Stojy watches WWE 2002

[Stojy]

WWE Heat
September 8th, 2002
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Match One
Jackie vs. Victoria

There’s really not a hell of a lot to say for this one except that it wasn’t very good. Since we are still in 2002, The Coach and D’Lo on commentary spend a substantial amount of time talking about Victoria’s ass and Jackie’s boobs. For women’s wrestling at this time, this was completely fine. Probably even an impressive showing by Victoria who is still relatively new at this point. Anyway, Jackie hits something of a Karate blitz with a Spinning kick at the end to get the win. Not good, but better than expected. *1/4
​

Earlier today, Howard Finkel talks to Raven in the hallway. The Fink says that much like how Raven lost a match on Raw a couple of months ago and was banned from ever appearing on the program again, the same thing happened to Howard on Raw. He had a match against “that sailor loving floozy, Lilian Garcia”, that he lost, so now he’s no longer allowed on Raw either. Fink promises to bounce back to the top. Fink says, “it’s kind of like, Raven, we’re two peas in a pod”. Raven isn’t interested in talking to The Fink and says that Heat is his personal playground. His match against D’Lo was just one game, “one little piece of the puzzle”. They are all pawns being controlled Raven. When it comes down to it, everyone is just a small piece of my biggest masterpiece. Not really sure I want to see The Fink being paired up with Raven. If that’s where this is going, with Raven’s manipulative ways, I’m worried.

Match Two
Shawn Stasiak vs. Shelton Benjamin

As awesome as Shelton will eventually become, he’s not there yet. He’s green as hell here, meaning he needs to be paired with somebody more reliable than Stasiak to have a good match. Stasiak is not the guy to carry anybody to a good match. Oh yeah, worth noting that Shelton has new entrance music for this one as well. They do a nice spot where Stasiak goes for a Vertical Suplex but Shelton flips behind Stasiak, lands on his feet and hits a Neckbreaker instead. Shelton lands what Coach has dubbed the Money Clip, which is basically just his Dragon Whip kick for the win. They tried hard but the match wasn’t any good, although Shelton shows promise with his athleticism. *1/2​

We get a video recap of the Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H match at Summerslam before seeing the Shawn Michaels interview via satellite from this week’s Raw.

On the way to the ring for his match, Raven stops to taunt D’Lo at commentary, likely confirming that their issues aren’t over with. I’m okay with this. Having a long running issue on Heat has been refreshing and entertaining.

Match Three
Raven vs. Spike Dudley

As they lock up to begin in a very unECW like start for these two, the fans break out into a quiet chant of ECW. This one was an improvement on the two matches before it but still wasn’t very good. Raven is in control but D’Lo stands up at commentary and jaw jacks with him, allowing Spike to snatch a Backslide and get the upset. If this means D’Lo/Raven is continuing I’m happy, although this match wasn’t good. *3/4​

We see footage from during the break where Raven and D’Lo exchanged insults again, with The Coach holding back D’Lo at commentary. The Heat feud of the year is continuing, yay. One thing that bothers me with stuff like this confrontation here, is suddenly The Coach is strong enough to be able to keep D’Lo away from Raven on his own. Meh, makes D’Lo look like he can’t overpower Coach which isn’t great.

Match Four
Goldust vs. Steven Richards

Both these guys are underrated wrestlers, especially Goldust, so I was severely disappointed with the match we got here. Just seemed clunky and never really had a flow which didn’t make it all that interesting to watch. Yeah, doesn’t quite deliver as I would have liked but is still probably the best match of the night which tells you how the match quality was this show. In the end, Goldust hits his Curtain Call finish to get the win. Still not a good one. *3/4​

A really average episode of Heat, with the only shining light being the beef between D’Lo and Raven.

 

[Stojy]

WWE Raw
September 9th, 2002
Iowa State University ​

Before the opening match can begin, Bradshaw cuts an in ring promo. He calls the UnAmericans bastards. He wants to make something clear and says he and Kane aren’t here to win the tag titles for themselves. They are in the heartland of America and think this is the perfect time to bring the titles home. A solid enough rev up promo from Bradshaw. Got the crowd hot, and it makes sense to play with the patriotic theme so close to Sep 11.

Match One
WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Lance Storm and Christian (c) vs. Bradshaw and Kane

This was surprisingly, and I say surprisingly because the team of Bradshaw and Kane is really random on paper, but this was surprisingly good. One of Storm and Christian’s major strengths are bumping around for big men, so they managed to look Bradshaw and Kane’s offense look fantastic throughout. Bradshaw and Kane were both on their games in terms of hitting all their power stuff cleanly, and when they were in trouble, they sold well also. Again, whether it was the Bradshaw promo, the time of year, or just pure patriotism, the crowd was SUPER hot for this which helped also. After Kane’s good face in peril period, Bradshaw gets the hot and really delivers on that aspect as well. Finishing run was also quite good with a lot of hot near falls and false finishes. The ending comes about when Storm accidentally Missile Dropkicks the referee. Test then runs down and gives Kane the Big Boot. Before Test can escape, Bradshaw runs through him with the Clothesline From Hell. Another nice swerve here as it looked like Bradshaw would overcome the interference, but then William Regal knocks him out with brass knuckles, allowing Christian to get the pin. A really good opener, and the booking of Regal joining The UnAmericans is one that makes a lot of sense. *** ​

After the match, Regal celebrated up the ramp with The UnAmericans. I couldn’t be happier that Regal is going to have a purpose, as he was kind of just languishing with his weird, not all that important friendship with Nowinski.

Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff is in the ring next for a promo. He says he hears some Raw superstars were upset that Triple H was given the World Championship. So tonight he’s making a main event number one contender elimination match between Rob Van Dam, Chris Jericho, The Big Show and Jeff Hardy. Bischoff now wants to talk about the entertainment aspect of the show. He complains about the mainstream media covering Smackdown’s “commitment ceremony” as it’s a publicity stunt. He can top that. He announces HLA. The HLA stands for “Hot Lesbian Action”… Ugh, not a fan. I get in this time period the divas were mainly eye candy, and I can live with that. But this sort of stunt just does nothing for me, not what I’m here to see.

Backstage Terri interviews Chris Jericho. She asks about the four way for the number one contendership. Jericho says he has a real chance to be the number one contender to Triple H’s World Title. He takes a bit of an apple and continuously spits on Terri as he’s talking. He’s excited to face the same Triple H who changes his Intercontinental Title shot against Rob Van Dam. Jericho recalls being the first Undisputed Champion, and says he has a plan to bring the title back where it belongs, across his beautiful waist. Eh, this was okay. The content to hype the main event and play off the long term history of Jericho/Triple H was great. The apple spitting stuff just felt unnecessary.

In the back, Triple H tells The Coach that he doesn’t sweat Rob Van Dam. He is the champion, and it doesn’t matter who he faces at the pay per view. Bubba Ray Dudley interrupts and asks Triple H about his match tonight with Spike Dudley. H says he wanted the most competitive Dudley. He thinks Bubba is the lucky one. Bubba says that he has a match with Steven Richards tonight, and he’s going to, but Steven Richards comes up and sucker punches Bubba. This was good. I like the continued issues with Bubba and Triple H, and whilst the Stevie attack is random, it adds some heat to the otherwise random match with Bubba tonight.

Backstage, Terri Runnels and Trish Stratus are walking when they see a locker room with a nameplate of lesbians. Meh.

Match Two
Bubba Ray Dudley vs. Steven Richards

This one is just a Bubba squash really, which I guess is way to prop him up for the eventual pay off when Triple H beats him. Jerry Lawler is way to over the top about lesbians on commentary to the point where it becomes brutally annoying. Only real positive out of this one was the hot crowd. Otherwise, whilst Richards did get a bit of offense in, this was a Bubba showcase which means it always limited. Bubba hits a Powerbomb off the middle rope to win in at least what was a cool ending to a dull match. *3/4

Match Three
Stacy Keibler and Victoria vs. Terri Runnels and Trish Stratus

This was not good at all, which probably isn’t surprising since Keibler and even more, so Terri aren’t wrestlers. On commentary, Lawler continues, constantly calling for “hot lesbian action” to break out during the match. Otherwise, this certainly happened. I guess at least it didn’t feel completely random with Stacy/Terri and Victoria/Trish having their issues. Surprisingly, Terri hit Stacy with a Crossbody off the top rope to get the win. Trish/Victoria has SO much potential, but it does make me wonder where the WWE Womens Champion Molly Holly fits into all of this. After all, this is the era where we can’t have more than one woman’s feud on a show at a time. Anyway, I digress, this match was still bad. ¾*​

In the back, Christopher Nowinski and William Regal talk. Nowinski asks why Regal would end being his mentor to join the UnAmericans. Regal says that he’s been UnAmerican since he first joined the WWE. Nowinski then talks about HLA. Regal slaps him. Regal tells him he’s the smartest man here, and all he can think about is lesbians and rogering Molly Holly. He is a bloody Harvard graduate, and it’s time to start acting like it. I enjoyed this. I like that this Regal/Nowinski friendship wasn’t dropped without giving closure. Also Regal was just epic here in general which made it more fun.

Now Christopher Nowinski is in the ring for a promo. He says a friend of his just made him realise that Iowa State is being graced by a Harvard graduate. He keeps shitting on Iowa State for not being as good as Harvard. Tommy Dreamer interrupts and makes his way down the ramp armed with two Singapore Canes. Tommy says roses are red, violets are lame, and why don’t I beat you, with my Singapore Canes. They then start to fight. Dreamer slides in and hits Nowinski with a Spinebuster, followed by a Swinging Neckbreaker. Nowinski slides out of the ring and nails Dreamer with one of the Canes. Tommy fights back, lands his own Cane shots and runs off Nowinski. A filler segment really. Pretty meaningless but got the crowd to pop nicely. I’m assuming this may lead to a match in future weeks as well, which works as a lower card feud. These two are polar opposites.

Backstage, Spike Dudley is walking when the lesbians wish Spike good luck in his match. More meh.

Match Four
Spike Dudley vs. Triple H

This was decent here and a really good heel performance from Triple H who kind of carried this for me. From acting like a condescending prick using this as a warmup, to the complete change of mindset and struggling to come back when Spike gets going. A fine underdog match really, and Spike got in a fair bit towards the end, but it was all due to H’s arrogance which made it work. Kind of one of the first times you could see H, now owning the big gold belt, doing his Flair cosplay thing, which like I said, he did well here. I guess it’s kind of frustrating to see what Triple H can do when he wants to, but then there were multiple PPV matches with Jericho this year, and No Way Out against Angle where this version of him just did not show up. Credit to the crowd who again helped this match by staying hot to. The ending starts to come about when Triple H gives the Pedigree to Spike but relaxes instead of pinning him. H instead shoves the referee and picks Spike up again. That leaves an opening for Spike to get a low blow and a Dudley Dog for a near fall when H gets a foot on the bottom rope (please keep in mind this was not like modern day where a foot on the rope happens in EVERY match). Spike tries it again, but H shoves him off and applies a Sleeper. This was a weird two week stretch where H tried to use a Sleeper as a finish so that’s enough for the ref to call it. Really decent stuff. **1/2​

After the match, H stomps on Spike’s head until Bubba Ray slides into the ring and H leaves. Again, H bullying Spike continues to build towards the eventual H/Bubba showdown which is fine.

Backstage, The Coach asks Jeff Hardy about his opportunity to become number one contender to the World Title. Jeff is distracted as he sees Eric Bischoff and Eric apologises for last week. He says he put Jeff in the number one contender match to make it okay. Hardy says that he deserves to be in the match. He was “this” close to being the World Champ against The Undertaker in a ladder match. This is not a favour but if Eric EVER pulls something like that again, he’ll show him the true meaning of extreme. Booking of this is fine, as in Bischoff trying to make up for his mistake and Jeff being pissed. Jeff’s delivery with his terrible aggressive tone is just awful though. Makes it really hard to buy in.

