVD says that he doesn’t blame Goldust for being obsessed with him. He also refers to Goldust as “Goldie”, which kind of makes me sad because I always thought that came from Booker T. RVD says that he doesn’t have a problem with the way Goldust dresses. He has a problem with being attacked from behind. In an awesome line, Van Dam makes fun of the way Goldust inhales before he says his name, but then says he would know about inhaling which is obviously a reference to Van Dam being a stoner. He basically ends the interview by saying Goldust will be a loser like everybody who messes with RVD. Regal interview was better, but this was still okay.

Test is in the locker room, preparing for his WWF Tag Team title shot on the PPV, when his tag partner, Booker T walks into the room. Booker asks if Test is ready, but Test instead pokes fun at Booker, making light fun of him before losing to Spike Dudley on Smackdown. Test says that’s embarrassing. Booker admits he overlooked Spike, but they will win tonight, and Booker will be a three-time tag team champion. Honestly thought Booker would be more annoyed at Test making fun of him.

We get a recap of the Triple H vs. Kurt Angle feud, which is annoying mainly focused on the Stephanie McMahon pregnancy angle.

Another NWO video package airs.

Match One
WWF European Championship
Diamond Dallas Page (c) vs. Big Bossman

Our commentary duo for Heat was The Coach and Michael Cole, but now that the in-ring action is starting, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler take over. DDP tries to do his “good thing” mic work but Bossman attacks, for the early advantage. DDP eventually ducks a Clothesline, but Bossman gets a knee to the mid-section, before following up with right hands. DDP eventually turns the tide and traps Bossman in the corner, before climbing to the middle rope to land the ten mounted punches, but Bossman interrupts with a low blow. Bossman then gets Snake Eyes, before following up with a Powerslam. He then nails my favourite Bossman move ever, where he slides underneath the bottom rope and hits the Uppercut. And then Bossman locks in a Bear Hug. DDP eventually fights out of the Bear Hug, and runs the ropes for momentum, but Bossman stops him with a Big Boot. I read somewhere online that people might be annoyed backstage because by hitting Snake Eyes and a Big Boot, Bossman ran through the entire move list of Hogan and Nash. Thought that was amusing. Bossman also hits a Jawbreaker to stay on the attack. No Razor’s Edge from Bossman though as instead he gets a Spinebuster for another near fall. Bossman argues with the referee over the slow count. The argument escalates and Bossman ends up shoving the ref down to the canvas, and that’s enough for the ref to call a DQ. Ugh. The match was ordinary before the ending, but DDP got barely any offense in as the new champ, and Bossman loses whilst in complete control. Not sure why Bossman needed to look so good here, this should have been a showcase for DDP. Shoddy booking, and not a good match means the match rating isn’t kind. *1/2​

After the match, a furious Bossman continues on the attack, choking DDP with his wrist tape. The referee pleads with Bossman to stop, but instead Bossman gets the Euro Title, and poses with it. He then swings the title, but DDP ducks and explodes with punches, sending Bossman to the floor. As DDP goes to leave, Bossman attacks on the outside with his nightstick, sending DDP over the crowd barricade. Eh, didn’t really feel this. Surely this attack means they meet again and DDP beats him at some point.

The Heats before the PPV are mainly used to hype the PPV, so this show accomplished that with all the No Way Out video packages. Unfortunately, the one match on this show was bad, which is a bit of a downer.

 

[Stojy]

WWF No Way Out 2002
February 17th, 2002
Milwaukee, Wisconsin ​

Well, we aren’t wasting time at all here, as we start off the PPV with a bang. The NWO are straight out to the ring, and it really does feel like a monumental moment to see Hall, Nash and Hogan in a WWF ring again. The promo’s theme is basically them talking about how nobody likes them but they are here to make the company better. Nash denies that they area poison or a cancer, asks what they every did that was so bad and pleads for everybody to give them a chance. There’s a fairly nice pop when Hall drops his HEY YO. In an awesome moment, Hall says they are fans as well, and they are excited to watch the show and maybe get a few fingers with the boys. As he says this, Nash and Hall shake their heads, basically telling Hall that he can’t drink. Hogan then takes over and talks about how they want a chance, and one man gave it to them, and it was Vince McMahon. He finishes off by asking god to bless Vince McMahon. I know ‘Mania next month would be at a whole new level but the ovation for Hogan was extremely noticeable even here. I enjoyed this, starting off the show with a bang and these guys clearly weren’t being sincere here, which makes you wonder what will come next. A fun start to the show.

Match One
Tag Team Turmoil Number One Contender’s Match
Albert and Scotty Too Hotty vs. Billy and Chuck vs. Christian and Lance Storm vs. The APA vs. The Dudley Boyz w/Stacy Keibler vs. The Hardy Boyz w/Lita

The first combination we get here is Christian and Storm against Albert and Scotty. They don’t get a lot of time to work but this just further cements my love for Albert. His power stuff and work here against Christian and Storm is awesome. Even Scotty’s stuff throughout was semi decent because Christian and Storm can make anybody look good. Storm looks for a Superkick here to interrupt The Worm, but Scotty catches the foot, only for Christian to nail him with an Unprettier. Next up is The Hardy Boyz making their return after The Undertake destroyed them, and they get a really good crowd reaction as you’d expect. The Hardyz are fun, we all know this, and they do their thing in a fast-paced battle, and after a miscommunication with Christian/Storm, Jeff puts away Storm with the Swanton. At this point, I actually don’t know if The Hardyz and The Dudleyz know how to have a bad match together. They do their thing, getting more time than the rest of the falls as they should, until they have a pretty great finishing run. Jeff hits an awesome dive on the outside, whilst Stacy and Lita get themselves involved as well. In the end, Matt gets a Roll Up on D’Von to advance. We get some shenanigans afterwards with the furious Dudleyz attacking, culminating in Jeff getting destroyed with a 3D on the outside. Billy and Chuck are out next and have a huge advantage as it’s a two on one with Jeff unable to do anything. They take care of Matt in relatively quick fashion, finishing him off with the Fameasser. The final team out is The APA and based on these two teams’ dealings in the weeks leading up to this PPV, I wasn’t expecting anything good. What I got was probably worse. These two teams are horrible together. Faarooq looks like he needs to retire, and in the end, a Clothesline From Hell by Bradshaw gets the win. Everything in the build up has felt like Billy and Chuck are the next champs, and you could have always fell back on The Hardyz/Dudleyz for the sake of a good match. Instead, going with The APA here didn’t make a lot of sense, and doesn’t really have me looking forward to their title shot either. Luckily there was some decent action before the terrible final pairing. **1/4​

Ric Flair is in the back and on edge about the NWO’s arrival tonight. He makes it clear that nobody believes the crap that they said earlier, and there’s a bunch of guys in the back who would love to teach them about respect if they get out of line. The Undertaker confronts Flair now and asks if he’s supposed to be some sort of authority on respect. He wants Flair that he should be less worried about watching the NWO and more worried about who is watching him. A nice confrontation as things continue to heat up between these two.

Match Two
Goldust vs. Rob Van Dam

This was a really solid match with a great performance from Goldust to really announce his return to the company. He just takes no shit right from the get-go, with his period of domination throughout being awesome. He’s more no nonsense then we’ve ever seen him before as he does some great work on the back. I also have Goldust up there somewhere in my top punchers in the business so it’s always fun to see him deliver those as well. RVD nailed all of his awesome/unique offense in his moments throughout well, although the one thing that really bothered me here was the lack of selling from Van Dam. Goldust worked on the back throughout and then suddenly when RVD is in control, it’s like none of it even happened. The finish was still put together pretty well and executed nicely, and in the end, RVD picks up the win after the Five Star Frog Splash. A nice win for RVD but the loss in his first big match back probably shows there isn’t much for Goldust moving forward (at least in terms of a singles run). Really wanted to rate this higher for Goldust’s performance alone, but the selling brings it down a fraction for me. Still solid and worth a watch though. **3/4​

In the back, Stone Cold runs into the NWO, who are trying to continue with their act from earlier and play nice. Scott Hall even offers Austin a six pack of beer, but Stone Cold disses them by just throwing the beer behind him and walking away.

Match Three
WWF Tag Team Title Match
Spike Dudley and Tazz (c) vs. Booker T and Test

As a whole, I really didn’t mind the makeshift team of Spike Dudley and Tazz’s title run, but this was easily their worst title defence of the bunch. Booker T and Test aren’t exactly cooking on all cylinders either, so this match never really got going. I don’t want to say it sucked, but it certainly wasn’t good. As expected, Spike plays the face in peril role which allows Booker and Test to go to work. Outside of an awkward bump when Test doesn’t throw Spike out of the ring properly when countering a Dudley Dog, even Spike’s bumping isn’t as inspirational as usual. It genuinely looks like he’s not trying, and if you go back and watch some of his recent efforts against The Dudleyz, it almost looks like two different wrestlers. Due to the lack of build for Booker and Test as a team, the crowd doesn’t care about this match either which doesn’t help proceedings at all. After Tazz’s solid hot tag run, Test shoves the referee after only getting a near fall from a Big Boot. The ref shoves Test back and Test stumbles into a Tazzmission for the champs to retain. A nothing match really. **​

In the back, The Rock gets interviewed and he’s hyped up as he announces that he is back, before claiming that tonight, The Undertaker really is a dead man walking.

Match Four
WWF Intercontinental Championship
Brass Knuckles on a Pole Match
William Regal (c) vs. Edge

A solid enough match here for the most part with Regal delivering some usual Regal goodness, whilst Edge’s performance was a little patchy. His selling was better than it was in the few matches he had in the build up to the event, however there were just some general moments of sloppiness that brought this down a little. The one thing that really stands out is when Regal attempts a Powerbomb off of the apron, and Edge tries to reverse into a Hurricanrana. Instead, Edge just kind of dangles in the air before falling and Regal is forced to take a cool bump, but it looks like he just jumped himself for fun. The Double Underhook Powerbomb on the outside was a great move by Regal, and it played nicely into the build up with Edge beginning to cough up blood. He’s suffering from internal injuries due to the body shot with the knucks Regal landed in the build-up. In this type of match, there are always plenty of teases, and that happens here, culminating in Regal trying to grab them, but falling victim to a Superplex instead. Edge gets the knucks, but surprise, Regal had another pair stashed, and he uses them to knock out Edge and get the victory. A clever/heel ending for Regal, match was okay, but definitely not their best together. Considering the whacky stipulation, they did what they could. **1/2​

Kurt Angle is interviewed in the back and he’s full of confidence tonight, but he’s not full of confidence because Stephanie McMahon is the referee tonight. Oh no. His confidence is up because he’s better than Triple H at everything. And in an awesome line, he says that the baby might have been fake, but tonight, he’s going to make Triple H call him daddy.

