2/7/02
from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California
*PYRO*
*Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler welcome us to the show*
SmackDown hits the air with immediate excitement, as before Cole and Lawler can even run down the card Triple H’s music hits and the Staples Center audience rises to its feet. The Game is wearing the same leather vest over denim jacket that he had on when he returned to the WWF earlier this year at MSG as he does his full entrance and steps between the ropes.
The Game smirks to himself while he waits for the crowd’s cheering to subside before continuing.
The crowd boos while Triple H reluctantly gives props to his No Way Out opponent.
The fans give HHH some reassuring cheers while he looks down at the mat intensely.
Predictably, the Staples Center explodes.
The Game has now removed his jacket, staring down the barrel of the camera and pointing at it as he addresses Kurt Angle directly.
HHH spikes the microphone into the mat and fires up the crowd, while Cole and Lawler express surprise that Kurt Angle didn’t interrupt Triple H’s comments to open the show. While The Game poses for the audience, we head backstage to find Booker T and The Godfather at a catering table with plenty of gorgeous women surrounding them.
Godfather laughs and daps up Booker, turning to admire some of his “employees” for himself.
The two laugh once again while Booker grabs a fruit off the catering table and snacks on it, noticing a few of Godfather’s women eyeing him up.
Booker exchanges eye contact with a couple of them when they’re interrupted by the clumsy arrival of Shawn Stasiak, who pushes Booker out of the way and steps in front of him.
Godfather: Listen, I got a strenuous screening process for their clients, and I can already tell I might have to charge your bum ass double!
Shawn: Double!? What do you mean!?Stasiak actually brings his fist back as if he’s going to swing on The Godfather, but Booker stops his punch and steps face-to-face with him.
Nervously, Stasiak obliges and darts out of the room, leaving Booker and Godfather to shake their heads and laugh at him as SmackDown goes to its first break.
SmackDown returns with our first match of the night, as William Regal looks downright disgusted with the LA crowd as the Intercontinental Champion walks to the ring. Rikishi is out next, the longtime fan favorite getting a warm reception as he steps between the ropes for non-title action. Right before the bell is called for, though, Goldust’s music hits and The Bizarre One heads to ringside. Rather than joining commentary, he has a ringside crew member set up a director’s chair and sits cross-legged in it, only fitting being that we’re in LA tonight.
William Regal vs Rikishi
Regal spends much of this match on the back foot, the much larger Rikishi scoring consistently with impactful moves that just barely fail to keep the tough Regal down. When a savate kick sends Regal spilling to the floor, he takes the opportunity to regroup as the ref begins his ten count. Goldust takes this chance to rise from his chair and stand face-to-face with Regal, looking at him stoically while Regal threatens to show him the power of the punch. Before he can, though, Rikishi joins them on the outside and tosses his opponent back into the ring. Rikishi manages to squash Regal in the corner and looks to add the ultimate insult to injury with the Stinkface, the look of abject horror on Regal’s face absolutely priceless as Rikishi’s eclipse-like ass approaches him. Out of desperation, Regal manages to slide underneath his opponent and out of the situation, standing up with referee Charles Robinson standing mere centimeters behind him. With this positioning, Regal slickly removes the brass knuckles from his trunks, clobbers an approaching Rikishi with them, and slides them back into the front of his trunks all before the referee can walk around and catch him in the act. Regal falls on top of Rikishi for the three count.
Winner: William Regal (7:31)
Having just barely pulled one out by cheating, Regal shamelessly accepts the arm raise from Charles Robinson and waves to the crowd who is feverishly booing him. Goldust exits his chair on the outside and takes his time walking up the steps, once again standing in front of Regal as the referee helps Rikishi leave the ring. Goldust raises his fist, pointing at his knuckles as if he’s as aware as everyone else is of Regal’s cheating tactics. Then, in a surprise move, Goldust REACHES INTO THE FRONT OF REGAL’S TRUNKS AND RETRIEVES THE BRASS KNUCKLES!
The crowd gasps then laughs as Goldust dangles the knucks in front of Regal’s face like a trophy, Regal stomping around the ring completely beside himself. The Intercontinental Champion attempts to retrieve them and receives a kick below the belt for his troubles, with Goldust leaving him writhing on the canvas in equal parts pain and rage as he exits up the ramp with the brass knucks on his hand.