Backstage, The Big Show laughs at Chris Jericho suggesting that they team together and is talking to Johnny Stamboli about it. Johnny says Show should listen to Jericho but Show chokes him and tells him to shut up and mind his own business. Lol poor Stamboli. I guess this is more hype to the main event, showing the focused mood of Show, as well as a potential alliance.

Backstage, The Coach is with Booker T for an interview. Coach asks about William Regal joining The UnAmericans. Booker talks about what makes this country great. Goldust then appears behind Booker wearing a Kane mask. Goldust says what makes this country great is being able to team up with a man like him. Then the real Kane appears and Goldust is terrified. He says Kane just kind of snuck up on him there. Bradshaw then enters the scene and rallies the troops saying this match is important. Bradshaw then asks, “who wants to watch some HOT LESBIAN ACTION?” Goldust says they wouldn’t dream of doing that, but Kane says he’ll go. Booker says this is what makes this country great. Solid enough promo here to hype the next match, although more HLA mention gets a thumbs down from me.

Match Five
Booker T and Goldust vs. Test and William Regal

Just can’t get over how much I love this Booker and Goldust tandem. A basic match here between these four. Nothing disgraceful but nothing great either. Simple stuff with some okay action to continue to advance the pro USA/UnAmerican stable warfare that they are running with at the moment. I guess this was okay when Regal was in against Booker and Goldust, but unfortunately for Test, would dip in quality when he was the legal man. Booker gets a decent hot tag and cleans house. Regal hits a shot with the brass knuckles and Kane and Bradshaw run down to save for the DQ, meaning Christian and Lance Storm also run down to continue a brawl. Maybe with a proper ending, this could have been better but wasn’t terrible by any means. **1/4​

After the match, the brawl continues until The UnAmericans decide to flee and fight another day. Nothing else really to add here.

Backstage, the lesbians walk down a hallway, seemingly on their way to the ring. Meh, and If I can put my analytical hat on, they aren’t even that good looking.

Eric Bischoff is in the ring after the break, and he brings out two lesbians. Eric makes them disrobe and make out. Bischoff suggests that they take it slow, as Jerry Lawler is yet again unbearable on commentary. Bischoff tells them to have a slow, wet, warm kiss. He says that sex and violence always sells. He thinks that the show has gone on long enough. They’ve had plenty of sex but not enough violence. This has gone on three minutes to long. Jamal kicks one of the lesbians really hard in the chest, whilst Rosey grabs the other. Rosey gets a Military Press before throwing the lesbian into a Samoan Drop from Jamal. Rosey stacks the lesbians on top of each other in a 69 like position. Jamal comes off the top with a Flying Splash to squash them both. I’ve complained throughout about HLA because it was a ridiculous premise for the show to be built around, however the actual execution of the segment, whilst the HLA bit ran long, the attack from 3 Minute Warning was fucking epic and I loved every second of it. 3 Minute Warning NEED to be tag champs in an alternate universe somewhere.

Match Six
Number One Contendership for World Heavyweight Championship;
Elimination Match:
Chris Jericho vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Rob Van Dam vs. The Big Show

I thought this delivers as a main event and was match of the night for me. It started off strongly using Show as a base, with the big man just throwing everybody around. Just a really solid showing from all four involved here. The ref gets knocked down early on and Jericho hit RVD and Hardy with chair shots. Jericho then lost possession of the chair after Show no sells a shot and steals it, but Jericho convinces the ref that Show used it, and Show gets disqualified. A fun first elimination with some creative booking to keep Show looking strong, but more than that, it keeps building the storyline of Show dealing with constant screw jobs and not being happy with his standing on Raw. Annoyed with the result, Show Chokeslams the remaining three competitors before leaving. The action picks up in terms of speed and entertainment once Show has gone. Much like all their pairings in the past, RVD/Jeff Hardy continues to be a pairing that just works every time. Their chemistry is so good. Jericho shoves Jeff off the top rope and then hits him with a Lionsault to eliminate him. To continue the angle from last week and basically make the result even more obvious, Triple H comes down to watch the finale, not wanting Van Dam to win. Jericho/RVD was good as usual, and of course, RVD does indeed win with the Five Star Frog Splash. This match was solid. **3/4​

This show was a little below average for me. Bookended by some good matches, but most the focus on HLA wasn’t something I was a fan of.

 

[Stojy]

WWE Smackdown
September 12th, 2002
Minneapolis, Minnesota ​

Michael Cole and Tazz welcome us to tonight’s show and promote the two biggest items on the agenda (apparently). Billy and Chuck’s commitment ceremony and in a Summerslam rematch, Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio. I’m down for the match, not so much the commitment ceremony.

Match One
Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman vs. Hardcore Holly

It’s a not bad start to the show, with some hard hitting action, but it’s Holly involved so this always had a relatively low ceiling on it. Despite a star rating that probably doesn’t say so, this one is worth a watch because it’s quite memorable for one reason only. This is the match where Brock drops Holly on his head during a Powerbomb attempt and breaks his neck. It honestly just looks so careless, terrible from Brock here in my opinion. Holly was horrible before the broken neck, and didn’t get any better, but credit to him for continuing and getting hit with an F5 before the match is over. Decent I guess, but not great. **1/4​

Backstage, The Undertaker is walking with his pregnant wife Sara. This makes no sense to me from ‘Taker’s perspective. Just one week after Sara was mentioned by Heyman for the first time, ‘Taker now decided it’s good to have a ‘bring your wife to work’ day. Dumb really.

Match Two
Edge and John Cena vs. Los Guerreros

A step up from the opener and a really solid match. Despite not going overly long, the Guerrero’s managed to work in a realistic heat period on both Cena and Edge. Only seven minutes but they really made the time they had count. Crisp tag work really shows us for the first time in WWE how good Eddie and Chavo can be as a team. Edge probably did more of the work and was the better of the two out of his team, which makes sense due to his overall experience compared to Cena at this point. Cena tries really hard but is still green, and unfortunately at this point, doesn’t have the same crowd support as Edge as well, so it definitely feels like a step down when he’s in. I think the booking of having Cena involved allows the Guerreros to get the clean win as well, which is the perfect way to establish them as a legitimate threat as a tandem. Edge/Eddie almost feel like the perfect pairing when they get in the ring together in 2002, so looking forward to more from them. Anyway, really solid stuff like I said, and in the end, Guerreros isolated Cena, allowing Chavo to hit a Brainbuster, and then for Eddie to get the pin after the Frog Splash. **3/4
​

After the match, Chavo wants Eddie to rub Edge’s face into his ass. They attempt the Stinkface but Edge reverses and shoves Eddie into Chavo’s ass instead. Fun stuff to get Eddie even more mad at Edge which is the bigger picture. Obviously, the Guerrero’s played their roles perfectly here as well.

Backstage, Eddie is yelling at Chavo because he’s embarrassed. Following up here makes sense. Solid.

Marc Lloyd asks The Undertaker about bringing Sara to the arena for Smackdown. Matt Hardy eventually interrupts and tries to congratulate ‘Taker on having a kid and tries to say hi to Sara. ‘Taker throws Matt into a wall and goes back into his locker room. Eh, Matt, on purpose or otherwise, actually came across as kind of genuine here. In my opinion, ‘Taker isn’t being portrayed too well tonight.

Backstage, Rico is on the phone explaining that he has two grooms today. He then goes in to see Stephanie McMahon and asks her to reconsider and attend the ceremony. She says sorry, and she would like to, but she has horrible luck at weddings. She doesn’t want to be a jinx and hopes Rico understands. Rico says it’s not ok. The flowers haven’t arrived; the singers are stuck in traffic and the cake is screwed up. With Rico freaking out, Steph agrees to attend. Meh. Hype for the ceremony I guess, although I like the tongue in cheek continuity in regard to Steph’s history at weddings.

Next is in ring promo time from Kurt Angle. He says getting the Stinkface was not funny, much like what he’ll do to Rey Mysterio tonight. Angle makes a joke about Mysterio being short and the fact that they are in “Minny”. He says they probably all like Rey, since Minneapolis could use the benefit of a mask. He warns Chris Benoit that if Kurt ever sees Benoit laugh at him again there will be a union between Benoit’s face and his fist. He says Rey is a boy in a man’s world, and he is a man who loves to play with boys. He realizes what he said and backtracks. What he meant to say was that he’s going to love to manhandle that little boy tonight… NO HOLD ON WAIT. He gets frustrated and demands Rey gets to the ring now. A good promo here from Angle. Delivered from a comedy aspect, but also hyped his match with Rey, and his ongoing issues with Benoit. Couldn’t ask for much more.

Match Three
Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio

Mysterio uses his fast paced lucha offense to annoy Kurt and get him off his game. He even hits some wrestling moves, such as a Fireman’s Carry to further frustrate the Olympian. This really is a sprint as they get about eight minutes or so, but it’s a really good to great eight minutes. Constant action, a focal point with Angle focusing on Rey’s mid-section, just a hell of a match here. A nice highlight when Rey was teasing Kurt early, was when he slaps Angle. Angle then chases Rey who runs into the ropes and does the 619, whilst an out of control Angle tumbles through the ropes and to the floor. It was a cool, creative spot. After Angle dominates for a while, Rey comes back, but as opposed to selling his ribs, it seems he’s more focused on just selling general exhaustion. A bit awkward as it doesn’t make complete sense based on how quick the match is. Still, these two are another two that just have that chemistry, so much like Edge/Eddie, they could wrestle every week, and I’d be stoked. Another EPIC spot is when Rey runs at Angle, and Angle throws him over his head but Rey lands on his feet on the top rope and then hits a Moonsault onto Angle. Most likely not on purpose, but the spot was made better by the brutality of Mysterio’s knee coming straight down onto Angle’s head to. Rey holds his own with Kurt once again, reversing a lot of stuff, until Kurt hits a Super Angle Slam to win. Really, really good. ***1/2​

Backstage, a limo arrives, and security lets them through as they are for the wedding party. More hype for the ceremony. Meh.

Match Four
Chris Benoit vs. Rikishi

They don’t get a lot of time and there’s a finish that works against them, so this one always felt like an uphill battle. Benoit is Benoit so he clearly tries really hard, but it’s not good. Unfortunately, this isn’t 2000 Rikishi and is 2002 Rikishi, who just doesn’t have it in him anymore. They go for a couple of minutes only, until Kurt Angle runs down and shoves Benoit off the top rope to cause a DQ. Not good. *3/4​

After the match, Rikishi Superkicks Angle to avoid an Angle Slam. Benoit ends up falling into position for the Stinkface. Angle holds Benoit’s arms back and laughs as Rikishi gives Benoit the Stinkface. Well, it’s the same reason Benoit laughed at Angle last week, sot his levels it up. Weird way to build a feud between two of the best pure wrestlers on your roster, but whatever.

Backstage, Chris Benoit is with Stephanie McMahon and demands a match with Kurt Angle for Unforgiven. Matt Hardy interrupts and says he needs to talk to Stephanie. Steph books Benoit vs. Angle for Unforgiven. Hardy demands a match with The Undertaker tonight. She says since he is so full of “Mattitude” he can face ‘Taker. Solid segment doing the job of booking two matches.