Match Five
The Rock vs. The Undertaker

I had pretty low expectations coming into this one based off what I remembered, and whilst far from a classic, I think I enjoyed this a little more on the rewatch. I’d still say it’s just solid as best, which is probably still disappointing for these two, but still. If they ever had the chance to have a real good match, it’d be now with ‘Taker officially out of that putrid 2000-2001 run. In something similar to an attitude era main event, there’s tons of brawling around ringside and what not, however once they settle down, they fall into a really good rhythm. ‘Taker’s offense and just general beating down of The Rock is good, and The Rock’s babyface comebacks are awesome. In just some foreshadowing of what’s to come, I noticed The Rock’s fan support even seems to be slipping here. There are some boos littered in with the cheers for sure. Eventually there’s a ref bump so ‘Taker goes and gets himself a lead pipe. Ric Flair comes down to stop ‘Taker from using the pipe, and after some awesome chops, Flair falls victim to a Big Boot. Once ‘Taker gets back in, Rock has had time to recover and locks in the Sharpshooter. Now it’s the other owners time to interfere as Vince McMahon makes his way down, but The Rock drags Vince in. The ref recovers and yells at Vince, keeping himself distracted, which allows Flair to nail ‘Taker with the lead pipe, allowing Rock to get a Rock Bottom for the victory. Like I said, better than I remembered but still not amazing. The biggest positive is probably the sufficient Flair/Taker progression. **3/4

Match Six
Number One Contender’s Match
Special Referee: Stephanie McMahon
Kurt Angle vs. Triple H

Well, this was a match, that’s for sure. I didn’t think this was necessarily bad either, but it’s certainly disappointing considering the guys involved, and what they’ve done previously. As we know, Triple H has probably come back a little bloated, so he’s stiff, doesn’t move very well, and he hasn’t been playing the face in peril role well. Kurt’s usually on song with his bumping around to make things work, but it even feels like Angle isn’t completely on his game here either. Plus, we’ve got Stephanie as the special ref, and she’s supposed to despise Triple H, but outside of some banter, she doesn’t really do a lot against him until right at the end of the match. Which was just weird and didn’t work. If we include the Steph bumps, and the three bumps that poor Tim White has to take, there’s something like five ref bumps in this match. What the hell? Definitely not needed and seemingly just some bells and whistles for the sake of it. I guess to her credit, Steph takes the Clothesline over the top rope from Kurt pretty well. Anyway, in the end, Triple H has had enough of his wife and tries for the Pedigree, but Kurt smashes him in the back with a chair. A second chair shot the head follows, and the Angle Slam gets Kurt the win. To much crap around this match to allow it to be good, but it’s also worth noting that this result was a genuine shock at the time, as they hadn’t really played too much with the concept of the Rumble winner losing their title shot before this. A shock result doesn’t make this good though, because of basically everything else I mentioned. **1/4​

Before the main event, we arguably get one of the NWO’s most positive memorable moments here when they bump into The Rock. Hogan approached and asked for a picture for his son, and The Rock says it’s fine, happy to strike a pose despite having an ice pack and feeling the effects of his match. After taking the photo, Hogan insults his sons taste to Hall and Nash, and they have a giggle about it. The Rock imitates them and takes them all to school in hilarious fashion, before telling them to shove the camera up their candy asses. If you haven’t seen this one, go watch it.

Match Seven
WWF Undisputed Championship Match
Chris Jericho (c) vs. Stone Cold

I know Jericho’s initial title run gets looked at as disappointing, and whilst a majority of that is booking, you’d argue he only really has the one good title defence against The Rock at the Royal Rumble to hang his hat on as well. But honestly, this one not being the match is not his fault. This one is sad to watch considering how awesome of a match they probably could have had if it was a few months earlier. Instead, we get an Austin who clearly doesn’t care. He overuses chops throughout, but he barely puts any sting on them, then he uses the Superplex more than once, before sending the action to the outside. He barely sells and does nothing interesting for a majority of the match. And then even when Jericho does get some offense in on the outside, Austin takes some of the worst bumps you’ll see. Then of course because Austin needs to look good and your Undisputed Champion apparently doesn’t, Austin kicks out of two Lionsaults. Poor Jericho. Clearly, they knew after the previous match, they needed more ref bumps, so we get a few of those here as well. With the ref down, Austin has the win with the Wall of Jericho, and then again with a Stunner, but then the NWO make their way out. They cost Austin the match when Hall hits Austin with a disgustingly bad looking Stunner. This allows Jericho, who has barely done anything to look good all match, crawl on top to get the win. I guess finally the NWO makes some sort of impact, so their debut doesn’t feel like a waste, but it still feels a bit anticlimactic. The booking of this match was so pro Austin, and Jericho looks awful as champ which is a sign of things to come. Booking wasn’t the best and Austin really put out a stinker of a performance. Luckily Jericho at least tried. **1/2​

After the match, Jericho leaves because we don’t want his successful title defence to be the last thing we remember on this show. Instead, Hall lands another shitty Stunner on Austin, and then the NWO bust out the spray paint and spray NWO on Austin’s back to end the show. I guess at least by the end of the show, the NWO at least did something that seems somewhat NWO worthy.

No Way Out is a huge disappointment. Three big matches on paper, and whilst Rock/’Taker is maybe passable, none of them truly delivered. I wish I could tell you how good the undercard was to make up for the main attractions missing the mark, but it wasn’t. Goldust/RVD is a nice treat and that’s about where it ends. Matches didn’t deliver, booking was questionable throughout, and the NWO probably didn’t do something to match all the hype they’ve been given. Good times.

 

[Stojy]

WWF Raw
February 18th, 2002
Chicago, Illinois
​

We’re opening by focusing on probably the biggest event of last night’s No Way Out, as Stone Cold makes his way down to the ring. Austin’s holding a steel chair and he looks pissed off after being cost the WWF Undisputed Championship by the debuting NWO last night. As Austin’s on his way down the ramp, on one of his usual rants, JR claims that Austin’s soul was raped at No Way Out. Holy shit, what a line from JR. Austin gives us a quick summary on how he had Chris Jericho right where he wanted him last night, hit him with the Stunner and was about to win the championship when Hall, Hogan and Nash decided to get involved. He says since they were so eager to get some of him last night, why don’t the NWO come and get some tonight. The NWO make their way out to the ramp, and Austin begs them to come on down. They take a few steps down the ramp, before having a huddle and discussing their gameplan. Austin yells at them to take another 30 steps down the ramp, but instead, much to the dismay of everybody, the NWO leave. Austin is furious but he sets up his chair in the middle of the ring, grabs some beers and he says all they are doing is pissing him off, and he’s not leaving until the NWO gets down here.

When we come back from commercials, Stone Cold is still in the ring. Sitting and still drinking, he says he’s going on strike because he wants the NWO out here. Instead of the NWO, Kurt Angle comes out onto the stage, and he has a bunch of security with him as well. Angle wonders what Austin’s problem is, because if anybody should be having this airtime it’s Kurt since he’s actually in the main event of WrestleMania. Austin’s response is to start throwing beer cans at Angle. Kurt says that Austin blew his opportunity and that’s part of why he has these private security/off duty police officers with him. Having some adequate back up, Angle feels pretty confident as he decides to step into the ring with Austin. Kurt says he’s happy to talk to Austin since he clearly wants all of the attention. Angle tells Austing to leave but Austin shoots him the finger, so Kurt says he’ll make his announcement with Austin here then. Angle is officially going to WrestleMania to compete in the main event for the WWF Undisputed Title, and that’s enough for Austin to lose it and tackle Kurt to the canvas. Austin beats on Angle momentarily, until security rushes the ring and pulls him off. Austin ends up getting handcuffed, and Kurt reminds him that they were off duty police officers. Angle then claims that he’s going to ‘Mania, but Austin is going to jail. As Austin struggles against security and gets dragged away, Angle dickishly waves goodbye. I’m happy with Austin opening the show here, it makes sense that he’d want revenge. Not entirely sure I like the big, bad NWO already deciding against fighting, even though they clearly have the numbers advantage. Austin’s strike was fine though, and Kurt played the heel role perfectly. I’d say overall I still enjoyed this.

We see clips from during the commercial break which show Austing being placed into a police car. Meanwhile, the NWO watch on and mock Austin through the window.

Match One
Christian and Lance Storm vs. The Hardy Boyz w/Lita

This match basically went as you’d expect in terms of formula, with The Hardyz starting off on fire, but Christian and Storm eventually taking over. They isolate Jeff Hardy after Christian knocks him off the ropes when Jeff was attempting a Whisper In The Wind. Christian and Storm dominating Jeff was good, and Jeff played his face in peril role well. Eventually Jeff manages to break free from Storm’s clutches with a Mule Kick and make the tag to Matt, who has a fun hot tag. Matt and Jeff have well and truly perfected their individual roles in the team for the past 18 months or so and that continues here. Christian bumps particularly well for Matt’s offense, before thanks to a distraction from Storm, Christian lands a Reverse DDT. After the near fall, Christian goes into temper tantrum mode, and before Storm can stop it, Lita nails him with the Hurricarana. Christian’s tantrum allows Matt to get up and nail the Twist of Fate, and Jeff follows with the Swanton for the win. Perfectly solid match to kick off the in-ring action. **3/4​

Next up, we see Kurt Angle walk into Stephanie McMahon’s locker room and she congratulates him for getting Stone Cold arrested tonight, but also for defeating Triple H and becoming the number one contender last night. Kurt thanks her for being an impartial referee, and then she thanks him for beating Triple H clean. What a love fest. Thankfully, it gets interrupted by Ric Flair who says last night’s stipulations were a brilliant booking move by Vince McMahon. So good in fact that Flair decides to book a Kurt Angle vs. Triple H rematch tonight and the number one contender position will be up for grabs. Flair however adds that if Stephanie gets involved, Triple H wins automatically. I guess it makes sense for Flair to want to ‘remedy’ this issue but throwing around the number one contender slot doesn’t do a lot for me personally.