As the ring is cleared, a video begins playing hyping up Jazz. The vignette contains clips of her dominant stretch of late, showing off the way she’s manhandled the likes of Jacqueline and Lita, and what happened to Trish Stratus when she was trapped in the Crossface Chickenwing. Audio accompanying the clips features commentators talking about just how dangerous Jazz is, and making note of the fact that she routinely wrestled men in ECW. The video ends with footage of Jazz with Trish trapped in the Crossface Chickenwing, screaming as she wrenches the Womens Champion back and forth in excruciating pain.
We return to the arena where Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler are openly afraid for what might happen to Trish when she goes to battle with Jazz at No Way Out. Backstage, we see Vince McMahon and Ric Flair in their office, looking as contentious as ever.
Vince: I’m not! Kurt is a man of upstanding character and integrity. Besides that, I gave him the night off.Flair looks surprised, clearly not consulted about this decision.
Flair: Night off for what?!
Vince: To rest up for the big match next Sunday! Triple H was out for seven months, he had plenty of time to rest.
Flair rolls his eyes and brushes off Vince’s absurd comment, but it’s soon followed by another one.
Fearing he already knows the answer, Flair decides to ask a grinning Vince the question anyway.
Vince: And I made it happen! I love to see that type of initiative in a WWF superstar.
Vince’s demonic smile grows even larger as Flair sighs, knowing that Spike’s heart being bigger than his brain may cost him tonight.
Next we see the entrance of Val Venis, back in action after a loss to Kane a few weeks back. It’s unclear if he’ll have an easier time tonight, though, because Rhyno makes his way to the ring as his opponent! The Man Beast looks as deranged as a human being possibly can as he enters the ring and looks ready to charge at any moment as he waits for the bell to sound.
Val Venis vs Rhyno
Val looks to maybe be a bit rusty, as his size advantage does him no good thanks to the tenacity and energy of the Man Beast. Rhyno brings the attack to Val, pressuring him right from the word “go”. Val, being the veteran, heads to the outside to slow down the pace. No stranger to fighting beyond the ring, Rhyno follows him to the floor and charges for the Gore, but he’s shoved into the ring steps! This puts Val on the advantage for a few minutes, but he misses his attempt at the Money Shot and falls victim to the Gore shortly afterwards.
Winner: Rhyno (5:46)
Per usual, the Man Beast does not stick around long to cherish his victory. He simply storms backstage while Cole mentions that Rhyno is one of very few superstars that managed not to be persuaded by Raven as SmackDown heads to break.
Backstage, we see The Undertaker leaning up against a cinderblock wall, a wad of tobacco clearly tucked in his lip. The camera zooms out to show The Deadman standing outside an unmarked door, spitting his tobacco onto the floor of the hallway. In the distance, we see Mike Chioda, who officiated that last match, walking towards both Undertaker and the camera. He stops at the door Taker is standing next to and twists the handle, before Undertaker stops him.
Chioda: Kane? No, nothing.
Chioda tries to end this conversation as soon as he can and enter the room, but Undertaker stops him again.
Chioda is visibly terrified, but isn’t really in a position to explain the absurdity of Undertaker’s request to The Deadman.
A sadistic smile slithers across Taker’s face before he spits another missile of tobacco onto the floor.
Taker slaps Chioda on the shoulder, which physically jolts his entire body, and lets him finally enter the referee’s locker room.
In the interview area, we see Rob Van Dam standing with Jonathan Coachman. Despite the post-match attack he suffered one week ago, his smile is as beaming and his spirits appear to be as “high” as ever.
RVD: To be honest Coach I could’ve seen them in action last week, but I think I forgot after the top of my head hit the mat with that piledriver. But if they want to team up because they can’t beat me that’s whatever, it’s cool. I just hope they know that losing to RVD doesn’t make them bad, it just makes them like everybody else! But I guess they want to show everybody that they’re overlooked or whatever, and hey, maybe they are. They’re two of the best wrestlers I’ve ever been in the ring with, but since they want their first match as a team to be against the Whole Damn Show, they’re probably not gonna like the outcome.Coach looks at RVD before reiterating one of his questions.