Rico and Stephanie McMahon come down to the ring for the commitment ceremony. Rico says this is a groundbreaking moment. Two men will boldly go where none have ever gone before. Rico had to get a replacement priest who is very old. Billy and Chuck then make their way out. “Raining Men” is performed by the gospel singers as they make their entrance. They have cumber buns with BILLY and CHUCK on them. The host asks them to proceed with their written vowels. Chuck says that when he first met Billy, he knew he was a great tag team competitor, and his name was Mr. Ass. They exchange vows and then Rico shows an epic video package, highlighting some of their best moments together. Rico says he has been waiting for this moment for a long time. The minister asks if anyone thinks Billy and Chuck should not commit to each other, to speak now. The Godfather comes out some ho’s and tries to turn them straight, but Rico threatens him with security until he leaves. Rico assures Billy and Chuck that everything is under control. Rico wants to go to the end of the ceremony. Billy says yes. Chuck doesn’t look confident, and Rico tells him not to get cold feet. Chuck says “YES”, but then Billy and Chuck freak out and stop the ceremony. Chuck says this wasn’t supposed to get this far as it was a publicity stunt. Billy reveals they aren’t gay but there’s nothing wrong with gay people. Rico says he knew that they would back out at the last second and that the whole idea was his and they are ruining it. The priest says they have something special, be it for fifteen years, sixteen months or three minutes. Wait a minute, “did I just hear myself say three minutes”. The justice of the peace reveals himself to be Eric Bischoff. Three Minute Warning come in and destroy Billy, Chuck and Stephanie. Before Jamal can go for his splash on Steph, the Smackdown locker room runs down and chases the Raw invaders and Rico through the crowd. Meanwhile, Kurt Angle checks on Steph inside the ring. Whilst I wasn’t a fan of the publicity stunt throughout, the execution was actually okay. A mix between some funny and meh stuff in the early stages, but this all being a masterplan between Bischoff and Rico is kind of cool. It works. And now we wait to see how Stephanie will strike back in the Bischoff vs. Stephanie war.

Match Five
Nidia vs. Torrie Wilson

Really short and rushed and also not good. Torrie looks amazing here though so there’s that. Anyway, Torrie finishes Nidia off pretty quickly with a Spear, but it’s all bad. ½*​

Backstage, The Undertaker leaves Sara in the locker room by herself. Meanwhile, Matt Hardy gets Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman to accompany him to the ring. Again, just feels like ‘Taker is asking for trouble. I also love that after their confrontation earlier in the night, I can almost imagine Heyman running to Matt and getting him to get Stephanie to book this match so Brock/Paul could accompany him to the ring. So awesome.

Match Six
Matt Hardy w/Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman vs. The Undertaker

Heyman tries to play mind games right away, trying to distract ‘Taker by throwing a chair into the ring. The referee takes it away and gets sick of Heyman, banning him from ringside. ‘Taker is able to work over Hardy in the corner with his usual awesome strikes in the early stages. As the match continues, Heyman shows up on the titantron. He enters the locker room that Sara is in. He begins harassing Sara so ‘Taker stops beating up Hardy and runs backstage, basically getting himself counted out. Match wasn’t the focus here, meaning it wasn’t good and was just quick filler. * ​

‘Taker enters the locker room and grabs Heyman. But Brock Lesnar comes out of nowhere and smashes ‘Taker in the head with a steel chair. Brock backs Sara against the wall and puts his hand on her stomach. He then says life’s a bitch and intimidates her to end the show. I’ve no issues with the angle here. A good finish, with Heyman/Lesnar playing mind games with ‘Taker. I still feel like ‘Taker bringing Sara to work basically asked for this after last week though.

A solid show. Commitment ceremony surprisingly delivered, a couple of good matches, and hell, there’s something in this show for the Hardcore Holly haters too.

 

[Chris]

The Sara involvement really brought down what should have been a great feud on what was quickly turning into a great show. They just couldn't help themselves

 

[Stojy]

The Sara involvement really brought down what should have been a great feud on what was quickly turning into a great show. They just couldn't help themselves

I agree for the most part. I do like the premise of Heyman feeling for the first time like Brock is facing a real threat, so he looks for mind games/things outside the ring to get 'Taker off his game.

But yeah, I don't think they went about it the right way, and If I remember right, it's going to get worse before things are over.

 

[Chris]

That's a good analysis of it that I hadn't really thought of. Could have worked with better execution and Sara actually having an ounce of acting skills

 

[Stojy]

WWE Velocity
September 14th, 2002
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Match One
Reverend D’Von vs. Shannon Moore

Honestly, considering the two men involved, this was better than I expected. Decentish stuff for the most part to open up Velocity this week. Nothing overly impressive but still okay, and I at least thought they executed the finish really well. Booking wise it feels like this is absolutely the end of Moore being any sort of threat, as he lost his chance against the Cruiserweight Champ, and now he’s jobbing to guys on Velocity who are barely being used. Ending comes about when D’Von exposes a turnbuckle and then Flapjacks Moore into it (I guess Moore is protected in some way), and the blow softens Moore up for the Saving Grace. Decent/Okay at best. **

Match Two
Billy Kidman vs. Randy Orton

Wow okay, another one that caught me off guard. I didn’t expect a bad match between these two, but this was actually almost good. I also thought they handled the face against face dynamic well and just went out and put on a decent contest. Considering the inexperience of Orton to this point, I feel like credit has to go to Kidman here, for playing the veteran hand and guiding the youngster to something resembling a good match. Of course, Kidman controlling the match means he gets to not be Powerbombed and hit a Facebuster, because Orton is too young to know you can’t Powerbomb Kidman. The ending is kind of abrupt and lacks flow as Kidman looks like he’s maybe trying a Bulldog, but Orton gets out and hits the Overdrive. Not perfect, but better than expected. **1/2​

Now the commitment ceremony from Smackdown is shown.

On his way to the ring for his match against Albert, Funaki reminds everyone that he is Smackdown’s number one announcer. He says Albert should have more fun, and you can’t spell Funaki without “fun”… Let’s go, Funaki. Fine way to infuriate Albert further, I guess.

Match Three
Albert vs. Funaki

This was meh because it’s really all it was ever going to be and was designed to be, but I’m just pleased with the booking of Albert for a change. This was definitely how it SHOULD have gone. Albert got the chance to dominate with his power fueled arsenal (which is awesome), and Funaki delivered on the odd moment where he got to do some comedy. I did admittedly find it funny when Funaki started yanking on Albert’s chest and back hair to try and gain the advantage. Maybe this is the start of a push for Albert, I sure hope so. Pretty cool finish with Albert turning a Torture Rack into a Gutbuster. A bad match for the most part, but I can’t help but hope this is a step in the right direction for Albert. *​

After the match, Funaki gets a mic and says he’s okay. Albert comes back in and Catapults Funaki chest first into the bottom rope. Monster Albert push please.

Match Four
Crash Holly and The Hurricane vs. Jamie Noble and Tajiri w/Nidia

Not disgraceful by any means, but unlike the first two matches on this show, I was hoping for something better considering some of the names involved here. I also find it hilarious that Crash debuted a new finish in this one titled Crash Landing, but it’s the Styles Clash. It hilariously didn’t take them long to steal AJ Styles’ finish. Anyway, they do try and deliver some fun Cruiserweight action here, and I’m surprised by how easily Crash has fit into the division. Feels like Crash might be getting built up here to be an eventual challenger to Noble with a couple of impressive showings since coming over to Smackdown. The Styles Clash is landed on Tajiri to give Crash the win. Okay main event. **
​

A good episode of Velocity this week. No outright low effort matches, and the one match that was probably the least in terms of quality, at least still felt like it was booked as it should have been. More of this and I’ll be happy.

 

[Stojy]

WWE Heat
September 15th, 2002
Iowa State University

Match One
WWE Womens Championship
Molly Holly (c) vs. Jacqueline

A basic match but still not a good one as the women’s division continues to be pretty average, unless the odd pairing, most likely Trish and somebody else strike gold. That didn’t happen here. Actually, probably a bad match here. One thing that helped it somewhat was the fact that the crowd were hot, so the atmosphere at least made the viewing experience more enjoyable. But not good. The ending comes about when Molly Powerbombs Jackie off the corner and stacks her for the pin, with the aid of Molly placing her feet on the ropes illegally. *​

Earlier today, Howard Finkel was talking to Raven about Lilian Garcia. Suddenly, Johnny Stamboli interrupts. Stamboli reminds Raven about their deal from a few weeks ago when Stamboli defeated D’Lo Brown. Stamboli wants to know when Raven is going to pay him. Raven says he isn’t going to pay Stamboli because he paid him with opportunity. If that isn’t enough, he’ll pay Stamboli with opportunity again. Raven will face Stamboli tonight. Stamboli accepts and gives Raven a little slap on the face before leaving. Solid enough stuff here. I really like the longer term continuity here on Heat.

Match Two
Justin Credible vs. Shelton Benjamin

Another pretty basic match here, and whilst it’s still bad, it is at least a little better than the opener. Benjamin is clearly young, green, super athletic but a work in progress, so giving him these opportunities is only going to pay dividends in the long run. Outside of D’Lo and Raven, Shelton is already probably becoming the next favorite ‘Heat guy’ for me to watch. I won’t say too much about where Benjamin ends up and how he debuts, because I think we all kind of know. Anyway, the most impressive part of this match is the finish, as Shelton catches Credible coming off the top rope, and snaps off an impressively looking variation of something resembling a T Bone Suplex and a Northern Lights Suplex. Either way, it was cool, and Shelton got the win. Still, not really a match worth watching though. *1/2​

Backstage, Lilian Garcia interviews Shelton Benjamin. He talks about how he’s on a roll. He’s gone untested so far. He also says it’s all about the Benjamins. Not sure on the interview here. Not the greatest delivery in the world, which probably isn’t surprising with Shelton. Also felt like a very heel based promo from somebody who is clearly being portrayed as a face to this point. Hmm.

Match Three
Johnny Stamboli vs. Raven

Raven is solid but not really an in ring masterpiece kind of guy, and Stamboli is awful. This is bad. I also am really intrigued to see the booking of Raven moving forward, as he’s clearly being booked as a heel, but the crowd are reacting rather positively to him tonight. It’s probably because he’s one of the only interesting characters on Heat. For the second match in a row, we see the exact same combination or sequence of events leading to a Press Slam and a Gutbuster back to back. More just calling that out because it’s a bit strange. I know Raven isn’t around for too much longer, but man he should have gotten a face run in 2002. Maybe this is the best some of Stamboli’s offense has looked as I try and be kind, but he’s still useless. A meh match which ends with Raven reversing a Hip Toss into the Evenflow DDT. *1/2​

WWE Boot Of The Week: Triple H beating Spike Dudley on Raw.

Match Four
D’Lo Brown vs. Shawn Stasiak

Ugh, you have your two interesting characters on the show in Raven and D’Lo so it should be okay. Instead, you waste Raven with Stamboli, although I guess at least from a storyline perspective it made sense. Now D’Lo is getting wasted with Stasiak, who has nothing to do with D’Lo angle wise. Stasiak is just awful, I don’t know how young me watched him in WCW 2000 and thought he was maybe going to be okay. All throughout the night on commentary, D’Lo has been mentioning entering Stasiak into the Sky High hall of fame so seems that’s going to be a thing now. At least despite being surrounded by mediocrity, the crowd was still super-hot for D’Lo. Weird moment when Stasiak applied an Arm Breaker, and D’Lo starts slapping the mat to get the crowd into it, but it genuinely almost looked like he was tapping out. Anyway, as expected, D’Lo fights back and hits the Sky High on Stasiak for the win. Bad main event. *​

Terrible episode of Heat. Nothing delivered. Or got even close.

 

[Stojy]

WWE Raw
September 16th, 2002
Denver, Colorado
​

We kick off with in ring promo time for Eric Bischoff who brags about what he did on Smackdown and introduces Rico as the newest member of Raw. Rico walks out of the darkness to say hello. Bischoff books Rico vs. Ric Flair tonight as Rico’s reward. Rico is excited to wrestle Flair tonight. Bischoff says tonight, Rob Van Dam and Triple H will defend their titles against opponents of his choosing, as he will not book boring predictable TV. He will leave that to Stephanie McMahon and Smackdown. We then get the Raw credits to formally open the show. A solid enough opening promo here. Makes sense to reference Bischoff’s big plan on SD immediately, and all the matches booked tonight work for their own reasons.