The Undertaker is in the back, and he’s fired up as he grabs a camera man and demands to know where Flair’s office is. Once he finds it, he marches on in and Flair immediately gets up, seemingly ready for a fight. ‘Taker asks him what the hell was with last night with the pipe and Flair tells him that he was just being a man. ‘Taker admits that he’s thought about kicking Flair’s ass and jumping him right now, but he wants something better. He wants Flair’s ass at WrestleMania. Flair says maybe ten years ago he would have accepted but not now. He’s an owner, not a wrestler. ‘Taker keeps his cool and says he’ll just have to see what he can do to change Flair’s mind. The build to this has been slowly brewing nicely, and I love this segment because I know this is about to really heat up in the coming shows.

A WrestleMania moment airs and it’s Kane Chokeslamming Pete Rose at WrestleMania XIV.

In the parking lot, the NWO decide that after what happened with Stone Cold earlier, they are now all set to leave. Hogan decides to stay on his own though, telling Hall and Nash to go because he has some personal business to take care of.

Before the next match, Mr. Perfect gets a bit of promo time, to talk about how he’s perfect, and the Chicago Bears and all of his opponents are not.

Match Two
Kane vs. Mr. Perfect

Perfect gets a little bit of offense and even attempts a Perfectplex at some stage, but he’s unable to lift Kane up in the air. Honestly though, this was just Perfect putting together some pretty awesome bumps to make Kane look beastly. Kane eventually wins rather comfortably with a Chokeslam. A squash match? Sure. But a well-executed one. **3/4​

We see Hollywood Hogan walking through the back and he’s talking to himself, muttering that he’s going to rock somebody’s world.

Hogan makes his way to the ring now and talks about how great it feels to be back inside a WWF ring. The WWF was where he became a legend, and along with the fans, they took on monsters, Russians, they even took on 700 pounds of Andre, god rest his soul and slammed him. But sometime after the body slam heard around the world, the fans turned on Hogan. He says that he never wanted to leave the WWF, but the fans took him for granted. The WWF fans did the same to him as what happened to Michael Jordan. In a pretty cool improv moment from Hogan, as the fans chant “what” at him as he cuts his promo, he responds with “CHA GONNA’ DO”. And now he’s back and he has the chance, he wants to tell the fans something. Hogan tells the fans, “kiss my ass”. He goes on about how he’s the reason the people are here today, he put the WWF on the mat. He’s responsible for all of this and there isn’t anybody that is as big of an icon as he is. He is the biggest star, past or present in this business, and this brings out The Rock. What a moment. The atmosphere as soon as they face off is, well, excuse the pun, electric. Really awesome moment. After performing his usual “finally” schtick, The Rock asks Hogan if he actually thinks that the people drove Hogan out of the WWF. Before Hogan can respond, Rock cuts him off with the it doesn’t matter what you think phrase. Rock goes on to talk about how these people loved and believed in him, the same way The Rock believed in Hogan. Rock goes on to say but after years of Hogan eating his vitamins and saying his prayers, each time he spoke, the people ran to take a big Hulka crap. The Rock then talks about all the Manias they’ve headlined between them, before asking Hogan to headline one more WrestleMania against The Rock. They pause in time here, really letting this moment sink in, as the crowd have duelling chants of Rocky and Hogan. Like I mentioned earlier, just another awesome moment. Hogan calls The Rock a flavour of the month and says he isn’t even in his league, but Rocky doesn’t take the bait, and just asks whether the answer is yes or no. After milking the moment, a little while longer, Hogan agrees, saying yes, it will be a pleasure to kick The Rock’s ass at Mania. They shake hands to further agree, and Hogan wishes Rock luck, telling him he’ll need it. Instead of breaking the handshake, Rock pulls Hogan in and says, “not as much as you… brother”. BOOM!!! Rock nails Hogan with the Rock Bottom. I know this isn’t technically over here, but this was incredible. Two of the biggest stars in a one time thought impossible confrontation, awesome. As I mentioned a few times, props to this crowd for making the moment even better also.

As The Rock leaves the ring, he stops at the stage and turns around to salute the fans, allowing himself to be attacked from behind by Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. It turns out the rest of the NWO didn’t leave the building after all. They get him back in the ring and Hogan goes to town on Rocky with his weightlifting belt. After a Razor’s Edge and a Jack knife Powerbomb, that’s still not enough. Hogan grabs himself a hammer and with the others holding The Rock up, Hogan smashes him in the back of the head with the hammer. The Rock is basically unconscious at this point, but a Leg Drop follows, before the NWO spray paint NWO 2 SWEET on The Rock’s back. I feel like they were going for the hook of wow, NWO spray painted and attacked Austin and Rock (two biggest stars) on back-to-back nights. This for me backfired though. They could have just held this off until Smackdown even. The Hogan/Rock confrontation was so incredible, that should have ended their interaction for the night. This could have been done later as it’s nowhere near as amazing as that initial bit.

That long segment took us to a commercial break and when we come back, we see The Rock getting loaded into an ambulance. As the ambulance starts to drive away, a semi-truck pulls in front of the ambulance to block its path, and a car comes up the back to stop the ambulance from reversing. It turns out Hogan is in the truck, whilst Hall and Nash throw away the medics and ambo drivers, before chaining the ambulance door shut. Which honestly feels like a bit of overkill, I’d assume The Rock is strapped up pretty tightly on that stretcher. He’s not going anywhere, guys. Hogan then backs up and rams the ambulance with the truck numerous tries, apparently trying to kill The Rock in the process. Hated this. First segment was simple and effective, the second attack was a bit whatever, but I could deal, and this was just overkill. Unnecessary, unrealistic, silly. I don’t know, Rock/Hogan is so simple to make work, these shenanigans should be saved for something else. Hated this at the time and hated the fact that it means Rock won’t be around to build to ‘Mania. Not great.

After the break, to further sell the impact of above, there’s a bunch of emergency service people and they clearly have no idea what to do.

Match Three
Booker T vs. The Godfather w/Ho’s

This match involves The Godfather which means it was never going to be a classic, and honestly, it’s pretty bad. But I’ll start by pointing out the one positive with the booking that I really liked. We’ve just had this huge thing happen with The Rock, and whilst the fans clearly don’t give a shit, I love the fact that Godfather’s escorts are clearly distressed and concerned by it. Just adds something to the whole situation. They go back and forth in the ring, and Godfather looks set for the Ho Train, but when he notices the girls aren’t into the match, and more concerned about The Rock, he gets mad. Godfather yells at his girls, and the distraction is enough for Booker to hit the Harlem Sidekick for the win. I guess another good thing here is that Booker got a win, but the match itself was pretty awful. *1/4​

After the match, The Godfather is mad, and he continues to berate his ladies for costing him the victory.

A nice touch here where on commentary, we are told that cameras crews had to disappear due to a fuel leak.

Match Four
Edge and Rob Van Dam vs. Goldust and William Regal

A pretty solid tag team match here. The teams pair off into their No Way Out matches in the early stages, with Goldust attacking RVD, and Regal and Edge going at it. RVD and Goldust end up being allocated as the legal men and RVD is all over him until Regal gets tagged in. The heels get the advantage here as Regal and Goldust isolate Edge for a little, before the standard hot tag comes into play. Edge starts off well, taking care of Regal, so Goldust tries to get involved, but Van Dam interrupts and they brawl on the outside. Inside of the ring, Edge Spears Regal and then locks in the Edgucator for the victory. All four men played their roles relatively well, although considering the direction they’re going with the IC Title, it seems weird they’d have Edge submit the champ after their recent history. Strange booking aside, match was still okay. **3/4​

In the parking lot, a new, non-crashed in ambulance has now arrived, and The Rock is in that one, so they take him away.

Such an awesome Kurt Angle interview before the main event. Michael Cole asks him if he’s going to be able to concentrate after what happened. Cole is obviously referring to The Rock, but Kurt says he’s sad when he thinks about Ric Flair booking the main event tonight. This basically sums up Kurt’s heel personality as a whole. So self-centred but it’s not even on purpose. When Cole mentions he’s referring to The Rock, Angle half heartedly says oh yeah, I’m upset. Loved this and provides solid enough hype for the main event as well.

Considering the winner of the main event will face the WWF Undisputed Champion at WrestleMania, it makes sense for Chris Jericho to come to the commentary desk for this one.

Match Five
Number One Contenders Match
Kurt Angle vs. Triple H

As Triple H enters the ring, Kurt immediately goes on the attack, sending Triple H to the outside where he sends him into the steel steps. A simple yet effective way to gain the advantage, which leads to Kurt having his heat period all ready to go. I thought Kurt was great throughout this match really. When Triple H was on offense, he bumped well, and he was good when in control also. Angle works on the back a little with a Backbreaker, and after the earlier steps impact as well, Kurt uses the Abdominal Stretch to apply further damage. Triple H does make a brief comeback, but then they end up on the outside, where Angle lands a Belly-To-Belly Suplex on the floor. You’d think this would be enough work for Triple H to sell the back, but no. When Triple H does make his proper comeback, you wouldn’t even know he’s been in a match. Similarly, when Angle manages to apply the Ankle Lock, and keep it locked in for a while, Trips makes no effort to sell the ankle afterwards. Triple H’s lack of selling is probably robbing this any chance of being classified as good. The finishing sequence is nice though, as Trips drop toe holds Angle into the turnbuckles, then goes for the Pedigree. Kurt latches onto the Ankle and applies the Ankle Lock again, but Trips rolls out, and then lands the Pedigree. Kind of makes No Way Out pointless, so I don’t quite understand why they went with that if this was just going to happen. Silly. Triple H brought this match down for me, Kurt was good. **1/4​

After the match, Chris Jericho stands on top of the commentary table and shows Triple H his belts, the main event for the biggest show of the year officially set. I’ll compliment this and says it’s the best bit of Jericho/Triple H hype we get, because if I remember right, the rest of the build to this one is pretty awful.

Even though I don’t completely agree with everything that happened with Hogan/Rock/NWO, it still made the show a memorable one. Add in some mostly solid wrestling throughout, and this felt like one of the stronger weekly shows in a while.