RVD: Oh, that’s right! Sorry, it was the piledriver… and maybe something else. But anyway, since the “Minnesota Destruction Crew” is making such a big deal out of teaming up for the first time, I decided to team up with somebody I’ve never teamed up with before either: Billy Kidman.Kidman steps into frame, standing next to RVD with a smile and looking ready for possibly his biggest match in the WWF so far.
Van Dam and Kidman head off towards the ring, while Jerry Lynn and X-Pac make their way down the aisle. They’re met with much more heat than they were last time they were on TV, with the two of them antagonizing the crowd with every step. They’re wearing matching black and white gear, Lynn with long tights and X-Pac with short trunks and a bandana. Out next is Billy Kidman, who stops at the bottom of the ramp and waits for RVD. The crowd erupts for Van Dam, who goes through his whole entrance and stands across from his opponents to start the match.
Minnesota Destruction Crew vs Rob Van Dam and Billy Kidman
Yet again, Van Dam outclasses X-Pac at the start, frustrating him to the point that he tags in Lynn. The action is more back-and-forth now, with RVD getting the advantage and tagging in Kidman who keeps it up. Jerry Lynn seems to be caught off-guard by Kidman’s speed and technique, constantly whiffing attacks on him and eating high-impact moves. A little underhanded teamwork gets the advantage back for the MDC though, with X-Pac catching Kidman running the ropes with a hard kick to the spine. From there, the MDC isolates and dominates. They employ tandem backbreakers and show off some impressive chemistry for their first match as a team since they were teenagers. The crowd rallies behind Kidman, desperate to see RVD enter the match. Their wish comes true when Kidman counters a double backdrop with a huge double DDT, spiking both opponents on their heads and crawling to the corner for the hot tag!
RVD is incendiary when he comes in, catching X-Pac and Jerry Lynn with an impressive array of kicks. He even drapes X-Pac over the barricade and leaps from the apron, landing a devastating kick across the back of his neck. He’s cut off by Lynn when he returns to the ring, but the Cradle Piledriver is blocked and he manages to counter with a backdrop followed by Rolling Thunder for a nearfall. RVD drags Lynn to the center of the ring and climbs to the top, landing the Five-Star Frog Splash!
1…
2…
X-PAC BREAKS UP THE PIN!
Just in the nick of time, X-Pac saves his partner from certain doom and drags him towards their corner before getting on the apron and accepting a weak tag from Lynn, who is hurting. X-Pac tries his hand at wrestling RVD once more, but again ends up taking a kick to the jaw. With X-Pac down near Van Dam and Kidman’s corner, RVD sees Kidman eager to ascend to the top and tags him in, egged on by the crowd. Kidman positions himself for the Shooting Star Press, but a charging Jerry Lynn shoves RVD hard into the corner and sends Kidman down crotch-first! Lynn tosses RVD to the floor and quickly grabs Kidman, looking back to make sure X-Pac is in position as he launches Kidman off the top rope like a lawn dart, straight into the waiting arms of X-Pac who catches his opponent out of the air with the X-Factor! The crowd gasps as Kidman is driven into the canvas face-first with incredible impact, and Jerry Lynn lands a hard kick to RVD on the floor to prevent him from breaking up the ensuing pin.
Winners: Minnesota Destruction Crew (12:20)
Commentary seems shocked, not necessarily that the MDC won their debut match as a team but by the crispness of their teamwork and the absolute viciousness of that finishing move. Lynn and X-Pac gloat with their shared victory over Rob Van Dam, who checks on a badly hurting Kidman before SmackDown goes back to break.
SmackDown returns to air with The Undertaker once again standing outside the referee’s locker room, and this time Crash Holly can be seen approaching in the distance. As he gets to the door, he’s stopped by The Deadman.
Undertaker laughs at the idea, simply teasing Crash who doesn’t find the humor in Taker’s suggestion.
Undertaker: What if you were!? If you tried to take the Hardcore Title, I’d put your ass through the ring, boy! Taker’s laugh is now guttural, bellowing through the hallways of the Staples Center as Crash gets more and more frustration etched across his face.
Undertaker’s attitude shifts on a dime, quickly turning around to see absolutely nobody stranding behind him. Crash takes this chance to bolt, clearly shaking The Deadman up with his lie.