It’s double opening promo time as after the credits, World Heavyweight Champion Triple H comes down for in ring promo time. He talks about how RVD is not championship material. He believes RVD got lucky with one Frog Splash to become number one contender. WWE Intercontinental Champion RVD finally interrupts. RVD thinks that Triple H is seriously stressed out and asks if Triple H can feel the tension on his body. Maybe it’s because he has seen how amazing RVD is. Triple H admits that he is angry, but his anger is a gift that has been given. RVD then really puts over Triple H hard, before saying H is the best in the world at spitting water. Triple H is not amused by this. He tells RVD to make his funny jokes, because like the people, RVD is an underachiever who won’t ever beat him or amount to anything in this business. He assures RVD that he’ll never be a World Champion. RVD then makes the crowd chant his name but gets a surprisingly awful lack of response. Triple H tries to kick RVD, but RVD blocks it and hits a Step Over Heel Kick. I wasn’t the biggest fan of this segment. This feud is just falling cold for me. It’s all a bit rushed but then RVD suddenly being this over talking comedian just feels forced, and a lot of his delivery felt forced and unnatural and also unfunny. Only line that was good was the spitting water stuff. H being the cocky champ works well, but them changing what’s cool about RVD specifically for this feud is not good. Fans feel it to, hence the terrible crowd reaction.

Earlier in the day, there were a lot of women protesting outside the arena. Whilst they haven’t specifically mentioned it yet, it’s quite obvious this is in relation to HLA, and I’m a fan of the continuity.

Match One
Ric Flair vs. Rico

I can’t deal with this at all. The match is bad because there’s one competent wrestler but then one awful wrestler involved. Flair leads the offense for the most part and attempts to carry the match, but it just doesn’t work. Eventually they put us out of our misery and Rico nails Flair with a Spin Kick and gets the win. Flair’s arm was on the ropes to protect him somewhat, but the referee didn’t see it. I don’t even care about that though because what the hell? This is a huge upset win for Rico, but how in the hell in the history books will it say for eternity that Rico beat Flair. Ugh. Terrible match and terrible decision. *1/4​

Backstage, Terri interviews Booker T. Booker is wrestling Test tonight. He hated taking tests when he was a kid. He speaks some French after Terri is surprised that he took French class. He recalls being pissed about failing a test and going to summer school. He’s going to pass this test tonight. He’s not taking the test with a number two pencil, but rather a number five, like the times he’s been champion. A pretty fun segment here. Booker just talking nonsense but he’s so charismatic that it just works. Technically does the job of promoting his match later tonight also.

The women’s rights protesters are still outside.

It’s announced on commentary that Bradshaw was injured last week in the brawl with the UnAmericans and will be out for 4-6 months. Yikes, not good considering he seemed to be in line for a strong face push.

Match Two
Booker T vs. Test

Another bad match here. I thought we good have at least gotten something a little better from these two, but the action is really sloppy throughout. The worst spot is probably when Test completely MESSES UP a Sidewalk Slam. He fails to pick Booker up when Booker swings his legs up, in essence making both men look incredibly stupid. The match quality is mainly on Test as he messes up several times and it hurts the flow of the match. The botches kill what otherwise seems like a well laid out match that could have or would have been good. Booker is so over though that it just feels like a matter of time before he gets a main event run. This match also gets good time, which is bad considering how off these two were. Ending happens when Booker gets a slightly sloppy Victory Roll out of the corner for the win. Bad. *1/4​

Backstage, Terri walks up to Ric Flair to discuss his loss to Rico earlier. He says he can’t believe he lost to a guy like Rico. He asks Terri what she thinks he’s thinking about. Triple H comes over and asks what the hell’s wrong with him. He is sure that Flair is embarrassed. He idolized Flair and now he can’t even believe Flair held this title 16 times. He can’t believe Flair lost that match. He tells Flair to just go home and retire because he’s pathetic. Flair gets heated and says that Triple H is pathetic for carrying the championship while not earning it. H has no idea what he’s all about or can do. Flair walks off and Triple H says he knows what Flair is capable of with a big smile on his face. Both men played their roles well here, a good segment that continues their recent dealings. My only thing is it feels kind of strange for Flair to still claim H hasn’t earned the title, because he beat Flair to keep it. Anyway, ending line from H has me giddy, because it just feels like the beginnings of something awesome.

Outside the arena, The Coach is talking with the women protesting. Rebecca represents IOW and says they have seen women get horribly treated. They want to talk to Eric Bischoff tonight. Fine enough to progress this, which is clearly an angle running for the entire night.

Match Three
WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Lance Storm and Christian (c) vs. Bubba Ray Dudley and Spike Dudley

This was okay. Not good but at least a step up from the trash in ring action we’ve seen on the show so far. After his recent interactions with Triple H, it’s good to see Bubba being in his most prominent match/position on the card in quite a while. Unfortunately this didn’t reach any greater heights because Spike was in for a majority of the match and basically had the opposite performance to his match with Triple H last week. Whereas he was awesome there, he wasn’t on at all tonight and it hindered the match. Bubba and Spike are an okay makeshift Dudleys team though, and they get a good reaction from the crowd to. In the end, Spike gets hurled through a table at ringside in a fun, brutal spot and as Bubba is concerned, he gets Rolled Up from behind by Christian. Okay I guess, and another retain of the gold for Christian and Storm. **​

Backstage, Eric Bischoff says that people are looking forward to the match with RVD tonight. He tells Chris Jericho he has the IC Title shot. Jericho says he’s going to redeem himself tonight against RVD. Jericho leaves and a security guard comes over and tells Eric about the protestors and how they want to talk with him about how women are treated on Raw. Bischoff wants the women to be let into the arena, and he’ll meet with them. He may have three minutes to spare. Solid stuff. Jericho as RVD’s opponent means their bound to have a good match. And the idea of Bischoff three minute warning more innocent women is kind of, dare I say it, fun? I don’t know. I just enjoy Jamal destroying people.

Backstage, Spike Dudley is on a stretcher and Bubba is trying to keep Spike calm. Triple H walks by and laughs. Small, but enjoy the continuity here for the eventual Bubba/Triple H showdown.

Match Four
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
Rob Van Dam (c) vs. Chris Jericho

This was the best match of the night so far but was still maybe a little below par for these two. They got a good amount of time to work, and the booking was predictable but works for the bigger picture. Triple H gets involved and costs RVD the match. They went about eight minutes and what held this back was a lot of sloppiness on several things. It gets to the point where if you’re paying attention, it’s noticeable and it’s frustrating. Makes sense they didn’t want to go in with champion vs. champion, as it telegraphs the result more often than not. And Jericho is always a fine option as IC Champion anyway. I know I’ve spoken negatively of the match, but they still did have some good counters and exchanges throughout as well. It wasn’t all bad, just the negatives always tend to be easier to talk about. So yeah, this was decent and after Triple H’s distractions, Jericho locks in the Walls Of Jericho and RVD submits. New champ, but I’m not sure your number one contender and obvious underdog tapping out less than a week before the PPV is the right move. **1/2​

After the match, Triple H pulls RVD up by his hair and sets up for a Pedigree. RVD gets drilled. Added heat I guess.

Backstage, the women protesting enter Bischoff’s office and they wait to have a discussion with him. Another reminder that this is still ongoing.

Eric Bischoff is walking backstage and bumps into the new WWE Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho celebrating. Jericho wants more redemption, this time against Ric Flair at Unforgiven and Bischoff agrees to the match. Solid enough. A Jericho/Flair rematch is a nice addition to the undercard of the PPV.

Backstage, William Regal talks with the Un Americans and says that Americans hide behind a mask just like Kane does because they are ashamed. Regal is ready for Kane tonight and has the Un Americans on standby. Solid enough, hypes the upcoming match.

We get a Jeff Hardy focused video package. Meh.

Match Five
Kane vs. William Regal

The crowd has been very up and down so far tonight, and they are dead again for this match. The action was pretty dead for the most part as well, probably the least interesting match of the night so far. The Un Americans provide distractions to allow Regal chances to get in some offences against Kane. The Big Red Machine fights back and when Regal is in trouble, Test runs in and nails Kane with a Big Boot to cause the DQ. Boring and bad though. ¾*​

After the match, The Un Americans beat down Kane until Bubba Ray Dudley slides in to make the save. Booker T and Goldust are right behind him. It’s a four on four until The Un Americans are cleared from the ring. Booker gets a microphone and challenges The Un Americans to an eight man tag at Unforgiven and they accept. Match announcement is logical based on how the booking has been going, and I guess Bubba is a pretty like for like substitute for the injured Bradshaw.

Backstage, the security guard tells the women that Bischoff wants to meet them in the ring for a public forum. Here…We…Go.

Next Bischoff is in the ring for promo time and calls the protestors down for a chat. Hilariously, the protestors draw heel heat for demanding equality and women’s rights. The women enter the ring and chant IOW for a few moments. The spokeswoman complains about Bischoff exploiting women in a variety of ways, capped off by HLA. Bischoff’s response, “I’m surrounded by a horde of lesbians”. He encourages them to get it on. One of them steps up to Bischoff and kicks him in the balls, before revealing herself to be Stephanie McMahon in disguise. Billy and Chuck then run in to attack Bischoff. Chuck puts Bischoff on his shoulders and Billy comes off the top rope with a Reverse Bulldog. 3 Minute Warning then run down to intervene, but Billy and Chuck get the best of them as well, before escaping through the crowd with Stephanie. Eh, not a fan of this to be honest. I understand the need for keeping the brand warfare stuff going, but fake disguise into fake disguise doesn’t feel like the right way to do this. I would have much preferred for something more creative to happen here. This was telegraphed and a miss in my opinion.

Back from the break, Bischoff is still in the ring with 3 Minute Warning to challenge Billy and Chuck to a match at Unforgiven. He messed up saying interpromotional though and said intercontinental lol. Bischoff suggests if Billy and Chuck win, he will kiss Stephanie’s little ass in the middle of the ring. But if Rosey and Jamal win, Steph performs Hot Lesbian Action. He looks forward to hearing Stephanie’s response on Smackdown. Interpromotional match is probably the best outcome out of all of this, although the stipulation is fairly awful lol.

Prior to the main event, RVD attacks Triple H during his entrance in the ring. They trade strikes on the mat a few times. Eventually, several referees enter the ring to break them apart. RVD gets the championship and decks Triple H with it after swinging at the referees. RVD is finally escorted backstage by being carried. I actually liked this. RVD shows some fire and is pissed at being cost his IC Title. On the other side of things, it makes it seem like Triple H could realistically struggle to retain the title tonight.

Match Six
World Heavyweight Championship Match
Triple H (c) vs. Jeff Hardy

I didn’t like this match, but I did like the urgency of Hardy, realising Triple H is on the ropes. Jeff runs down and immediately tries to keep at Triple H well he’s rocked. Unfortunately this isn’t July when Jeff tore the house down with ‘Taker, so the crowd just don’t care. Hardy truly dominates most of the match, getting several near falls, until Triple H catches him with his new deadly Sleeper Hold to, well, put Jeff to sleep. A flat ending for sure, safe to say the Sleeper as a finisher isn’t working so hopefully that’s dropped from now. Ending suits the match really, not good. *1/2
​

After the match, RVD goes on the attack again and lands the Frog Splash on H after a Spin Kick. Smart ending to have RVD standing tall. A real mixed bag for the title feud tonight.

A bad show. No redeemable in ring stuff for the most part, the booking of the World Title feud was a mixed bag, and the protestor angle fell flat. This didn’t exactly inspire me to go and watch Unforgiven either.