 

[Stojy]

WWF Smackdown
February 21st, 2002
Rockford, Illinois ​

The show begins with a clip from earlier tonight where Vince McMahon had an announcement to make. Vince says what the NWO did to The Rock was reprehensible and they deserve proper punishment. They should be prosecuted under the full extent of the law. Vince feels that the fans, The Rock and the people will be satisfied with the NWO’s punishment. He says the NWO will do community service and will publicly apologise to The Rock. A relaxed punishment to say the least, which I guess is just meant to build more heat, but this entire thing makes no sense to me. If anything, Flair should be the one pushing for a proper punishment here. Vince brought in this poison to kill the WWF, so why would he be trying to save face by putting together this hoax of a punishment? He’s openly admitting to being comfortable with his creation dying just a week or so ago. This should be the beginning of that.

We then get the usual opening and Michael Cole and The King let us know that tonight The Undertaker and Triple H will go one on one.

Kurt Angle is out next and he’s furious about the way he lost the number one contender spot on Raw. He begins by taking it out on the crowd, telling them not to start with him as they do their standard “WHAT” chants when he tries to speak. In the mood to let out some of his frustration, Angle calls anybody to the ring to get their ass kicked. Kurt is ready to go Olympic on somebody’s ass and Kane answers the challenge.

Match One
Kane vs. Kurt Angle

There isn’t a lot to say about this one as it barely lasts an entire minute before the ending. Kane starts off strong, Kurt battles back, and Angle is eventually able to land a German Suplex. Considering he’s all angry, instead of going for the pin, Kurt gets himself a chair and smashes it across the back of Kane. This gives the referee no choice but to ring the bell for a DQ finish. ¾*​

That’s not the end of the action though as Kurt looks to continue the beating, but Kane Spears him through the ropes and to the outside. Kane sends Angle into the steps before setting him up for a Chokeslam through the announce table, however Angle counters with a low blow. German Suplex through the table by Angle. Damn, that’s a nice spot. Kurt delivers a second Suplex on whatever remains of the table he can find. In a rage, Angle drills the timekeeper with a Belly-To-Belly Suplex, before putting in some work on Kane’s ankle with a steel chair. He then applies the Ankle Lock and keeps it on for a significant period of time, seemingly causing some real damage to Kane’s ankle. I really like this, erm, angle. Makes Kurt look dangerous, puts over his anger, and even though Kane’s supposed to be a monster (when’s the last time he actually looked like one), the steel chair use and low blow kind of gives him an out anyway.

In the back, Ric Flair and Arn Anderson are having a conversation and Flair is talking about how everything is out of control when The Undertaker interrupts. ‘Taker comes in to talk about the WrestleMania match between them that he proposed on Raw. Despite ‘Taker’s pushing, Flair still turns down the match. ‘Taker says that’s the last time he’ll take no for an answer because he thinks Flair will change his mind on Raw. Before leaving, ‘Taker looks at Arn and tells him it looks like he was the only Horseman with any guts. Another nice building segment here, and I really enjoyed the Horsemen reference too.

We get a bunch of video package stuff on the NWO’s attack on The Rock from Raw. Kills so much of the show that I actually felt like I was watching a modern three hour Raw with all the replays and whatever.

Oh hey, what timing. The NWO are in the building now.

After another commercial break, the NWO make their way out to the ring with a piece of paper in hand. It seems they are ready to make an apology, but the paper is a prepared statement. They read it rather robotically, proving to be incredibly insincere with their apology. Nash offers a heartfelt apology, before Hall wishes The Rock a speedy recovery. Hogan thanks Vince’s lawyers and co for the lesser charges even though The Rock attacked him first. With the crappy apology out of the way, Hogan makes it clear that he won’t be sorry for what he does to The Rock at WrestleMania. Suddenly, Stone Cold drives to the ring in his pickup truck, and he’s got a tyre iron with him. Austin beats on them with the tyre iron, knocking Hall down, before he gets in his truck, and plans to reverse over Hall. Nash and Hogan manage to make the save and pull Hall to safety, whilst Austin drives after them and to the back they all disappear. The apology here makes sense, but I still don’t like the angle. Austin coming out to get him some after they cost him the Undisputed Title at No Way Out makes sense.

The NWO are in the parking lot now, ready to hop into their limo and get out of here, however their tyres are all flat. “WHAT” has been spraypainted all over their limo and they are forced to run away, as Austin continues to chase them with the tyre iron in hand.

Match Two
Christian vs. Edge

Continuing on with his whole temper tantrum gimmick, Christian is basically furious from the start here as his pyro doesn’t even work properly. The action itself here in terms of planned moves was fine, with Christian getting the early advantage with a Reverse Backbreaker. Edge fights back when Christian takes to long posing to the fans, and they do some work on the outside before getting back in. Christian was solid as always here, but Edge looked to have a bad night. I don’t know if he was working hurt or not, but his offense didn’t look to crips throughout, and he didn’t seem to be putting a lot of effort in to taking bumps as well. If I watched this for the first time completely out of context, I’d be flabbergasted with which one of these guys the WWE was choosing to push to the moon in the not-so-distant future. Anyway, eventually, Christian gets a near fall which summons his nightly temper tantrum. This allows Edge to land a Spear and lock in the Edgucator for the submission victory. A great job by Christian to carry this to something at least decent. **1/4​

After the match, a broken Christian gets on the mic and claims that the fans probably expect him to throw another temper tantrum right now. Instead of doing that, he says that he quits before storming away.

Hogan and Nash are still on the run as they enter a random room and lock the door. After a moment or two, they realise that Hall isn’t with them. Initially, Nash wants to go and find Hall, but Hogan says no, before Nash states that Hall is resourceful, and he’ll be fine.

Austin is in the kitchen area of the arena, and he opens up the freezer to reveal Scott Hall duct taped to a chair. Austin starts by asking Hall if he’s cooling off. Austin talks really slowly and asks if he’s supposed to be impressed by the NWO. He then tells Hall that he’s going to drink a beer if that’s alright. As Austin asks these questions, he keeps demanding that Hall say something, but due to his mouth being taped shut, Hall can’t actually respond. Austin does wonder where the rest of the NWO are, before grabbing two beers. Austin asks if Hall wants a beer and Hall nods in agreement. Austin puts the beer basically on Hall’s arm which is taped and stuck to the chair, so he can’t actually drink it. He lets Hall know that he’s going to learn not to screw with him, before telling him he’ll be back and leaving. Austin is borderline psychotic here. Considering the title is his drug of choice, and Hall and co prevented it from happening, I like this psychotic reaction from Austin. Also love, the vague call backs to some of the behaviours he showed during his epic 2001 heel run.

Match Three
Lance Storm and The Dudley Boyz w/Stacy Keibler vs. Rob Van Dam and The Hardy Boyz w/Lita

I just can’t help but start off by pointing out the ridiculousness of Jeff’s outfit here. I feel like it only gets worse throughout this year as well, but as of this night, his operating in a normal shirt, topped by a torn-up mesh shirt. Oh and of course he’s got a cap on, because you can’t wrestle without a cap. Definitely interesting attire to say the least. As for the match itself, really enjoyable. Jeff starts off well, before Matt eventually gets isolated. Matt plays the face in peril role well, and all of the offence from the heels is focused and solid enough. RVD comes in and goes nuts off the hot tag, which is great because he was easily the best choice for the hot tag here. Van Dam heads up to the top rope, potentially thinking Five Star Frog Splash, but Stacy crotches him. This leads to Lita getting in the ring, but D’Von gets a hold of her. We get a fantastic finishing sequence here as Matt stops D’Von from hitting Lita and goes for the Twist of Fate. D’Von reverses and The Dudleyz nail Matt with the 3D. They go for the pin but Jeff interrupts it with the Swanton. Storm nails Jeff with a Superkick, Lita lands her epic Litarana on Storm, and RVD finishes him off with the Five Star Frog Splash. Really, really fun. I enjoyed this a lot. ***​

Still in their hiding spot, Hogan says that they probably should go look for Hall, and Nash agrees but said they need weapons. The two then leave the room.

In his office, Ric Flair is on the phone when Stephanie McMahon walks in, and she isn’t happy. She complains to Flair and is mad at him for setting up the match on Raw which lead to Triple H regaining his number one contender spot. With the mention of Triple H going to WrestleMania, Flair smiles and Steph says she’s happy to slap the smile off of his face. Suddenly, the toilet flushes and Steph says if that’s Arn, she’ll slap him too. It’s not Arn though, it’s Triple H who comes out which changed Steph’s mood completely. Triple H says it’s a sad story, you know what they say, life’s a bitch and then you marry one. Stephanie stomps off, clearly pissed off. Oh yay, Stephanie/Triple H continues.

Austin is still torturing Hall as he wheels him around the arena, only stopping when he’s blown up because he decides he needs another drink of beer. Austin asks if the letters on Hall’s shirt are supposed to impress him. He then talks about maybe having to make Hall his designated driver. Austin shakes that off and says never mind that, before reminding Hall that he will pay for costing Austin the title.

Hogan has a shovel now and Nash has a pipe as they enter the kitchen area where Austin was previously holding Hall hostage. They are no longer there, but they must be on the trail because they can see all empty beer cans around.

Match Four
WWF Tag Team Championship Match
Spike Dudley and Tazz (c) vs. Billy and Chuck

We see a quick shot of The APA who are standing by a monitor in the back, watching this next match closely. I just want to quickly point out whilst this match isn’t exactly a winner, I’m always pleased when a tag title match gets the wrestling main event slot of the show. This match doesn’t go to long, but it feels like they got this one backwards. Spike and Tazz’s formula of Spike being dominated before Tazz cleans house has worked relatively well throughout their title reign. They tried to change things up here, and whilst Tazz is the best guy in this match at this point, it just doesn’t quite work out to well. As expected, the ending comes about when all four men are doing battle and Spike goes for the Dudley Dog on Billy, but Billy throws him into a Superkick from Chuck. This allows Billy to nail the Fameasser and get the win. We’ve got new champs, and as with most Billy and Chuck matches so far, this wasn’t very good. *3/4​

The two go a little overboard with their celebration as Chuck jumps into Billy’s arms and Billy spins him around. The two then stop and try and play it cool, but this was a fun little detail that suits their gimmick perfectly.

Austin is still wheeling Hall around the arena before placing him in a maintenance cage area. For a cool effect, there’s a spotlight which Austin shines on Hall before telling him that he’s finally a big star. Austin pulls out Hall’s ponytail and tells him they are stupid. Austin then says that he’s keeping Hall here as bait, and when his friends show up, he’s going to beat them with a crowbar.