Taker gives chase down the hallway, but the Houdini of Hardcore’s head start gives him quite the advantage here as we head back to the arena. First, Maven makes his entrance accompanied by Al Snow. After last week’s talk about changing course from his feud with The Undertaker, it appears Maven has taken his mentor’s advice to heart as he readies to jump back into non-hardcore action here. Out next is Lance Storm, back on the horse already after being pinned by The Rock on Monday night. Storm is accompanied by Christian, and the two of them seem to have no interest in trading barbs with the crowd as they hit the ring in a more business-like manner than we’re used to.
Maven w/ Al Snow vs Lance Storm w/ Christian
Storm and Maven have some good, athletic exchanges of offense at the start, with Storm being impressed by Maven’s athleticism but still managing to stymie him at times due to his superior ring knowledge. Despite Al Snow’s teaching from the outside, Storm maintains the advantage for the most part, working over the left leg and lower back of Maven to set up the Canadian Maple Leaf. Maven does begin a furious comeback near the end of the match, landing a few dropkicks of incredible height, but Storm smothers his momentum with a Superkick after Christian causes a distraction on the outside. Storm covers but surprisingly only gets a two count, and his jaw drops in disbelief. Showing his veteran prowess, he doesn’t dwell on it for too long, as he simply drags Maven to the center of the ring and grabs hold of his leg, trying to turn him over to finish the match with the Canadian Maple Leaf. Much to his surprise, though, Maven is able to resist being turned over and locks Lance Storm up with an inside cradle for a shocking three count!
Winner: Maven (6:17)
Maven darts out of the ring, avoiding an oncoming Christian, who’s in a full blown fit of rage now. Maven and Snow celebrate, with Snow whispering something to his protegee before Maven smiles at Christian and makes a title belt motion around his waist. Christian looks down at his European Championship and then glares at Maven in disgust, yelling something back at him while the show heads backstage once more.
In the back, the Dudley Boyz and Stacy Keibler are standing in the interview area with Jonathan Coachman, their tag titles in the forefront around their necks as Stacy stands between them.
Bubba: The message to the WWF tag team division is real simple, and it’s one that they should’ve learned from the second the Dudley Boyz stepped foot in this place! We ain’t no fluke, we ain’t no joke, and not a single one of these teams have what it takes to stop us! But we wanna give them a chance.D-Von takes over now, removing the title from around his neck and flaunting it for the camera.
D-Von: You’re damn right! If you think what my brother Bubba and I did to Spike and Tazz was barbaric, just wait until you see what happens when one of these teams that don’t know nothing about how we do it in Dudleyville steps to us! And that’s why we’re issuing an open challenge for our titles at No Way Out!
Bubba: You all heard the man! If any of you teams back there feel brave enough, you know exactly where to come find us. But just understand that when you walk into the ring with the Dudley Boyz, you need to understand just a couple of commandments…
D-Von: THOU SHALT NOT STEAL, THOU SHALT NOT KILL, AN-
The loud, heaving promo of the Dudley Boyz comes to a halt when Diamond Dallas Page and Chris Kanyon walk into frame, both dressed in jeans and a vest with no undershirt, Kanyon wearing a backwards baseball cap. They step up to the Dudleys, seemingly unintimidated by the tag team champions.
D-Von is dripping either water or sweat off his body as he steps towards DDP and yells his most important commandment.
DDP and Kanyon shoot unimpressed glances at each other, then back at the Dudleys.
DDP and Kanyon walk away, and while Stacy looks offended at their interjection the Dudleys have looks of excitement on their faces while SmackDown heads to one more break.
The show returns with a backstage argument already underway between The Hurricane and Mighty Molly, and Torrie Wilson and Tajiri. Torrie does the talking for her side, as Tajiri nods vigorously next to her while the superheroes stand their ground.
Molly: Exactly! Maybe next time you’ll stick to the outside of the ring, where you belong.
Torrie rolls her eyes as Hurricane and Molly strike superhero poses, Tajiri clearly just along for the ride on this entire thing.
Hurricane: Nothing could make us feel more heroic than we already do, Citizen Torrie. We always do what’s right.
