WWE Raw
September 30th, 2002
Houston, Texas
Alright it’s Raw time and tonight we’ve got three titles on the line. Triple H defends the World Heavyweight Championship against Bubba Ray Dudley, Chris Jericho defends the WWE Intercontinental Championship against Kane, and Trish Stratus will defend the WWE Womens Championship against Victoria. On top of that, 3 Minute Warning will face Booker T and Goldust. Card seems like it would be a decent edition of Raw. Glad they’re paying off the angle with Triple H/Bubba since the brand split. Has been a highlight.
Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff starts the show with an in ring promo. Bischoff tells everybody not to switch over to Monday Night football. He has Lita in the ring with him, and he promotes the three title matches that the commentary team mentioned earlier. Bischoff announces that at No Mercy; it’s going to be title vs. title. World Heavyweight Champion vs. Intercontinental Champion because we’re going to have one show and one champion. He now turns his attention to Lita. Lita recently said that Smackdown was better than Raw and it wasn’t because of having better talent. He calls Lita a bitch. He says that she is worthless after breaking her neck in Hollywood. Lita tells Bischoff that maybe if Bischoff had respect for the people that risk their lives for him they’d respect him. That’s her opinion so Bischoff says she has three minutes to get out. Rosey, Jamal and Rico come out, and corner Lita Jeff Hardy comes out for the save but gets beaten down, until Booker T and Goldust run down and clear the ring. Bischoff announces that they won’t wait for later and their scheduled match will happen right now. I thought this was an entertaining enough start to the show. Using Lita to put over Bischoff’s heel character is just smart circumstance booking, and this is a fun, unpredictable away to get the opening match up and running. Using Jeff’s links towards Lita for a brief appearance here works well to.
Match One
3 Minute Warning w/Rico vs. Booker T and Goldust
One thing that works to their advantage here is that there is a really hot crowd. They are in Booker’s hometown, so the fans are invested to the max. Goldust gets isolated which makes sense and the action is okay, with the fans getting heavily behind Goldust as well. After the control segment, Goldust eventually strikes back and makes the hot tag to Booker. Jamal is tagged in as well, but Booker beats him to the punch and beats him up. Booker cleans house before hitting a Harlem Side Kick and busting out the Spinarooni. He then hits the Scissors Kick but only gets a two count. Of course, being as that we are in Booker’s hometown though, he can’t be successful. Instead, Rico hits a Superkick on Goldust on the floor, and 3MW work together to pin Booker cleanly. A few clunky moments like Rosey missing his spot to break up a pin, but far from bad. Not big on the hometown man, and one of the most over wrestlers on the roster losing here. Even after carrying a green but promising team to a respectable match. Damn it. **
Backstage, The Coach interviews 3 Minute Warning and Rico asking what their goals are. Rico claims that he is ready to take the team to the World Tag Team Titles. Solid enough, this did what it needed to. The team can only be a run in for Bischoff for so long, no matter how entertaining it is. Glad to give them a goal now so we understand their motivation moving forward.
In the back, Christian and Lance Storm argue over who’s to blame for losing the tag titles last week. Test and William Regal enter, trying to settle things down, telling Storm to focus on his match against Randy Orton tonight. This was okay, although I’m huge on the hurried booking of UnAmericans losing the tag titles, and then it seems one week later everything is falling apart.
Terri interviews Chris Jericho and he says Kane’s chances of becoming Intercontinental Champion are as real as Terri’s chest. He’ll beat Kane tonight and go straight to the main event at No Mercy. Jericho also calls Terri an ass clown. Ace reporter Gregory Helms comes over and say his sources have told him that Jericho has no chance. Jericho says no matter what Kane says, freaks are losers like Booker T and Goldust. He’s the one who’s cool. Kane arrives and Jericho quickly leaves. After Kane kissed Terri last week, Terri kisses Kane this time and then leaves. Helms looks shocked and Kane shrugs and says chicks dig the mask. I didn’t mind this. For me, this had the right amount of fun, but still hyped the main event tonight which is important.