Lilian Garcia is ready for an interview as she congratulates Billy and Chuck on their title win. They hilariously compliment each other’s bodies, before Billy lets Chuck know that he’s the best partner he’s ever had. I remember as a kid being really mad at that because The New Age Outlaws lol. The APA then interrupt the lovefest to ‘congratulate’ the new champions. Bradshaw tells them to get really close and celebrate because at WrestleMania, they can kiss each other’s asses and those titles goodbye. Solid way to hype the tag title feud heading into ‘Mania, even if it’s a bad one.

Finally, Hogan and Nash find Hall, but they fall right into Austin’s trap. Austin attacks Hogan and Nash with the crowbar, which allows him to wheel Hall away, and lock Hogan and Nash in the cage.

So, I guess now is supposed to be Triple H vs. The Undertaker but before it can happen, Stephanie McMahon makes her way to the ring. She wants to make an announcement before ‘Taker kicks Triple H’s ass, and that announcement is that Triple H will be champion over her dead body. Before she can go any further, the WWF Undisputed Champion Chris Jericho makes his way out from the back. Steph seems a little unsure about this due to their history, and Chris says they haven’t spoken since he became the champ. He admits that he used to call her a lot of names, but he never meant it, and he only did it to get a rise out of the people. Trying to get these people to like him did absolutely nothing for him. Now that he’s a living legend, he sees her for what she truly is, a brilliant, calculated, conniving genius. Jericho says that he now realises that she’s the only reason Triple H is so successful, and a pleased Stephanie obviously agrees with Jericho. She says the only reason Triple H was champ was because of her, and now Jericho has given her a wonderful idea. Stephanie offers to be Jericho’s new business partner to help him prepare for ‘Mania. Jericho agrees and in a crazy moment considering their past, these two shake hands. Jericho choosing to side with Stephanie basically eliminates any redeeming qualities he may have had left. In the case of just being a heel, it works, but now this will truly feel like Triple H vs. Stephanie, and Jericho’s spot could have been filled by basically anybody.

After striking up their deal, Jericho and Stephanie decide to head to the commentary position so they can watch Triple H’s match. As Triple H makes his entrance, Steph runs her mouth on commentary, so Trips heads to the announce table, takes a sip of water and spits it all over Steph and Jericho. A furious Jericho gets up and attacks Triple H, but Hunter immediately gets the advantage and beats up Jericho around ringside. Once they get inside, Trips still has the advantage, until Stephanie intervenes and slaps him. Trips sets Steph up for the Pedigree, but Jericho stops it from happening. In a flash, Triple H has the advantage again though, tossing Jericho to the outside. On the outside, Jericho gets one more Clothesline, this one sending him over the barricade and into the crowd. The Undertaker begins to make his entrance as a worked up Triple H waits. ‘Taker gets on the apron and Triple H immediately knocks him off. ‘Taker decides to call it a day and leave, meaning Trips stands strong in the centre of the ring. Would have LOVED for Jericho to get the advantage here, even if he needed some help from The Undertaker to get it. Give the champ some heat and establish the new alliance between Jericho/Stephanie as dangerous. Instead, it all looks like a joke with Triple H standing tall from moment one. Terrible champion booking already.

In the back, Austin tells a fallen over Hall to get back up, before he throws Hall into the back of his pickup truck.

Austin drives his pick up truck to the ring, and immediately throws his cooler full of beers in the ring. He hits Hall one more time, before dragging him into the ring also. This is basically just a barrage of Austin teasing and beating the shit out of Hall. Austin gives a Hey Yo, before asking Hall if he’s supposed to amuse Austin. Austin does a thing with the crowd where everytime they say “WHAT”, he’ll stomp Hall. The “WHAT” chants are crazy here so Austin stomps a mudhole in Hall. My favourite part of this though, which I forgot to mention earlier, is when Austin gets mad at Hall for making him hit him with his drinking hand. Anyway, after torturing Hall for a long period of time, Austin offers Hall a beer, only to nail him with a Stunner instead. Austin’s watch then tells him to spraypaint 3:16 on Halls back so he does that as well. This was the big pay off for the night. I guess it did what it needed to, but would have loved Austin to focus a little more here on not having the Undisputed Title.

One good match, a couple of solidish ones, but the two main angles Austin/NWO and Jericho/Triple H/Stephanie didn’t hit for me. Considering the amount of show time they consumed, this leaves this show below average in my view.

 

[Stojy]

WWF Heat
February 24th, 2002
Rockford, Illinois​

It’s the usual team of Michael Cole and Tazz for Heat tonight (can’t wait until they get promoted to Smackdown). However, in what is different to the norm for heat, they are not at WWF New York. They are commentating from ringside.

Match One
WWF Cruiserweight Championship Match
Tajiri (c) w/Torrie Wilson vs. The Hurricane w/Mighty Molly

Both men show respect and sportsmanship as the match begins with a handshake. They tie up with the initial lock up and Hurricane snatches a Headlock. Eventually Tajiri pushes Hurricane off, but he comes back with a Shoulder Block. Hurricane is looking good in the early stages, until Tajiri shocks Hurricane with one of his famous kicks to the head. This allows Tajiri to land some more strikes, until Hurricane comes back with a Clothesline. He follows that up with a Side Russian Leg Sweep. It’s high-risk time as Hurricane leaps off the top but falls right into a kick out of midair from Tajiri. This allows Tajiri to set up for and nail the Handspring Elbow, which gets a two count. Tajiri lets Hurricane to his feet and tries for another kick, but Hurricane ducks and Goozles Tajiri to look for the Chokeslam, but Tajiri kicks himself free. And this allows Tajiri to lock in the Tarantula! Of course, he’s forced to break the hold by the ref, and Hurricane gets back on top, before missing a Blockbuster off the middle rope. Tajiri looks to finish things off with the Buzzsaw Kick, but Hurricane ducks and lands the Eye of the Hurricane. Hurricane goes for the pin, but Tajiri gets a Crucifix pin of his own for the shock three count. This wasn’t great but wasn’t bad. Not a lot of time, but it was pretty back and forth between two capable performers. A good match for Heat for sure. **​

Backstage, Lilian Garcia interviews WWF Intercontinental Champion William Regal and asks about him defending his title against Rikishi tonight. Regal is offended that Garcia seems to think that Regal might not win, before he hypes his power of the punch as the reason why he’ll win. Solid interview that hypes tonight’s main event and continues Regal’s power of the punch angle. No issues.

Match Two
Test vs. The Godfather

This one starts with Godfather getting a boot to the gut, before bouncing off the ropes, ducking a Clothesline and coming back with a Shoulder Block. Am I allowed to take a moment to make a comment on the escorts (they aren’t Ho’s anymore) looking rather unappealing? Even on commentary, Tazz says that one of them needs a boob job, so guessing he wasn’t a fan of that particular lady. Godfather maintains the advantage inside the ring for a little while, in a pretty standard not overly talented big man match. The action spills to the outside where Test sends Godfather shoulder first into the steps to turn the tide of the match. Back inside and Test is in control, sending Godfather into the corner where he takes care of business with meandering strikes and elbows. I read somewhere somebody mentioning that he’s running through a Kevin Nash like move set, but now that Nash is in the WWF, they don’t need Test, who is basically Nash without the charisma lol. An interesting comparison for sure. Test chokes Godfather over the ropes, before Godfather tries to fight back. Test halts Godfather’s momentum with a Clothesline and signals for the Big Boot. Test misses with it though and basically straddles himself on the top rope. Godfather shakes the ropes to basically bust Test’s balls. The pimp follows up with a Clothesline and a Leg Drop. Test heads to the corner and Godfather runs in after him, but Test elbows him in the face. Test takes Godfather down and stacks him for a cover with his feet on the ropes but only gets two because the ref sees it. As Test argues with the ref, Godfather gets a Roll Up, but only gets two. Godfather then boots Test in the corner, setting him up for the Ho Train, but Test avoids it. As Godfather staggers out of the corner, Test hits an Overdrive to get the win. Godfather has never been amazing in the ring, and his return hasn’t been all that interesting either. That along with relatively slow plodding offense from both men made this an ugly watch. *1/2 ​

A recap of the Tough Enough 2 casting special airs. Meh, I don’t care.

Before the next match, Val Venis brings a “random” woman from the crowd and lets her remove his towel so they can make out. Yay.

Match Three
Booker T vs. Val Venis

These two start off with a Lock Up, and they jostle for position, eventually heading to the corner of the ring. Val ends up on top and allows for the clean break, but Booker attacks with a kick, followed by several strikes in the corner. Val comes back strong though, dropping Booker and then hitting a Knee Drop for a two count. Booker fights back with a Standing Spin Kick, and then takes the time to show off to the fans. Looking to finish things quickly, Booker sets up for the Book End, but Val elbows out and nails a Neckbreaker! Venis stays on Booker with some right hands, before hitting a Leaping Shoulder Block. He follows this up with as Back Body Drop and a pair of knees to the mid-section. Val then gets a Side Russian Leg Sweep for another two count. Booker manages to fight back, landing a Scissors Kick, but then misses a Leaping Sidekick, which allows Val to get a Spinebuster. Val grabs the leg and looks for a submission hold, but Booker is able to get to the ropes to escape. Booker pulls himself to the outside, where Val continues to beat him up before they get back inside. Back inside, after some near falls from both men, Val nails a Scoop Slam before heading to the top rope. Val goes for The Money Shot, but Booker gets both knees up. Booker hits the Spinaroonie to everybody’s delight and then this the Leaping Sidekick for the win. Both these guys are solid, and they got enough time to work something close to a decent match, without going all out because it’s Heat. **​

This time Lilian Garcia is backstage with Rikishi, to ask him about his WWF Intercontinental Title match against William Regal. Rikishi counters the power of the punch by talking about the power of his ass. He finishes by saying he will bring home gold tonight. Solid enough retort from Rikishi, with power of the ass being a decent attempt at humour based on his character.

We then get a LONG recap of all the going Ons between the New World Order and Stone Cold and The Rock. At least they still making it feel like a big deal, or at least trying to.