 

[Stojy]

WWE Smackdown
September 19th, 2002
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Match One
Jamie Noble and Nidia vs. Rey Mysterio and Torrie Wilson

This only got 2-3 minutes but the small number of interactions that we got of Noble and Mysterio were awesome. A pretty cool teaser for hopefully what’s to come at some point. For the amount of time that they got, this was good, but the rushed nature it does hurt the overall rating. Obviously for as good as Rey and Noble were, the divas were terrible. In what feels like a cool moment on WWE TV, Mysterio breaks out the Code Red/Yoshi Tonic on Noble for the win. Booking logic says that pinning the champ means Rey might be in line for a future Cruiserweight Title match but let’s see what happens. Decent for the time they had. **1/4​

Backstage, Reverend D’Von is complaining to Stephanie McMahon about Batista. She tells D’Von that she wants Batista on Smackdown. After Paul Heyman comes and queries Stephanie on whether The Undertaker will be showing up tonight, we then see that Heyman and WWE Champion Brock Lesnar have a security team of armed cops around them. Solid stuff here. D’Von/Batista stuff probably won’t come to much, but Heyman and Lesnar having guards is a nice way to hype some form of confrontation later in the night.

Stephanie now makes her way to the ring for an in ring promo. She says Eric Bischoff forgot that no one screws with a McMahon. She agrees to Bischoff’s challenge which means an interpromotional match between 3 Minute Warning and Billy and Chuck is made for Unforgiven. Stipulation is that if Billy and Chuck win, Bischoff will kiss her ass, and if not, she has to do HLA. She says she will address the stipulation later tonight. She then introduces “the greatest tag team in WWE history”, Billy and Chuck. Billy and Chuck make a bunch of gay jokes and to be honest, their promo sucks and I don’t want to talk about it. Kurt Angle interrupts and remains on the aisle. He says he feels like he’s watching a bad episode of Three’s Company, and last week was the worst attempt at a publicity stunt he’s ever seen. More gay jokes happen but now at Angle’s expense. Angle challenges either one of them to a singles match tonight. Steph says she wants Billy and Chuck to wrestle in a tag team match tonight to get ready for this Sunday. Kurt says he’s so confident that they can choose his partner, so they pick Chris Benoit. This segment was a miss for me. Angle made it better but the over reliance on the same sex stuff for this entire Steph/Bischoff angle is becoming tiresome, and a detriment to the show. Be interesting to see whether Benoit and Angle can drag these lugs to a decent match later.

Backstage, Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar are walking. Heyman leaves the guards at the arena entrance since they can’t come down to the ring with them. I like this. Adds some anticipation and excitement as to whether ‘Taker will show up during Brock’s match.

Match Two
Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman vs. John Cena

These are really ‘nothing’ matches based on their current standings but kind of cool to see Brock face Orton and Cena in the last two weeks. Kind of feels like a little taste of action against guys Brock could have had generational rivalries with if he didn’t decide to go try and play NFL. No real criticism of this, it wasn’t designed to be an amazing match, it just was okay and did its job. Maybe the Bear Hug spot ran a little long, but even that is minor and picky. This probably wasn’t as good as the Orton match last week either. Brock just has his way with Cena, hurling him around the ring and then manhandling him on the mat. Cena attempts a Crucifix pin towards the end, but Brock powers him up, showing his strength and hitting an F5. Did its job. **1/4 ​

A video promoting Rikishi is shown where Rikishi explains the scar on his stomach. He was the victim of a drive by shooting. He had died for three minutes in the emergency room. I love stuff like this. Really simple and gives you a reason to be invested in the character.

An awesome Undertaker themed Desire video to Bush’s “Adrenaline” airs. This was awesome also.

Backstage, Eddie Guerrero is looking into a hand mirror when Chavo Guerrero enters to see if Eddie is ready. Eddie is still complaining about getting the Stink Face last week. He says Edge has disrespected him for the last time, and his pretty little face is going to be disfigured tonight. Good segment to hype the upcoming match, and the issues with Eddie/Edge.

Match Three
Edge and Rikishi vs. Los Guerreros

A really solid outing here as Los Guerreros continue to show how good of a team they can be, no matter who they face. Maybe a slightly surprising result with Chavo getting the pinfall victory here to instead of Eddie, but I like the idea of trying to portray them as somewhat even (even if we all know that’s not the case). If Edge had a better partner, this could have been an all timer as he and the Guerreros were on point, but Rikishi is no good. Thankfully Eddie and Chavo bump like lunatics for The Kish’s hot tag otherwise we could have been in real trouble. Gosh, Eddie and Chavo are just so much fun. The match ends when Chavo hits Rikishi in the head with a TV camera while Edge and Eddie go at it at ringside. Chavo pins Rikishi in what was a really solid outing. **3/4​

After the match, Edge hits Chavo with the Spear, but Eddie then nails Edge with a huge chair shot to bust him wide open. I like this pay off here with Eddie talking about disfiguring Edge earlier and then attempting to make good on his promise.

In a via satellite conversation, Stephanie McMahon asks how Eric Bischoff’s “Bischoffs” are going. He says he wonders what its like when the McMahon family sees her performing HLA. She says that HLA is all about cheap, sleezy thrills. He says he’ll give her cheap sleazy thrills this Sunday at Unforgiven when his team beats her team and she has to perform HLA. She accepts the stipulations except for one thing. If Rosey and Jamal win, and she has to perform HLA, she just might like it. Ugh, hate this. They’ve worked so hard and done a tremendous job of putting Steph over as a serious character, and not the bratty princess was previously. Teasing enjoying HLA and stuff just feels so out of character for her at this point. This doesn’t really promote a match either, just not a fan of the angle, which is a shame because the brand warfare stuff was a positive highlight for me until the last couple of weeks.

Just noticed that Justin Roberts is making his debut here. Cool.

Prior to the next match, Matt Hardy cuts a promo explaining why he asked for this match. The fans are chanting for Jeff Hardy. Matt sees potential with Hurricane and brags about beating Undertaker last week. Love the delusions of Matt Hardy. Can’t wait until he gets longer segments and more material to work with.

Match Four
Matt Hardy vs. The Hurricane

In important news, I think this is also the debut of the “I CAN SLAP A TORNADO” theme which is absolutely epic and suits the Version One character perfectly. Now we just need the Tron change and the debut of Matt facts. This went for 5-6 minutes and was relatively solid throughout. A fine match and a good win for Hardy to give him some momentum, and a credible win, unlike last weeks victory. They used a lot of their big moves within the time they had, and I thought they told an easy to follow story of how well these two know each other. This means there is a lot of reversals as they know what the other is going to do before they do it. With the time and structure of the match, it kind of felt like an enjoyable Velocity match. Hardy’s character work is really good here as well, as he becomes more delusional by the second. They bring out some new offense as part of the story being told as well. Finishing run is an extended one with some strong false finishes, making both men look good. In the end, Hardy gets a low blow and then a Twist Of Fate. Decent stuff. **1/2​

Backstage, Paul Heyman is with Brock Lesnar and begs Lesnar for them to leave. Heyman realises that ‘Taker is probably in the parking lot, so they decide to stay in the dressing room. He tells the security they might be there for a while. Another nice little teaser segment here. Enjoy the way Heyman’s fear continues to put over the threat of The Undertaker.

Backstage, Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle are talking, but the camera is spying on them so we can’t hear what they are saying. They weren’t getting along though, which is a nice segue in the main event and the will they/won’t they scenario regarding them as a team.

Match Five
Billy and Chuck vs. Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle

This match is one of those perfect examples that you can point out and say this is why Benoit and Angle are held in such high regard. They give a team known throughout their entire run as putting on stinkers arguably their best tag match to date, and Benoit and Angle aren’t even a proper team. The crowd are super into this as well, and honestly this is probably the most over Billy has been since his 1998 and 1999 DX days. A really solid match and I dig the booking behind it to, with the real team getting a win over two main event guys and getting a rub. The heat segment on Billy throughout was phenomenal. Both Angle and Benoit were stiff as hell as they tried to one up each other, and Billy had one of his better selling performances as well. The finishing run is enjoyable to with Benoit and Angle dominating but then letting Billy and Chuck back in due to arguing. They set the match up to allow Billy and Chuck to focus on only really doing the handful of things that they can do well. The action was solid and the tension between Benoit and Angle was played up nicely. The match ends when Chuck goes for a Superkick, but Angle catches the kick and applies the Ankle Lock. Benoit throws Angle out and applies the Crossface instead but leaves himself open to a double team and Billy whips Benoit into a brutal Superkick from Chuck for the shock victory. A really solid main event. **3/4​

After the match, Angle hits the Angle Slam and locks in the Ankle Lock on Benoit. Benoit taps out but then manages to counter and locks in the Crossface, forcing Angle to tap out. Nice final bit of hype between these two. Surely these two have match of the night at Unforgiven.

The Undertaker is shown entering the building. Here we go.

The Undertaker comes down to the ring and calls out Lesnar for what he did last week with taunting his unborn child and saying life’s a bitch. He says this is strictly personal. He is here to say that “payback’s a bitch”. Brock Lesnar then comes out. As Lesnar heads down the ramp, Paul Heyman tries to prevent a fight from happening. Lesnar shoves Heyman out of the way and gets in the ring with ‘Taker. They fight and it’s an awesome brawl from both men right away. Lesnar shoulder rams ‘Taker in the corner. ‘Taker turns it around and uses Lesnar as a punching bag. He throws Brock out and Matt Hardy comes out to attack ‘Taker. Hardy jumps on ‘Taker but is tossed off. This allows Heyman and Lesnar to leave. ‘Taker kicks the shit out of Matt. ‘Taker then heads out after Brock and Heyman. Backstage, Heyman commands ‘Taker to stop and says BROCK HAS BEEN TAKEN INTO PROTECTIVE CUSTODY! Brock and Heyman leave in the cop car and ‘Taker is pissed. Awesome, awesome, awesome. Unlike the end of Raw, Smackdown makes me want to watch Unforgiven. ‘Taker/Brock confrontation was built up well all the night, the taste of action we got was entertaining and the protective custody idea is really creative. Kind of an out of left field solution to a cliché premise. Loved this.

I thought this was a good episode of Smackdown and a good go home show. No knock your socks off wrestling, but okay to solid wrestling all night with nothing downright bad. On top of that, Steph/Bischoff stuff aside, the Brock/Taker angle dominated the night and was really well executed.

 

[Stojy]

WWE Velocity
September 21st, 2002
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Match One
Billy Kidman vs. Tajiri

A decent match between these two here. They’ve done better on Smackdown earlier on in the year, but on the C show here, they’ve still not disgraced themselves by any means. They at least use some form of psychology and build the match; it isn’t just two guys trading spots. Also I just can’t listen to much more of Marc Lloyd on commentary. He just doesn’t have it, in my opinion. Enjoyed the fact that Tajiri working on Kidman’s arm throughout played into the finish. Kidman can’t perform a Sit Out Powerbomb because of his arm so Tajiri breaks free and hits a hard Roundhouse Kick to the arm to get the win. Simple psychology, okay match. **​

On the way to the ring, Funaki grabs a microphone and says, “This is Funaki, Smackdown number one announcer”. Funaki taunts Albert by reminding him that the fans chanted for him to shave his back last week. Funaki agrees with the people, Albert is a hairy bully. The charm of Funaki strikes again in his strange three week program with Albert.

Match Two
Albert vs. Funaki

History says this isn’t a good match and that continues, but I’m annoyed by the booking as well, because somebody thought it would be a good idea for Albert to lose to Funaki again. A cool visual at one point when Funaki locks in a Side Headlock but then Albert stands up straight. Funaki’s feet are literally nearly two feet off the floor, as he just clings onto Albert and dangles. But yeah, I’m not really sure what the plan is for Funaki, and this does absolutely nothing for Albert. I hate it. Albert is cocky and taking his time destroying Funaki, and then Funaki gets a Roll Up out of nowhere. Ugh. *1/4​

After the match, Michael Cole talks about how “you can’t give a veteran like Funaki an opening like he did”. A frustrated Albert then decks Funaki with a Clothesline. Albert continues to beat the crap out of Funaki until he’s decided to finish. Eh, three weeks of action between these two, and it has all been bad. I don’t really want to see anymore.