Torrie: Oh yeah? Then will you step in the ring for a match with Tajiri on RAW?Hurricane looks equal parts offended and nervous about the question, looking Tajiri up and down as the Japanese Buzzsaw appears to be eager for The Hurricane’s answer.
Jolted by his sidekick’s confidence, The Hurricane sticks out his chin and nods, before he and Molly “fly” away once again. Before the camera cuts away from Tajiri and Torrie, Crash Holly comes barrelling down the hallway past them, followed by The Undertaker a few steps later. Taker stops at Tajiri and Torrie, asking if they saw where Crash went. Not even waiting for Torrie to reply and with Tajiri not a native English speaker, Undertaker simply pushes past them and enters the door they were standing in front of.
When he closes the door, you can instantly hear a commotion beginning which causes Torrie to grab Tajiri by the hand and run off. The door flies open and Undertaker launches towards the wall on the other side of the hallway, and KANE steps out of the room! The Big Red Machine stands over his brother silently, not even bringing a referee with him to target the Hardcore Title, focusing on a physical response to The Deadman rather than the belt tonight.
Finally we re-enter the arena for our main event, with Chris Jericho coming to the ring first. Michael Cole mentions how courageous it is for Spike Dudley to personally request a match with the Undisputed Champion after the week he had last week, first losing the Tag Team Titles to his half-brothers in a valiant effort on RAW and suffering assaults from both Jericho and Kurt Angle on SmackDown. Lawler of course calls Spike stupid as he labors down the ramp, looking incredibly injured as the bell is called for regardless.
Chris Jericho vs Spike Dudley
Spike is far from his usual evasive self in this match, his injuries simply too much for him to overcome. Jericho essentially wipes the floor with his smaller opponent, wrestling more viciously than he has in a long time. He grinds Spike’s face into the mat, lays in his strikes and taunts Spike while slapping him around. Jericho hits the Breakdown and rolls him over for a pin, but lifts Spike by the hair when he reaches a two count. The crowd boos and the referee admonishes him, but Jericho decides to instead finish the match with the Liontamer, driving his knee into the back of Spike’s head while he taps out desperately.
Winner: Chris Jericho (4:14)
Tim White finally manages to peel Jericho off his beaten opponent, but Y2J appears far from done. He rolls out of the ring to grab a chair, but as he’s climbing the steps to get back in, the glass shatters! Stone Cold steams out to the ring, brawling with Jericho at ringside and taking the chair from him. Austin swings the chair and Y2J narrowly avoids it, but Austin continues his chase. The Rattlesnake chases Jericho into the ring, where he’s cut off and actually beaten up a bit by the Undisputed Champion. Jericho is much less timid and a lot more aggressive than he has been in months, eventually laying in shots on Stone Cold with the steel chair.
Jericho seems to be more consumed by his ego with each shot of the chair, knowing he not only fended off an attack from Stone Cold Steve Austin but is actively winning the brawl. He lays in right hands, trying to bust Austin wide open when Ric Flair makes his way to the ring, grabbing Jericho around the waist and trying to peel him away. This draws Vince McMahon out, and he involves himself in a shouting match with Flair. As the co-owners argue, Jericho blindsides Flair with the WWF Championship belt! Y2J starts putting the boots to Ric Flair, when Triple H’s music plays, and The Game starts down the ramp!
Before he can even make it halfway, though, he’s jumped from behind by Kurt Angle! Angle, who was supposed to be out of the building tonight, plants Triple H on the ramp with the Angle Slam! Angle stands over his No Way Out opponent and gloats, while Jericho holds up both his belts as Austin and Flair have been taken out in the ring. Michael Cole does his best Jim Ross impression, throwing an absolute conniption fit as SmackDown goes off the air with Jericho, Angle and Vince standing tall.
CONFIRMED FOR NO WAY OUT
UNDISPUTED CHAMPIONSHIP STEEL CAGE MATCH
Chris Jericho (c) vs Stone Cold Steve Austin
Triple H w/ Ric Flair vs Kurt Angle w/ Vince McMahon
INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
William Regal (c) vs Goldust
TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Dudley Boyz (c) w/ Stacy Keibler vs DDP and Kanyon
WOMENS CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Trish Stratus (c) vs Jazz
HARDCORE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
The Undertaker (c) vs Kane