Match Four
WWF Intercontinental Championship Match
William Regal (c) vs. Rikishi

Rikishi starts off by gaining control, getting a Headlock, before sending Regal crashing to the canvas. In a silly move for somebody who I feel builds their character on strategy and tactics, Regal goes for a Sunset Flip, and after Rikishi claps those cheeks, Regal only just avoids being squashed. Regal has more success by applying a Wrist Lock. It doesn’t last long as Rikishi reverses, only for Regal to nail him with a knee to the face, which gets him a two count. Regal lands some vicious forearms, before running off the ropes but he runs straight into a Clothesline. Rikishi follows this up with a Belly To Belly Suplex and then a Leg Drop. Needing a break, Regal heads to the outside. He grabs his title and looks set to leave but turns straight into a Superkick from Rikishi when he enters the ring. Regal’s in the corner and Rikishi squashes him with the Back Splash. This causes Regal to drop to a seated position and Rikishi gets him with the Stinkface. Regal’s facial expressions are hilarious as he then grabs his title belt again, but ref Teddy Long quickly snatches the title from Regal. As Long focuses on removing the title from the ring, Regal busts out his brass knuckles and lands the Power of the Punch for the win. These two probably could be capable of a good match but they just didn’t get enough time. *1/2
​

Two titles matches and a match card that wasn’t completely useless. This was pretty solid for an addition of Heat, which seems to be okay every second week at this point, which means next week will be a tough watch.

 

[Stojy]

WWF Raw
February 25th, 2002
Providence, Rhode Island
​

Before we get into the real action, the commentators welcome us all to the show, hyping up the preannounced match between Mr. Perfect and Stone Cold. My hopes aren’t high, but I wish they’d give these two a decent amount of time to do their thing.

Now we get the NWO coming into the ring, obviously probably not in the best of moods. Scott Hall has a wheelbarrow that he’s pushing, but we can’t see what’s actually in the barrow due to a cloth covering it. Once the trio get into the ring, they leave the wheelbarrow on the outside. A fiery Nash reminds the fans that they are three of the biggest stars in the history of this business, and he demands that they get some respect. Getting plenty of heat, Hogan asks the fans how they like what he did to The Rock. He’s sure The Rock didn’t like it and he’s heard that The Rock’s injuries are more severe than what the WWF are reporting. Hogan admits to maybe getting a little carried away, but he still liked the way he felt. Hogan then talks about how he heard that The Rock is going to be here tonight, but he promises he’s not going to hurt The Rock until WrestleMania. He wants to be able to beat The Rock’s candy ass in front of everyone. Scott Hall then takes the microphone and talks about how Austin went to far on Smackdown last week. Hall talks about how Austin beat him with a crowbar, tried to run him over with his truck, and chased and tortured him like an animal last week. But Hall claims that he is all man, but he wonders how much of a man Austin is. He challenges Austin for a match at WrestleMania and says if he accepts, there will be a truce between the two of them until the big show. Either way, Austin is screwed. That’s the promo wrapped up, we get no response from Austin yet, as they then head to the back, Hall taking the wheelbarrow with him. Seems a little weird that there’d be no mention/reference towards the wheelbarrow throughout here. Despite how underwhelming the situation is overall, I guess this promo did a nice enough job of reminding us of the two big ‘Mania programs that the NWO are involved in? I don’t know.

Match One
WWF Tag Team Championship Match
Billy and Chuck (c) vs. The Hardy Boyz w/Lita

The Hardy Boyz are The Hardy Boyz so we know they are going to deliver the goods in a tag team situation, and we know that Billy and Chuck, well, are not bringing much to the table at this point. Once the match settles in, Billy and Chuck isolate Matt after he tries a Twist of Fate on Chuck but gets pushed into a Billy Clothesline. Billy and Chuck do nothing to inoffensive on offense, and Matt plays the face in peril role really well. After countering a Powerslam, Matt makes the hot tag to Jeff, and he comes in and does a great job. Real fiery, fun offense. All hell breaks loose and The Hardyz hit Poetry in Motion on Chuck, but Billy avoids it. The finishing run here is terrific as well, as Gunn nails Matt with The One and Only, Lita hits her Litacanrana on Billy, Jeff hits the Swanton, only to get nailed with a Superkick by Chuck. That’s enough for Billy to get the win. Everything in that finish was timed and executed really well. Probably the first time Billy and Chuck have looked decent, and I’m under no illusions that it’s mainly due to the challengers. **3/4​

In the back, a limo pulls up and out steps the WWF Undisputed Champion Chris Jericho. In a sign of things to come with this angle, he then opens the door like a servant to allow for Stephanie McMahon to exit the limo. They shoot each other some lame compliments, before Jericho hands a video tape to the driver and tells him to make sure he gets it to the production truck. Apparently, it’s a surprise for Triple H. Why the hell is Jericho opening the door for Stephanie? Stop it.

Michael Cole finds Debra and asks if her husband Stone Cold heard what Scott Hall had to say earlier tonight. Debra says that Cole should ask Austin himself.

Arn Anderson is in Ric Flair’s office, trying to keep shit together as Arn is on the phone with Flair, who is stuck in traffic. Christian approaches Arn because he is ready to sign his resignation papers tonight. Of course, he throws another tantrum, but he’s interrupted by Diamond Dallas Page appearing. He tells Christian that he doesn’t really want to quit. The only reason Christian keeps losing is because he’s so negative, but DDP knows how to teach him to be positive. DDP tries to tell and teach Christian how to smile, but it doesn’t go very well. Hilariously, even Anderson pulls out the fake DDP smile. What a moment. Anyway, DDP decides he wants to take this conversation with Christian elsewhere so he can teach him that being positive is a good thing. Harmless fun, I’m all for this DDP/Christian stuff that’s coming.

Michael Cole is now with Stone Cold, and he asks him whether he accepts Scott Hall’s challenge for a match at WrestleMania. Austin pretends to be confused by what a truce is, saying that it doesn’t look like they want to stop. He says that Hall called him an animal, but Hall is an animal as well, a jackass. Austin then confirms that he accepts Hall’s challenge for WrestleMania, before saying that he’s the last sumbitch Hall wants to see, and that’s the bottom line because Stone Cold said so.

William Regal comes out to do commentary, as he’s interested in who will challenge him for the WWF Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania.

Match Two
Triple Threat Match
Number One Contender For Intercontinental Championship
Lance Storm vs. Rob Van Dam vs. The Big Show

They only get a few minutes to play with and they do a pretty good job. It’s one of those teaser matches which makes you wish they had a rematch with more time. Although this is clearly a combination that won’t happen again in this exact type of match (lol if I’m wrong). Storm gets the jump on RVD during Big Show’s entrance. Throughout the match, it’s clear that the one-man Regal doesn’t want to win is RVD. They utilise Big Show well, as at first he dominates, and then the unlikely alliance of Storm and RVD attempt to work together to chop down the giant. When Show fires back up, Storm comes in with a chair but Show punches it back into his face. The referee tries to prevent it from happening, but Show grabs the steel chair, only to get hit with the Van Daminator. RVD heads to the top and follows up with the Five Star Frog Splash for the win. The only reason this is getting as low of a rating as it is because of the lack of time. Booking wise, I’m happy. They don’t specifically call it out, but this is a nice way to go about it after RVD almost beat Regal in less than three mins a month or so ago. **1/4​

In the back, Booker T is reading a book, trying to learn how to speak Japanese. Test comes up and makes fun of Booker for trying to learn the language, but Booker says it’s for an upcoming shampoo commercial. He then says that tonight Rikishi is going sayonara (goodbye in Japanese I believe).

Faarooq is in The APA office and Bradshaw knocks on the door with no walls. Bradshaw says it’s locked, and Faarooq hilariously reminds him of the spare key so that Bradshaw can let himself in. Faarooq is bummed that they don’t have a match tonight, but Bradshaw has some good news. They’ve been invited back to The Friendly Tap bar tonight. Also, Bradshaw knows a place with “nekkid” women they can go for some practice beers.

Match Three
Booker T vs. Rikishi

A pretty, quick harmless match here. Booker hasn’t won anything worth meaning in a while now, and Rikishi doesn’t do a lot at this point either. To be fair, after Rikishi’s injury in late 2000, he was just never the same. A bit of a showcase match in the end for Booker here, with him only getting in trouble due to hotdogging a little too much. Rikishi nails him with a kick that sets Booker up in the corner, however he pulls the ref in the way of the Stink face. This allows him to explode from the corner with the Harlem Sidekick for the win. Filler and nothing special. *1/4​

We see clips of the 2002 Arnold Schwarzenegger Strongman Competition because Mark Henry won. Fuck yeah, let’s go Sexual Chocolate…

It’s long promo time now as Chris Jericho and Stephanie McMahon come down to the ring together. I guess at least they come out to his music and not hers. Jericho starts things off by asking Steph if she felt the buzz that’s generated for a living legend who beat The Rock and Austin in the one night to become the first ever Undisputed Champion. He then talks up Stephanie a bit before saying that Triple H talks about how Jericho has never beaten him, but Jericho says he did something much worse. A video package then plays showing the moment Triple H tore his quad, as well as Jericho applying the Walls of Jericho on the announce table after the fact. Jericho might not have gotten the 123, but he did take 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 months off Triple H’s career. If the injury didn’t happen, maybe Triple H and Steph’s marriage wouldn’t have fallen apart, and maybe he would have been man enough to get Steph pregnant. Stephanie takes over and says that isn’t true, because when it came to the bedroom, Triple H always came up a little short. She then literally holds her thumb and index finger not to far apart to show just how small his penis apparently is. What the hell am I watching? Anyway, I guess that was enough for everybody else too because now Triple H interrupts and comes to the ring. Triple H defends himself by saying that it wasn’t so much that The Game was short, it’s just that the playing field was too damn big. As much as I dislike Triple H and Steph taking over the World Title feud and Jericho feeling like an after thought, I’ve always enjoyed that line for Trips here. Maybe I’m just immature? Stephanie seems confused by H’s line, so he clarifies by saying that even a 747 looks small flying over the Grand Canyon. Finally, Triple H turns his attention to, you know, the champion and tells him to prove how tough he is. Triple H challenges Jericho to a non title match tonight. Before Jericho can answer, now it’s Kurt Angle’s turn to interrupt. Kurt reminds Triple H that he doesn’t make the decisions around here, Vince McMahon does. Apparently Vince is trying to make up for what happened to Kurt last week, so he has booked Angle vs. Jericho for the Undisputed Title tonight. Angle then tells Stephanie that after he beats Jericho, he’ll be happy to let Steph be in his corner at WrestleMania. As Angle leaves, Triple H attacks and beats up Jericho, before throwing him from the ring. I’ll start with the positives, at least Jericho/Angle should be good. That’s about all I have. Jericho takes a backseat to the Triple H/Steph show, and then he still gets punked out in the end as well. Just not good booking.