Earlier today, Funaki interviewed Crash Holly backstage. Funaki starts with “Crash, we are 24 hours away from Unforgiven and you face off with Hurricane on Velocity”. Crash is confident about wrestling Hurricane tonight. “You know, since I came to Smackdown I’m unbeaten”. He feels like he’s unstoppable. “Funaki, you know anyone that can stop me”? Funaki thinks that Hurricane can stop Crash tonight. Decent enough segment to hype the Crash/Hurricane match. This was strange and caught me off guard though. I swear Crash has been portrayed as a face on SD, and now he’s just randomly playing a heel.

Match Three
Crash vs. The Hurricane

A random thought but I hate that The Hurricane is doing the whole topless thing now. I want his superhero outfit back pronto. Anyway, this was actually pretty decent and probably a little better than the opener. Now I’m unsure of the heel thing also with Crash as they share a handshake to start the match, so just things have been a bit inconsistent there tonight. Credit to Crash, it’s early stages but I think he’s actually done a great job of reinventing himself in the Cruiserweight division and not just being ‘that hardcore guy”. And as the match progresses, Crash takes up the heel role anyway, bailing from the ring and getting heat at trying to avoid the Chokeslam. The action was constant and not bad, ending with Hurricane hitting a Shining Wizard for the win. **1/4

Match Four
Randy Orton vs. Shannon Moore

Whilst we are getting ready to start this one, Marc Lloyd references the new ring announcer but calls him Jason instead of Justin Roberts lol. Moore isn’t very good, but he seemed to have his trying boots on again this week. Whilst this match is just okay, Orton’s demeanour gets a thumbs up from me. He’s clearly more aggressive here and less tentative and he works a better match as a result of it. Still not a good match though. The ending comes about when Orton hits the O Zone, which is the awfully renamed Overdrive. Decent stuff for the main event. ** ​

A good episode of Velocity. Three bearable matches are all I need for shows like this, although I need the Albert/Funaki angle to be over now.

 

[Stojy]

WWE Heat
September 22nd, 2002
Los Angeles, California​

Backstage, Terri interviews The Un Americans regarding their eight man tag team match. Lance Storm and William Regal agree that team USA are a bunch of savage brutes. Test chimes in and says that they are enjoying dominating the losers. Christian then says something rather uninteresting about being in LA to set the scene. Generic promo to hype the PPV, as expected on the hour before episode of Heat.

Backstage, Eddie Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero are talking with Eddie saying he’s proud of Chavo. He’s proud of Chavo for hitting Rikishi with the camera on Smackdown. That proves that Chavo has what it takes to get the job done. Eddie also promises to make Edge bleed tonight more than on Smackdown. Similar to above. Solid enough promo hyping both men’s matches tonight, even if Chavo’s is on Heat itself.

Backstage, Terri interviews Ric Flair regarding his match against Chris Jericho tonight. Flair thinks he can still compete at the highest level. Flair reminds us that he made Jericho submit at Summerslam and promises to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship tonight. Solid hype promo again.

The Coach and D’Lo Brown preview Rob Van Dam vs. Triple H and then a video recap of the feud is shown.

Match One
Chavo Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio

For an episode of Heat, this got a lot of time, however somewhat surprisingly, I felt these two underdelivered. This should have been fast paced, high energy, the perfect way to get the fans up for the big show. Instead, Chavo controlled a majority of the match by trying to ground and slow down Mysterio, which impacted the match to an extent. The fans were into it though with plenty of “Chavo sucks” chants thrown at Chavo throughout. Whilst I did criticise the structure of the match, it’s Heat, this got an extended period of time, and it was still okay. That’s a thumbs up in my book. A cool moment that stood out was when Chavo jumped through a Monkey Flip but then he got taken down with an Arm Drag anyway. Anyway, still an okay match but an underachiever for sure. Ending comes about when Mysterio gets control and hits the trusty 619 and West Coast Pop combination. Maybe Rey’s worst match in the WWE so far unfortunately. **​

A final Brock Lesnar/Undertaker video package is aired to send us into the PPV…

It’s always really difficult to rate these episodes. I’ll say it’s a middling episode just because the match was kind of somewhere in between good and bad.

 

[Stojy]

WWE Unforgiven
September 22nd, 2002
Los Angeles, California

Match One
Booker T, Bubba Ray Dudley, Goldust and Kane vs. Christian, Lance Storm, Test and William Regal

A really fun opener to the show. Goldust starts off on fire and gets the crowd going immediately, and then in an epic spot, Bubba and Goldust do a stereo Bionic Elbow spot. As their antics grow more and more (attempting to burn the flag), the heat The Un Americans get makes the atmosphere of all their matches really enjoyable. They treated the recently returned Kane as the main attraction here, having him stand on the apron for the most part, before getting the hot tag to run through the opposition at the end. Nine minutes or so this went, and it was really well structured, as it felt like everybody got a key moment to shine. It wasn’t perfect as Bubba is Bubba and is pretty sloppy throughout and the Booker and Test interactions mirror their awful singles match from Raw. One impressive spot from Test was when he managed to get Kane up for the Pumphandle Slam. Come to think of it, Regal didn’t seem completely on the money during this as well, so Christian and Storm were really holding down the fort for the heels. So it’s a tale of two matches where when we avoid Bubba and Booker vs. Test, it’s great. Love that now that Booker is a face, JR is all about the Spinarooni when previously he hated it to. The match ends after Kane’s fun hot tag as he blocks a Superkick and drills Storm with a Chokeslam for the win. A fun, solid opener. **3/4​

In the back, Stephanie McMahon hypes up Billy and Chuck for tonight. Solid enough hype I guess. Just another show dominated by HLA references.

Match Two
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
Chris Jericho (c) vs. Ric Flair

This was okay for the most part, and I feel like you can see that Flair is starting to get his confidence back as an in ring performer. I feel like his starting to find his groove again. Flair looks energetic, the fans are super into him, and the commentary team push the “one last run” angle pretty hard throughout. There’s nothing overly exceptional about this match really, but it does have some decent back and forth action. Seven minutes or so is all they get, but they go at it at a pretty breakneck speed, which is especially impressive for Flair. There are a few new variations to some classic Flair offense where he picks Jericho off the top rope to hit the Shin Breaker, and nails a Knee Drop off the middle rope. So it’s obviously not classic 1985 Flair, but this version is fun. To continue with the angle of Flair not being the same guy, Jericho suckers Flair in and steals the win, beating Flair at his own game. Jericho lands on his feet after a Lionsault but fakes an injury, and Flair gives him a breather as he’s concerned, only for Jericho to then get him in the Walls Of Jericho and get the submission victory. Decent stuff, and the booking continues Flair’s storyline so can’t complain too much. **1/2 ​

After the match, Ric Flair can’t believe that he’s been duped.

We see Eric Bischoff and 3 Minute Warning getting ready for their match. Bischoff says they are representing him and tells them that Rico will be in their corner. Solid enough stuff to hype the brand vs. brand match. I guess this is the beginning of Rico officially being with 3MW. Always thought it was a weird pairing.

Match Three
Eddie Guerrero vs. Edge

This was awesome. Their match at Summerslam last month was really good as well, but for me, this rematch is better. Based on how well they’ve been doing on Smackdown over the last few weeks, my expectations were high for this, and they did not disappoint. In a completely logical move, Edge comes out super strong and aiming for revenge for the concussion Eddie gave him on Smackdown. Eddie manages to weather the storm and then changes the game with an epic leaping off the middle rope Tornado DDT. Continuing with the concussion angle, all of Eddie’s offense is focused on the head. It’s violent strikes and simple head submissions but it works a treat. Credit to Edge as well as he sells the lack of equilibrium and his dizziness tremendously well. He looks like he’s just unable to focus at times, and swings wildly, hoping more than aiming. The pacing of this one was solid throughout as well. Plenty of hot near falls towards the back end as these two demonstrate their undeniable chemistry. Edge gets his comeback in mainly due to Eddie being too cocky, which allows Edge to throw him off with a few Roll Up attempts which alter the match. In the end, Eddie bounces Edge’s head off an exposed steel turnbuckle, before hitting a Sunset Flip Powerbomb for the win. A really great match and levelling the series at 1-1 means we’re due for another one. ***3/4​

Backstage, World Heavyweight Champion Triple H busts into the Raw locker room and insults Rob Van Dam. He then points to Ric Flair, saying Flair used to have that desire but not anymore. Now he’s a loser. A good segment here. Triple H comes across as a real douche and successfully adds more heat to this match with RVD, whilst continuing the interesting Flair dynamic.

Match Four
Billy and Chuck vs. Three Minute Warning w/Rico

An at times sloppy but still not completely awful tag match here. It’s a basic tag team brawl for the most part, and they rely on Rico getting involved numerous times for some added heat. 3MW entrance theme here is awful also, I almost forgot about this. It’s an awful theme which begins with Bischoff saying “did I just hear myself say 3 minutes? Ugh. Considering this is 3MW first official match, it’s quite obvious early on that Jamal has all the potential in the world, and Rosey, erm, doesn’t. Based on the HLA stipulation as well, the match dynamic doesn’t really work. 3MW are supposed to be the heels but a majority of the fans want to see Stephanie McMahon do some lesbian stuff. In the end, Rico’s interference is the difference as Billy takes him out but then turns into the epic Pop Up Samoan Drop from Jamal. 3MW win their debut as they should have, although the match was far from memorable. **​

Jonathan Coachman interviews Eric Bischoff, who says he knew 3 Minute Warning would come through and laughs at what Stephanie has to do tonight. Bischoff’s reaction makes sense. Again, I just wish the whole show wasn’t dominated by this crap.

Match Five
World Heavyweight Championship Match
Triple H (c) vs. Rob Van Dam

I thought the opening was terrific, as the psychology was right on with the build-up. It was basic chain wrestling, but RVD did well, with H getting more unnerved with RVD’s confidence, and RVD’s continued success frustrating the champion. This match was far from perfect as I don’t know what it was, but it just felt like it ran a little longer than it needed to. I thought JR did a good job of putting over Triple H’s technical expertise on commentary, making it even more shocking when the ‘laidback’ RVD holds his own. I must also admit that whilst the chain wrestling idea worked from a booking perspective, the action itself looked awkward as hell. And let’s just say, RVD’s Side Headlock looked good, and he wasn’t the one who made the chain wrestling uncomfortable. Based on this idea of RVD outwrestling the champ, RVD doesn’t really wrestle his high offense, fast-paced offense until right at the end, which probably hurts this somewhat. RVD of course has to mock the water spit which gets a nice pop from the crowd at one point. The offense slowly speeds up as H gets more frustrated, but he looks sloppy as he messes up a Jacknife pin counter, a bridge up and even a Backslide. With that being said, they have an awesome transition into H being in control, where he avoids a Flipping Senton dive, and RVD hits the floor really hard in a sick bump. H tries to use his Sleeper again here, which thankfully doesn’t end the match. I’m hoping he pulls the plug on that soon, it just isn’t working. RVD eventually makes a nice comeback. Later in the match, there’s a ref bump, so he’s unable to count the win after RVD lands the Five Star Frog Splash. RVD has visual pin but then H gets the sledgehammer, but Ric Flair runs down and snatches the sledgehammer, only to then hit RVD with it. Big time swerve if you didn’t know what was happening, but a really HUGE moment when you think what H/Flair will do together over the next three years. After this, H wins easily with the Pedigree. This match had its positives and negatives but probably still ends up being solid overall. **3/4​

After the match, Flair hands the World Title to Triple H, and raises his hand. Some nice imagery to further put over their new partnership.