The Coach tries to interview Mr. Perfect in the back but Perfect stops him because nobody wants to hear Coach’s imperfect voice. Perfect says that he never asked Austin to beat him up after he was eliminated from the Rumble, but maybe Austin is asking for a perfect ass kicking. In typical heel bullshit, he then says that he’s still the only one with a perfect record in the WWE, as his previous match with Kane was simply an exhibition. Playing on exhibition rules is a cool, heel trick.

Match Four
WWF Womens Championship Match
Jazz (c) vs. Molly Holly

I don’t know if I’m losing track but it literally feels like it has been weeks worth of shows since the last women’s match. Jazz attacks Molly right from the get go, and outside of the odd flash pin, this is pretty much a squash for Jazz. I don’t mind Molly, but considering Jazz is bad, it means so’s the quality of the squash. In the end, it’s a Fisherman’s Buster which puts Molly away. ¾*​

After the match, Jazz keeps attacking and does more damage to Molly with an STF and a DDT.

When we return from the break, EMT’s and some officials are helping Molly Holly in the ring. It’s worth noting that one of these officials is Arn Anderson. It’s worth noting that because The Undertaker comes out and begins beating the shit out of Arn. He lays in right hands, busting Arn open, who has a tremendous blade job and sells like a beast. Imagine if Arn could wrestle at this point. Anyway, he beats the hell out of Arn some more before telling him to tell Flair. Awesome way for ‘Taker to try and goad Flair into a Mania match. Just awesome. JR did a really good job on commentary of selling Arn as partially disabled and just how much he means to Flair.

After another break, Arn Anderson gets loaded into an ambulance.

Match Five
WWF Undisputed Championship Match
Chris Jericho (c) w/Stephanie McMahon vs. Kurt Angle

This is really good stuff from both these guys just as I expected. Rather than having a huge period of either man in control, they play more of a back and forth set up with both men picking their shots as they slow build the match towards its peak. There is one awkwardly obvious call, where Angle tells Jericho to grab the ropes. It’s clear as day to hear when you watch it, and obviously that means when Jericho goes for the German Suplex, Jericho stops it by grabbing the ropes. I’m more pointing that out for fun as it in no way impacted my enjoyment of the match. They build nicely to the crescendo of a whole bunch of reversals of all their big stuff. There was also a cool moment where they tried to out heel each other, with Jericho trying to use the ring bell, but this leading to Angle being able to hit him with one of the titles. Eventually, Kurt locks on the Ankle Lock but Jericho makes it to the ropes. Angle holds on and Jericho pulls himself up with the aid of the ropes, before hitting an Enzuiguri which sends Angle to the outside. Stephanie distracts the referee and Kane comes from nowhere to Press Slam Angle back into the ring, and Jericho finishes him off with the Breakdown. Really good stuff, and even with the slight assist from Kane, probably the best Jericho has looked in a while. I guess this hypes up Kane/Kurt as well, although I always felt like Kurt deserved a better ‘Mania program after his awesome 2001. As for the match, I would definitely recommend it. ***1/4​

After the match, Kane gets back into the ring and Clothesline Angle to the outside. Kane grabs a chair and heads after Kurt, who hightails it.

During that match, Ric Flair finally arrived at the arena because I guess when you’re the boss you can show up when you want. Anyway, he gets told about Arn Anderson being demolished by The Undertaker and immediately gets back in his limo and leave.

We then see a clip of Hollywood Hogan walking into The Rock’s locker room before heading to commercials.

When we return, Hogan is chatting to a cardboard cut out of The Rock. Ugh, lame. Hogan tells Rocky he looks so good after the beating, before asking if he thinks anybody will remember him in 20 years’ time. Hogan talks about how his attack on The Rock is what legends are made of, and he should be thanking Hogan. So many people wish they could be taken out by THE Hulk Hogan. Hogan says Rock isn’t in his league and tells him he’ll find out the difference between a wanna be and the real thing at ‘Mania. Hogan then knocks the cardboard cut-out of The Rock to the floor with his belt because he’s tough. This whole thing is terrible. Will try not to continue to lament the build to this one, but just not good at all.

Now we finally see The APA arriving at The Friendly Tap for some harmless fun. They see when they arrive that it’s men’s night, but they think that means that drinks are cheap for men. Fucking LOL. They freak out hard when they realise all the men are dancing with each other, and one even tries to dance with them. Bradshaw passes the guy off to Faarooq, who clearly isn’t interested either. The guy isn’t happy and starts arguing with them when Billy and Chuck attack The APA from behind. The tag champs really show their first signs of toughness, with Bradshaw getting thrown into a pinball machine and hit with a pool stick, meanwhile Faarooq cops a shot with a beer bottle. I’ve hated on the Billy and Chuck team since day one almost. I like the gimmick, but they just aren’t good wrestlers at this point (Billy gets a lot of hate but he was okay ay times during his peak). And every match or involvement they’ve had with The APA so far has been bad. Whilst I expect more of that to come, this was awesome. Entertaining with the comedy and a fun beatdown.

As Mr. Perfect is walking towards the entrance for his match, he sees the entirety of the NWO and their wheelbarrow. Surely that wheelbarrow won’t be used in the main event, right? Anyway, Scott Hall wishes Perfect luck.

Match Six
Mr. Perfect vs. Stone Cold

Honestly, I don’t have a hell of a lot to say about this one, it was just as disappointing as I suspected yet hoped it wouldn’t be. Perfect barely gets any offense in and at around the five-minute mark, it was just an extended squash for Austin. After running through his Lou Thesz Press, and stomping a mudhole spots, Austin basically just picks him up, boot to the gut, Stunner. Disappointing, and both looked like they didn’t care to be there. *3/4​

After the match, Austin gets into celebration mode and begins downing some beers when Scott Hall comes down. He of course has the wheelbarrow with him which is revealed to be carrying cinderblocks. Hall gets in and begins to beatdown Austin, and it isn’t long before the rest of the NWO joins in. They tie Austin’s legs around the post and Hall smashes one of the cinderblocks into Austin’s knee. NWO end the show looking strong whilst Austin looks badly injured. The tease of the wheelbarrow all night was maybe a little much, but I’m just happy to see the NWO look strong here. I’m sure it won’t last long, but I’ll take this moment over anything else they’ve done since their debut.

Finding it harder and harder to enjoy these shows as I continue to hate the direction most the angles that get the most airtime are heading (Austin/Hall, Rock/Hogan, Triple H/Stephanie (he’s barely feuding with Jericho). Silver lining to this was the fun APA/Billy and Chuck stuff, and a couple of matches actually worth watching (tag titles and Undisputed title).

 

[Stojy]

WWF Smackdown
February 28th, 2002
Boston, Massachusetts ​

The commentators welcome us to the show and hype up the big tag team match of the night which will see WWF Undisputed Champion Chris Jericho teaming with Kurt Angle to take on Kane and Triple H.

Our scheduled match to start the show is The Dudley Boyz and Stacy Keibler vs. The Hardy Boyz and Lita. When The Dudleyz make their entrance though, Stacy Keibler has her ankle all taped up. Bubba Ray Dudley gets on the mic and says that after a long and arduous photo shoot today, Stacy injured her ankle. Because of that, they’ve gotten themselves a new partner and it’s the WWF Womens Champion Jazz. Not a bad swerve really, as whilst I don’t like Jazz, she’s better in the ring than Stacy. Plus, this is a nice shitty heel tactic, with them having a lame excuse to upgrade their partner.

Match One
The Hardy Boyz and Lita vs. The Dudley Boyz and Jazz w/Stacy Keibler

I enjoyed this, I thought it was okay. Jazz and Lita went at it and got a solid portion of the match to showcase their stuff. If there was a lowlight of the match, it was Jazz but at least she’s trying, and Lita is at that level where her sloppyish/carless bump taking kind of covers up Jazz’s low points. I don’t know if it’s just because I know of his history now, as I probably didn’t pick it up as a youngster, but Jeff had a good match here. He didn’t miss any of his offense and he bumped well. I call this out because upon this rewatch, I’ve identified just how inconsistent he was. There are times where he looks like a world beater, and then there are times where he just looks completely out of it. Anyway, at this point in time I don’t think it’s possible for The Hardyz and The Dudleyz to have a bad match together, as they do what they normally do. To add to the swerve/angle to begin the show, Stacy turns out to not be injured, because as Lita prepares to nail the Twist Of Fate on Jazz, Stacy nails her with a Spin Kick. This allows Jazz to get the win. Solid match to kick off the show. **1/2​

We see The Undertaker in the backstage area watching a replay of what happened on Raw, where he basically beat the hell out of Arn Anderson. As he’s enjoying watching his own handiwork, Ric Flair barges in. Flair asks if ‘Taker’s enjoying himself and he says that he is. He says all he wants is a yes, but Flair calls him a cold-hearted bastard. Flair then takes out the video tape and throws it against the wall, before saying ‘Taker will have his answer later tonight.

We get a replay, and we are reminded that on Raw, Scott Hall along with his NWO pals hit Austin’s knee with a cinder block.

Stone Cold makes his way to the ring with a steel chair in his hand, and a bandaged kneed as he limps to the ring. It’s clear Austin isn’t in a good mood but before he can even speak, the NWO as a whole come out onto the stage. Austin tells them that he might go down, but the first sumbitch to get in the ring with him is getting hit in the face with a chair. Hogan tells Austin to relax because he’s clearly in no condition to fight. Austin’s not in any better condition than The Rock and The Rock isn’t even here tonight. So, Hogan is left to create another epic saga in his career. Hogan says the gimp is in check, so he’s not needed here, and he leaves. Scott Hall takes the mic and brags about what they’ve done on to The Rock and Austin, before showing a replay of the cinder block attack. Hall says that’s just the beginning of Austin being treated like an animal. Kevin Nash chimes in and says Hall should go down there and take care of Austin now. Austin tells them not to come to him, because he’ll go to them. Austin limps up the ramp and pulls out a gun, which shoots out a net and traps Nash. Austin attacks Hall, landing some shots before Hall goes to the bad leg. That’s enough to stop Austin and allow Hall to free Nash so they can escape together. The net thing was pretty farfetched, Hogan barely made sense, and a pissed off Austin (the best one on the mic) barely spoke. This was far from special.

Next up is replays of RVD becoming the number one contender to the WWF Intercontinental Championship at Raw.

Match Two
William Regal vs. The Big Show

Yeah, so Big Show basically does whatever he wants with Regal because screw our IC champ. Regal tries to fight back but Show plays the role of an actual giant tonight, and just no sells everything that gets sent his way. Eventually, the slimy Regal gets his hands on his brass knucks and nails the big punch, but it backfires because Show falls on Regal. Because of how heavy/big Big Show is, Regal can’t get him off and Show wins this way. I would have much preferred if Regal didn’t drop meaningless matches like this heading into ‘Mania, and as a spectacle, this was not worth the time of day. *3/4​

In the back, Booker T is rehearsing for his audition for the Japanese shampoo commercial that he desperately craves. Booker wants to know what Tajiri, and Torrie Wilson think before he gives them his lines. “Yo, Japanese people. What’s the deal with your nasty hair? Just because you know kung fu, doesn’t mean you know shampoo”. Tajiri doesn’t seem to be impressed and tells Torrie to translate that it’s offensive, but Booker gets mad and wonders what’s wrong with it, sucka. Tajiri says it’s insulting for Booker to talk about their hair when he looks like Buckwheat on crack. I openly admit to not getting that reference, but Booker’s shampoo audition lines were some good comedy.

Chris Jericho is cleaning his Undisputed Titles, when Stephanie McMahon tells him that he should find somebody to do that for him. It’s beneath a champion. Stephanie then gets her bitchy/dominant voice going when she stresses the importance of Jericho getting along with Angle tonight. Oh, she also then decides to complain because apparently Jericho got the wrong skin lotion for her. She said she will break out, so she needs him to go and get the right one, but Jericho says he has a match to get ready for. She then says Jericho needs her to beat Triple H and if he wants her help, she’ll go get it now. Jericho eventually agrees. Our Undisputed Champion becoming Steph’s bitch is finally here. Ugh.

We see Maven warming up for his first Hardcore Title defence.

Match Three
WWF Hardcore Championship Match
Maven © vs. Goldust

I’ve professed my love for him a few times here and I’ll continue to do so. Sure, he’s had sometimes in his career where he’s gotten out of shape/lazy and his work has suffered because of it, but when Goldust wants to perform, he certainly can. Goldust was good here as expected, however Maven was just bad. Luckily, the Hardcore stipulation allows them to use trash cans, trash can lid, and a fire extinguisher to slightly cover for Maven’s lack of experience/skill. Probably lucky to because this could have been all time bad without those weapons. Anyway, Maven ends up using the extinguisher to blind Goldust, which allows him to get a Schoolboy for the win. *1/2​

After the match, Goldust kicks Maven and looks set to attack, but The Undertaker comes out and Goldust smartly decides to leave. Continuing their mini angle since the Rumble (I love these minor angles), ‘Taker beats the shit out of Maven, until his Tough Enough mentor, Al Snow makes the save.

Match Four
Al Snow vs. The Undertaker

There’s not much to this, The Undertaker dominates. Snow lands a Superkick and tries to show some fight, but eventually they end up on the outside, where ‘Taker lands a nasty Chokeslam on the floor. Once they get back into the ring, ‘Taker locks in the Dragon Sleeper and that’s enough to finish off Snow. Hard to really rate a squash match, but I’ll try. *1/2​

After the match, ‘Taker doesn’t look interested in letting go of the hold, but Flair runs down and grabs ‘Taker’s own lead pipe from his bike. Flair nails ‘Taker over and over in the ribs with the pipe, saving Al Snow, but more importantly, getting revenge for Arn. Flair tells him that as far as WrestleMania goes, the answer to his challenge is still no. But if ‘Taker ever comes after one of his friends again, he’ll show him why he’s the dirtiest player in the game. I will continue to confess my love for this hype as it happens.

We see a replay of Billy and Chuck attacking The APA at The Friendly Tap during Raw.

Match Five
WWF Tag Team Championship Match
Billy and Chuck (c) vs. The APA

Yeah, so to be completely honest, as much as I wasn’t looking forward to another match between these teams, I’d rather see it here with limited time then at WrestleMania. It kind of makes sense that The APA would want to bring it forward to gain revenge after what happened on Raw. A thumbs up on the scheduling of the match, and to be fair, whilst this still wasn’t good, this wasn’t the worst match on the show. These two teams just work in the ring together and I think the combinations with seen of that through February show that it’s not going to change anytime soon. I guess silver lining is it's only a couple of minutes long. Billy manages to come in as the illegal man and hit a Fameasser on Faarooq, which allows Chuck to get the win. Still not good and hopefully the last time I have to see it. *3/4​

Maven is messed up after his Hardcore match with Goldust and beatdown from The Undertaker. To the point where he’s actually lying on a stretcher as he gets checked out by EMT’s. Goldust approaches to ask the doctor how Maven is. The doctor mentions that Maven is barely conscious, and oh hey, Goldust just happens to have a referee with him. Goldust throws Maven down and pins him to become the new Hardcore Champion. Maven didn’t get much of a reign nor did he deserve one really. I’m happy with this because surely Goldust will do better.

Booker T approaches because he notices that Tajiri is on the phone to the Japanese commercial people. They must know each other since they’re from the same country, right? Anyway, Booker snatches the phone and sells himself before saying shower now instead of Sayonara. After Booker leaves, Tajiri tells them “don’t worry, just the jackass”.

We now get a pretty cool video package which highlights the career of Hollywood/Hulk Hogan. Kind of ruin it by including the truck bullshit with The Rock at the end, bit I guess it makes sense to include details on his current angle.

Match Six
Booker T vs. Scotty 2 Hotty

Just a squash match. Booker dominates for the most part, although Scotty does manage to nail a Bulldog. Scotty then jumps around for The Worm, but Booker intercepts it with one of his patented sidekicks. Scissor Kick, Spinaroonie and another Harlem Sidekick follow, before Booker gets the win. I like Booker so even though this is a squash, it’s still getting some good ratings. He’s had a rough month. **​

After the match, Booker T is in celebration mode when the titantron comes alive, to show the shampoo people with Tajiri and Torrie Wilson. They are all there congratulating Edge on becoming the spokesperson for the Japanese Shampoo. It’s safe to say Booker is not happy.

In the back, Christian is having his doubts. He has no idea why he is here and why he’s listening to a guy like DDP. Speaking of the devil, DDP then appears and tells Christian that he needs a positive relationship with the fans. DDP introduces Christian to a young boy and girl. The boy calls Christian ugly, and DDP has to hold Christian back, so he doesn’t attack the kid. LOL. DDP tells Christian to have a sense of humour, so Christian fake laughs it off, until the girl asks why he’s such a loser. Christian tells her that if she wants to see a loser, they should go see their Dad. They boy says they don’t have a dad and stomps on Christian’s foot before leaving. Christian rules, this was heaps of fun, and furthers the enjoyable, light-hearted DDP/Christian angle.

Stephanie McMahon walks into Triple H’s locker room and Kane leaves, because I guess it’s normal for a ‘normal guy’ (Triple H) and a freak/monster like Kane to get together beforehand and discuss strategy. Anyway, this segment is basically them discussing their divorce, how lucky we are. She says that Triple H’s comments on Raw were slander, but Triple H says you can’t bust a guy for telling the truth. When it comes to the divorce, she says she deserves more, but Trips says 50% is more than enough, especially considering she spent all her money on ECW. Whilst this angle sucks, I do like the continuity with the mentioning of her purchasing ECW. Stephanie says that she made Triple H, so she deserves 50% of everything he earns until the day he dies. Yucky segment, yucky angle.

We see clips of the Jericho/Angle match from Raw.

Match Seven
Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle w/Stephanie McMahon vs. Kane and Triple H

I enjoyed this, I thought it was solid enough. With that being said, I did think maybe they got the roles in this one a little bit reversed. Again, the big monster/tough guy is playing the face in peril so that Triple H can look like a bad ass when he gets the hot tag. Considering how big/intimidating Kane is as opposed to Triple H, you’d think logically it would be the other way around. Although I guess they just want Triple H to look amazingly good to continue his Rumble momentum. Not sure, but it just didn’t quite translate into what I’d expect. That being said, Kane actually played the role really well, selling the ankle that was worked on, which is part of the reason why this was so enjoyable. Admittedly, Kane was a little inconsistent with it though because once things heated up and we got to the finishing run, it suddenly seemed like his ankle was fine. There were of course the teases of Triple H nailing Steph with a Pedigree as well, but it isn’t time to blow that angle off yet (unfortunately). Stephanie sneaks into the ring with a chair and hits Kane with it, but Kane no sells it and snatches the chair from her. Kane nails Angle with the chair which makes Kurt fall victim to the Pedigree. Triple H gets the win for his team. Considering how badly he’s being booked right now; I’ll take Jericho not taking the fall as a plus. Really solid main event, best match of the show. **3/4​

Another meh show. I know there’s still a few weeks to go but this definitely doesn’t feel like the usual hottest part of the year heading into WrestleMania. Hopefully this can heat up in March as this is the last show of Feb. Next post will be a bit of a recap of February, similar to what I did at the end of Jan.

 

[Stojy]

WWF February 2002

Top 5 Matches of the month​

WWF Undisputed Championship Match: Chris Jericho (c) w/Stephanie McMahon vs. Kurt Angle – Raw, February 25th
Kurt Angle and The Undertaker vs. Maven and Triple H – Smackdown, February 14th
Lance Storm and The Dudley Boyz w/Stacy Keibler vs. Rob Van Dam and The Hardy Boyz w/Lita – Smackdown, February 21st
The Rock vs. The Undertaker – No Way Out
Goldust vs. Rob Van Dam – No Way Out

Bottom 5 Matches of the month​

WWF Womens Championship Match: Jazz (c) vs. Mighty Molly – Raw – February 25th
Kane vs. Kurt Angle – Smackdown, February 21st
Big Bossman vs. Crash Holly – Heat, February 3rd
Funaki vs. The Godfather – Heat, February 3rd
Scotty Too Hotty vs. The Hurricane w/ Mighty Molly – Heat, February 10th

Top 5 Wrestlers of the month​

The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff had the best overall ranking, but solely wrestled as a tag team in February, so including them as one entry)
Chris Jericho
Rob Van Dam
Triple H
D’Von Dudley

Bottom 5 Wrestlers of the month​

Mighty Molly
Crash Holly
Funaki
Big Bossman
The Godfather