Match Six
WWE Womens Championship Match
Molly Holly (c) vs. Trish Stratus

Compared to some of the divas stuff we’ve seen throughout the course of this year, I actually thought these two put on an okay match here. Molly did a nice job of controlling the pace and they had a few Trish attempted comebacks, which were cut off nicely to keep the match building. They only get about five minutes or, so which was probably for the best. Also kind of weird that this is the Raw main event of the PPV, above the previous match. Anyway, Trish gets a flash Wheelbarrow Bulldog for an impressive finish and to win the title back. I kind of feel for Molly because she was a decent heel champion, but feels like her run got cut off at the legs because they realise they’ve got something special with Victoria. Anyway, an okay match for the most part. ** ​

In the back, we see 3 Minute Warning and Rico celebrating with several ladies as Eric Bischoff says he couldn’t have done it without them. Ugh, enough with this HLA shit, which has ruined what was an awesome brand warfare angle previously.

A Benoit/Angle hype video airs.

Match Seven
Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle

Wow. Match of the night for sure here as somewhat unsurprisingly, these two went out and stole the show. Both are technically heels going in, but Angle is the bigger heel if that makes sense, so the audience organically cheer Benoit, and it doesn’t feel strange. The opening mat work was reminiscent of the awesome stuff they did at Mania X7, but it’s better. It’s the same sequences but as opposed to 2001 where it kind of all felt smooth and like they were just showing off, in 2002, with Angle being more experienced, it all feels like more of a struggle. Like they are competing in an actual amateur match, so that was great. And then when this breaks down and they do start striking, they are stiff as all hell. They go back and forth pretty frequently with neither man really able to gain control. This really is just a 14 minute wrestling clinic. Maybe Angle kind of worked the ribs for a few minutes but it didn’t really lead to anything and felt more like time killing than anything else. I like the mirroring finish to ‘Mania X7 as well. In that one, Angle wins with a Roll up with the tights, and this time, after numerous Ankle Lock/Crippler Crossface trading and reversals, Benoit is able to get a somewhat botched flash pin, and he puts his foot on the ropes to get the win. Enjoyed the finish, and this was just awesome in general. ****1/4​

Marc Lloyd interviews WWE Champion Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman, and Heyman says this has been personal since the start. Trying to take Brock’s title made this personal, so they got personal with The Undertaker. Brock says he’s not sorry for what he did to ‘Taker’s wife and will not be sorry for what happens tonight. He will be unforgiven. Perfectly fine hype promo for the main event. No issues.

Eric Bischoff comes to the ring with two good looking ladies who are obviously tonight’s lesbians. He teases the crowd and then introduces Stephanie McMahon to come down and do Hot Lesbian Action with the two women. Once she comes out, Bischoff suggests that the lesbians take off some of their “restrictive” clothing. After a few minutes of stalling that I’d rather not write about, he dismisses the lesbians and introduces a big, fat lesbian. It’s Rikishi in drag and he ends up giving Bischoff the Stink Face. Ugh. Awful. Bischoff/Steph stuff was awesome up until Summerslam. This last month has ruined it, and thankfully the wrestling has been good enough on this show, that this angle hasn’t ruined Unforgiven as well.

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

The match was solid without being anything truly outstanding. Both guys really just beat each other up with brawling or cool power moves for the most part. I also need to call out that now Undertaker’s ‘Dead Man Walking’ theme song as the lyrics included, and it makes it that much better. He also makes his entrance for this match without a motorcycle, which feels like it’s putting over just how serious he is taking this. In a nice first, early on, Brock was struggling and couldn’t get anything on ‘Taker really, until Heyman provided a distraction. Brock puts on a really impressive bumping performance here as well, which an aspect of his that I think is extremely underrated. Once Brock took over this match, things slowed down as expected, but they never got boring which is a good thing. ‘Taker’s comeback was fine but nothing overly inspiring. He seemed to be moving in slow motion a little, unsure if maybe he was tired. One thing that annoyed me is that when ‘Taker fought back, he completely forgot about Brock’s rib work and didn’t sell any of it. Awesome viciousness from Brock when ‘Taker gets busted open and then Brock targets the cut at the sight of the blood. The match ends when the referee gets knocked out and ‘Taker hits the Chokeslam. Matt Hardy runs out to help Lesnar but ‘Taker gives him the Last Ride. As Brock gets up and the brawl continues, with both men shoving the referee out of the way, the ref has no choice but to call a Double DQ. I’m torn on this, I mean it makes sense angle wise, but then not sure this should have gone on last, even with the big finish to come. This was solid, but felt like they were holding back somewhat, knowing they’d be meeting again in the future. **3/4​

After the match, ‘Taker gives Brock two low blows and a Chokeslam, which Brock barely selling it all for some reason. They keep brawling up the aisle, until ‘Taker throws Brock through the Unforgiven set for the big ending. A fun spot to end the show, and clearly we’re getting more Brock/’Taker which is a great thing.

I thought Unforgiven was a really enjoyable show. The HLA stuff was a bit annoying, but for the most part the wrestling and booking delivered. Good stuff and maybe underrated when some of the stronger PPV’s are discussed.

 

[Stojy]

WWE Raw
September 23rd, 2002
Anaheim, California

Match One
WWE Womens Championship;
Triple Threat Match:
Trish Stratus (c) vs. Molly Holly vs. Victoria

Not a bad match to start the show but not a good match either. Thankfully the crowd is amped up so the atmosphere really helps the match. It’s nice to see an episode of Raw kick off with a match as opposed to the usual long winded in ring promo also. A really big bump from Trish which looked nasty when she went for Stratusfaction on Molly, but Molly threw her over the top rope and to the outside instead. Whilst she didn’t win, it felt like this match did a good job of putting over Victoria, especially her aggressiveness. As the women are still working on their skills overall, the match is kept to within a few minutes which works here. In the end, Trish sends Molly crashing into Victoria for a meeting of the minds, and then Trish is able to get a Roll Up on Molly to retain. Molly getting pinned means we are likely moving towards Trish/Victoria, which at this point feels like the right call. Again, not a bad opener but not a good match either. **​

Booker T and Goldust show some of the roster clips of last night with Eric Bischoff getting humiliated. Goldust brought the fellow wrestlers a portrait and it has Rikishi’s ass where Bischoff’s face would be. Rico then appears and says “that’s disgusting. I’M TELLING ERIC”!... As much as I hated all the HLA stuff, it does make sense to have some form of follow up to last night’s angle.

Backstage, Eric Bischoff shakes hands with a mystery person and welcomes them too Raw. Rico then comes in. Rico asks why the mystery person is here. Eric wants to know where Rico was last night, but Rico says it was Bischoff who sent them out on the town. Rico tells Bischoff about Booker and Goldust showing footage of what happened last night. Bischoff is pissed. Rico as the snitch just works haha. Again, an embarrassed Bischoff works after Unforgiven.

Now we get in ring promo time from Bischoff. He isn’t happy with the fans booing him but more importantly, Vince McMahon has issued a new decree. There’s a freeze on all contracts and no one gets to jump between shows unless there is an official trade. He was able to make a few deals and says that if you’re on Raw then you belong to him. For now though, Booker T needs to come out here RIGHT NOW. Booker T comes out and he’s still laughing about the situation. Bischoff wants an explanation and asks if it’s funny and Booker says you’re damn skippy, hippy. He doesn’t want the blame for Rikishi using Bischoff’s face as toilet paper. Bischoff’s breath is heinous like a fat man’s anus. Bischoff does not appreciate the laughter and tells Booker to show him some respect. 3 Minute Warning and Rico then come down and beat up Booker T. Goldust attempts to make the save, but he gets beaten down as well. A good segment here I thought. Booker is naturally funny, so his humour worked, and Bischoff punishing those laughing at him is the right response.

Backstage, Bischoff is happy with Rico and 3 Minute Warning. Rico offers to face Booker T tonight and then WWE Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho demands a shot at Goldust because he insulted Fozzy earlier. Bischoff books both matches including Jericho putting his title on the line against Goldust. Again, solid progression here and whilst Booker/Rico won’t be, at least Jericho/Goldust should be fun.

Match Two
Jeff Hardy vs. The Big Show

Well, after doing next to nothing except looking average for a while, it looks like maybe it’s time for Big Show to start getting his annual push. Interesting to have him come out here and squash Jeff Hardy, who just a few months ago looked like he was going to be a huge deal, but it just hasn’t worked. Apparently Jeff might have been having some real issues with his substance abuse around this time as well, so maybe this is a punishment? I don’t know. Either way, Show dominates but with Jeff being Jeff, it’s just sloppy and nothing looks overly good. A bad match which ends when Show catches Jeff coming off the top and lands a Chokeslam. * ​

We look back at Tommy Dreamer beating up Christopher Nowinski two weeks ago.

Backstage, Christopher Nowinski is in a makeshift classroom and wants to have a debate with Tommy Dreamer. That’s if Tommy has the guts. Tommy Dreamer shows up and immediately gets dropped with a Singapore Cane. Dreamer fights back and sends Nowinski into the wall a few times. Dreamer puts Nowinski through the ceiling and beats him up. The classroom set up was kind of unique and fits in with the Harvard stuff, so I actually didn’t mind this. I thought it was fun, and the unique setting certainly helped as well.

Jim Ross is in the ring to introduce the newest member of the Raw roster. Ross introduces Randy Orton as the newest member of Raw coming from Smackdown. Orton to Raw, yes. Holy shit, it’s slowly happening. Evolution, baby.

Match Three
Randy Orton vs. Steven Richards

This is a direct contrast to the opener where the hot crowd really helped carry the match. Arguably, this match was maybe only slightly less quality, but this one was hurt by the crowd’s lack of interest in either character. For example, Orton hitting his big Dropkick to dead silence doesn’t exactly get a viewer excited. A pretty bad match in the scheme of things, and maybe the wrong call was made putting Orton in a competitive match against a lower card jobber like Richards. They keep a rather slow, dull pace throughout which certainly doesn’t help add excitement. Richards does his best to make Orton look good because of how green Orton is, but it just doesn’t work. Anyway, Orton does at least hit a nice looking Crossbody off the top rope to get the win. The only real highlight of an otherwise dull match. *1/2 ​

The Union Underground perform Across The Nation while some Divas dance. The divas featured are Jacqueline, Stacy Keibler and Terri. Damn, Stacy clearly has a dancing background. The other two? Not so much.

Now it’s Ric Flair in ring promo time. He says that Triple H made him realise something. Triple H yelled at him and said that he was pathetic. He agrees with Triple H. It’s because he was to busy listening to the fans. He was trying to be a mentor for people who didn’t want it. When Triple H was a kid, Triple H wanted to be Ric Flair and now Flair is going to try and make that happen. It’s his job to take Triple H to another level. His payment is simple; he gets to be by the champ’s side and spend the twilight of his career on top where he belongs. We then see Rob Van Dam arriving with his ribs taped and he’s throwing stuff around a hallway. RVD comes down but World Heavyweight Champion Triple H attacks him from behind on the ramp. He sends RVD into the ring steps and rolls RVD into the ring. A two on one happens until Bubba Ray Dudley makes the save. Good stuff here. The explanation from Flair worked, and then we get RVD’s reaction to it. Simple yet effective.

Backstage, The Coach tries to catch up with Bubba Ray Dudley. Bubba and RVD say this is the people’s show and they demand a tag match tonight. Bischoff enters the scene and dismisses the idea that the show is for the fans. Instead, it is his show. But he allows the tag match for tonight anyway. Logical reaction from the characters involved here, and now we’ve got a confirmed main event. Cool.

Match Four
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
Chris Jericho (c) vs. Goldust

Really solid stuff here as it felt like Goldust put in yet another really good performance. A fun title defence here and Goldust plays his underdog role perfect. He just understands psychology and does things at the right moments to really get the fans behind him. His neck was hurt due to the prior attack from 3 Minute Warning and Rico, and he sold it really well throughout. Still, we aren’t getting a title change here, and this ends up being a nice win for Jericho. He hits an Enziguiri followed by the Walls Of Jericho for the submission victory. Very solid. **3/4

Match Five
WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Lance Storm and Christian (c) w/William Regal vs. Kane and The Hurricane

All throughout the night the question has been who will be Kane’s mystery partner, and it turns out The Hurricane has been signed to Raw. They follow a pretty standard tag formula for this one and put on a decent match. The Un Americans have been losing a lot lately, and this is another one in that bucket. He’s not great here but man is Hurricane ever entertaining. In one aspect, he botched quite a bit and hurt the match, but then his charisma and character make things more enjoyable at the same time. For a first time as a team, I thought the team of Kane and Hurricane worked relatively okay. Not bad and a feel good ending with new champs and an American victory. Okay match. **1/4​

In the back, Terri asked the new champions why they teamed up. Hurricane thinks they are a perfect match because they wear masks, use the Chokeslam and have the best bodies. Tonight it’s time to celebrate and Kane says freaks are cool. Kane then makes out with Terri before they leave to go celebrate. Solid little segment here to put over the mood of the new champs and show some more of their chemistry. I never quite understood the appeal of the Kane/Terri stuff around this time though.

Backstage, Coach is with the Un Americans. They are all unhappy, but William Regal takes over and says the team will regroup. I enjoyed this. Loved Regal telling the others no excuses and now they’ve got to get better.

Match Six
Booker T vs. Rico

Not much of a match here, to be honest. Just a Booker T showcase more than anything, but Rico is awful. When he’s ready, Booker finishes him off with the Scissors Kick. *1/2​

After the match, Jamal and Rosey attempt to attack Booker T. Booker fights initially but eventually falls to the numbers, and Goldust fails also when he tries to make the save. Rico joins in as well and Jamal hits Booker with the Flying Splash. After nailing Shattered Dreams on Rico, Goldust falls to the Flying Splash as well. No issues here. Bischoff has wanted revenge on Booker and Goldust all night.

Backstage, Bischoff books 3 Minute Warning vs. Goldust and Booker T for next week. Much like the above, feels like it all makes sense.

In the back, RVD and Bubba Ray Dudley talk about their upcoming match, and RVD says he has nothing to lose. Nice to see RVD showing some seriousness and aggression after being screwed. Feels like another logical reaction which is all I can ask for.

Match Seven
Bubba Ray Dudley and Rob Van Dam vs. Ric Flair and Triple H

This was just way worse than I ever expected it to be. The wrestling was not up to par and it kind of felt like they were trying to do to many different story things at once as well. Flair and Triple H put in a house show effort at best, Bubba is just terrible as a singles guy/guy not with D’Von, and RVD’s rib selling was way to inconsistent to be taken seriously. Also felt like they were struggling to still present RVD as the top face in the match, but then present Bubba as the next potential challenger for the World Title. Just a strange dynamic. A table ended up being set up in the ring, but Flair gets a Roll Up on Bubba whilst holding the shorts to pick up the win. A painful main event. *3/4 ​

After the match, Bubba is back in to save RVD and fight Flair and Triple H. He sets up Triple H for a Powerbomb through the table but only hits the edge of the table in a complete stuff up. RVD then ends up having to lay Triple H over the table and hit a Leg Drop off the top rope. Due to Bubba’s table botch at the end, felt like they had to go the opposite way then what they wanted with RVD putting Trips through the table instead. A meh ending to a bad main event.

Not a good show. Had the odd moment (Jericho/Goldust, Kane/Hurricane team), but just too much bad which outweighed the good here.

 

[Stojy]

WWE Smackdown
September 26th, 2002
San Diego, California

Match One
Chavo Guerrero vs. Rikishi

Not a lot to say about this one. Rikishi wants revenge after Chavo hit him with a camera last week, yet during the match, Rikishi shows no actual fire. He doesn’t wrestle with any anger and just looks the same as he does in every other match. It’s 2002 and he’s bad but Rikishi continues to win matches. I like Chavo but unfortunately he’s not the better Guerrero, therefore he’s unable to pull something special to make this passable. At least the ending has some decent psychology as Chavo tries to use the camera again. This time Rikishi is ready for it and Superkicks it back into Chavo’s face, before finishing him with the Bonzai Drop. Not a good start to the show. *1/2
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Backstage, Torrie Wilson is shaving her legs to get ready for the Bikini Contest. Cool. Torrie’s hot.

Tazz, Billy and Chuck are in the ring to judge a Bikini Contest between Torrie Wilson and Nidia. Nidia goes first and Billy and Chuck judge it with a 6 and a 9. They give Torrie 10’s and she wins the contest. Nidia gets mad and runs away. WWE Cruiserweight Champion Jamie Noble and Tajiri come out. Noble says that Nidia isn’t ranked below Torrie. He then challenges Billy and Chuck to a match NOW. Bikini Contest was what it was, Torrie looked fire, and whilst these as stand alone segments don’t really do much, if it’s going to lead into a match like this I can kind of dig it.

Match Two
Billy and Chuck w/Torrie Wilson vs. Jamie Noble and Tajiri w/Nidia

This was another one of Billy and Chuck’s better matches as a team. They get time to work at about 7 minutes, and Billy does really well, selling his knee that Noble and Tajiri take apart. Both teams looked decent throughout. Noble and Tajiri can kind of pass as a shorter version of Eddie and Benoit so their leg work and focus throughout was good. Chuck’s hot tag was okay, and more importantly, the crowd were super into it. I don’t think they’ve got much of a run left, but Billy and Chuck have shown some real potential as a babyface team. Anyway, Billy and Chuck, being the real tandem in this one, get the win after the Code Red on Tajiri. An okay match here. **1/2​

After the match, Nidia and Torrie have a cat fight after Nidia spat at Torrie. Billy holds Nidia while Torrie spanks her. Harmless fun I guess. No issues from me.

In the back, SMACKDOWN #1 ANNOUNCER Funaki asks WWE Champion Brock Lesnar when The Undertaker gets his rematch. Lesnar isn’t going to answer Funaki’s question right here but will rather answer it in the ring. This was short but did the job of promoting the next segment. They did a good job of making things ominous for Funaki here, with only Funaki not seeming to realise it.

Stephanie McMahon is on the phone and Kurt Angle comes in and tells her that he enjoyed what she did to Eric Bischoff at Unforgiven. He then asks for a rematch with Chris Benoit, since Benoit cheated. Steph has something in mind for the main event. Rey Mysterio walks in and waves at Kurt. Steph says tonight it will be Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit vs. Rey Mysterio in the main event. This gets a big thumbs up from me. Angle wanting more of Benoit makes sense, but this main event should be awesome.

Funaki heads to the ring with the steel chair ‘Taker used on Brock Lesnar at Unforgiven, and he brings out Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman. Funaki decides it’s a good idea to remind Lesnar that ‘Taker hit him with the chair and dented it. Brock instantly shoves the chair away and beats up Funaki. This was awesome. Lesnar threw Funaki around like a rag doll, with the Gut Wrench looking extremely dangerous. Epic stuff from Brock here.

In the back, Dawn Marie talks shit on Torrie Wilson for winning a Bikini Contest over a nothing hillbilly. She says Torrie could never measure up to someone like her. Well, this is the start of some AMAZING stuff lol. Dawn played her role well here.

Backstage, Edge is walking towards the ring for his match against Eddie Guerrero. Man oh man am I looking forward to this one.

Match Three
No Disqualification Match
Edge vs. Eddie Guerrero

Out of the series of four so far, this is my favourite match of theirs. This is tremendous from start to finish. I enjoyed that they started it off as a normal match, and slowly built the match, giving the crowd more and more and working them into a fever pitch. This structure is also different to their previous encounters, where they sort of went balls to the wall right from the get-go. Not looking at my star ratings, I’d assume this would have to sit relatively high in terms of TV match of the year. After the feeling out process, Eddie begins to target the head, smartly continuing the concussion angle and focus Eddie had at Unforgiven. Edge is almost more expectant of this strategy than he was at Unforgiven, so he finds it easier to counter stuff and fight back this time. From Regal, to Angle, to Jericho, to Eddie, the booking this year has really cemented Edge as a star. Edge tries to work on Eddie’s arm to counter the head stuff, which leads to some back and forth, until Eddie hits an Enzuiguri followed by a Vertical Suplex for a two count. I love that as Edge maybe gets a little uncomfortable with how things are going, he goes to what he knows and brings a ladder into the match. As usual, once the ladder came in, there were some big spots which were all performed really smoothly. Maybe towards the end it felt a bit like all the ladder spots were just strung together for wow factor, and some of the hatred disappeared a little. I almost forgot to mention there’s a funny moment here where Eddie applies a Chinlock and begins to talk shit in Spanish. Tazz translates to say it means I’ve got him in a Rear Chinlock and Cole says Tazz can barely speak English. My only other criticism here would be the final spot is very contrived. Edge is randomly climbing a ladder in the corner, with his back to Eddie, until Eddie meets him on the other side to set up the Edgacution of the ladder. An awesome finish visually, but the set up lacked. The crowd were all over this though and it was an awesome match overall. **** ​

After the match, Edge celebrates and goes backstage, leading Eddie lying in the ring. The referee helps Eddie to his feet where he receives a standing ovation from the crowd. A nice moment for Eddie here, who was damn impressive tonight.

Backstage, Marc Lloyd walks up to Chris Benoit to talk about the main event. Benoit says that Angle doesn’t suck. He is a great wrestler. He’s not the only gold medallist in WWE history for nothing. He credits Angle for being one of the toughest wrestlers he’s ever competed against. He can’t wait to face him again. As for Mysterio, Benoit was born to hurt. A typical intense Benoit promo to hype tonight’s main event.

Matt Hardy is showing Shannon Moore clips of his match vs. The Hurricane last week. Matt says that he ran Hurricane off to Raw, just like Matt Hardy Version One, Sensei of Mattitude has done to ‘Taker lately. Moore thinks that Brock Lesnar played a part in that, but Hardy is offended by that comment. Matt tells Moore to sit there and watch what happens in his match NEXT. Good stuff. Delusional Hardy is so much fun, even if he’s rightfully about to be destroyed.

Highlights of the WrestleMania XIX press conference in Seattle, WA air. If I ever finish in 2002, I’m looking rewatching this show for damn sure.

Match Four
Matt Hardy vs. The Undertaker

I read somewhere somebody say this feud kind of reminded them of Goldberg/Jericho in WCW days, except this one had a better pay off, and I can’t get that out of my head. Anyway, after all his talk, Hardy extends his hand to begin. ‘Taker just squashes Hardy instead, and Matt takes SUPER bumps for both the Chokeslam and The Last Ride. Credit to him for that, but ‘Taker wins this easily. Not designed to be a good match, but it did its job. *3/4
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After the match, Lesnar enters the ring and decks ‘Taker with the championship causing ‘Taker to be busted wide open. ‘Taker slowly gets up, so Brock hits him with the title again. ‘Taker refuses to accept help to the back and stumbles up the ramp. Good continuation here of Brock/’Taker, and after ‘Taker looked so strong at Unforgiven, Brock has gotten his heat back tonight. Smart booking.

Kurt Angle cuts an in ring promo about the Triple Threat main event, but he doesn’t understand why it’s happening. He says that being from San Diego is nothing to be proud of. There’s a lot of immigrants in San Diego. Rey may think he’s good because of his 619 but tonight, he is going to teach him a new number, 911. He then also talks about how Benoit illegally won at Unforgiven and then makes another crack about immigrants. Solid promo from Angle to get some more heat. Did its job.

Match Five
Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio

This was another great match on this show. The psychology of Angle and Benoit constantly throwing Rey out of the ring so they could have their Unforgiven rematch worked well. Amazing sprint of a Triple Threat match really. I think the booking whilst obvious was good, with Mysterio playing off the hatred of the other two and getting the win because they were to focused on each other. Rey would never stay down for long and then would keep getting destroyed by brutal offense. A ton of awesome reversals and what not during the finishing run, until Rey hits Benoit with a Springboard Hurricanrana off the middle rope to win. A great main event. ***1/2​

A really good episode of Smackdown this week. Two matches worth the watch, and the booking all around made sense, especially the reheating of Brock.