Match Two
Lance Storm vs. Randy Orton
After the confrontation earlier tonight, Christian is shown watching this one closely in the back. The commentators talk about Saddam Hussein during this match as well so there’s that I guess. He’s UnAmerican, so is Lance Storm so ugh, guess they’d be friends. This match sees the debut of the Inverted Headlock Backbreaker here which has always been one of my favourite Orton moves. Anyway, Orton eventually rolls through a Roll Up into one of his own and holds the tights to get the win. Ending looked a bit sloppy and the match wasn’t good, but from a booking perspective, Orton getting a win over an established mid card act is very good for him. *1/4
After the match, Christian comes out and steals JR’s cowboy hat. He asks if Storm or himself should feel like bigger losers since Storm lost again and he’s wearing a cowboy hat. He says Storm dropped the ball again. He could have done this way better. Orton accepts Christian’s challenge. I still think the UnAmerican stuff is all happening to quickly, but Christian wanting to one up Storm is logical. I don’t mind it.
Match Three
Christian vs. Randy Orton
Again, not a great match. Orton has tons of potential (duh), but is still relatively green at this point. They have a couple of minutes of rather uneventful action, until Orton looks to counter the Unprettier into the Overdrive but botches it terribly. Actually not sure if it was Orton’s fault or Christian’s fault, but Orton didn’t look good with the landing on his face. He just kind of gets up and tries it again, this time landing it right. Again, strong booking for Orton which is promising but the match was bad. *1/2
After the match, Orton gets JR’s hat, shakes his hand and gives it back to him. I find small things like this really clever. JR is so super over with the crowd, so letting Orton be friendly with him gives him that rub by association.
In the back, Eric Bischoff yells at Jeff Hardy for helping Lita earlier. He tells Jeff to never stick his nose into Eric’s business ever again. Bischoff books him in a match with The Big Show. He tells Jeff to impress him. Ric Flair enters the scene as Jeff leaves, and he tells Bischoff that Jeff wouldn’t listen to him. He says the kid has no respect. Rob Van Dam’s request to fight him tonight should be ignored. Bischoff asks about the Smackdown talent Flair is trying to bring across because he needs results. Jeff getting punished for trying to ruin Bischoff’s plan works, although I don’t have that much excitement for seeing Jeff/Show for the second week in a row. Just because I know where this is heading, Flair working on a SD talent made me mark.
Match Four
Big Show vs. Jeff Hardy
Oh hey, another one of those times where Jacqueline is trying to be a referee. Works for me. Even through Jeff’s entrance here, I feel like you can tell through the screen that he wasn’t right and probably working through some personal stuff. I could be wrong, but just a feeling I get. With that being said, Show throws him around like crazy, and Jeff bumps around like a mental patient. Interesting to watch, even if the match isn’t technically good. As they brawl outside the ring, Show ends up getting a steel chair but Hardy kicks the chair into Show’s face. This causes Show to tumble over the crowd barricade and into the crowd. Jeff battles back into the ring and Jacqueline counts Show out so Hardy wins. Meh match honestly, but booking makes me think we will see it again. At least it was slightly better than the pair of Orton matches, albeit not by much. *3/4
In the back, Booker T confronts Chris Jericho about calling him a loser earlier. Jericho puts himself over and suggests Booker show him some respect. These two have good on screen chemistry. This was fine.
Before the next match begins, we get in ring promo time from Bubba Ray Dudley. Bubba says the table he put in the corner of the ring is reserved for Triple H. He spray paints HHH on the table. He promises that Triple H will go through the table. He wants to earn the title and prove he’s more than just a tag wrestler. Tonight is about every guy in the back who has been forced to play the game. A really good promo from Bubba. This angle has been really enjoyable. Unfortunately, I am doubtful the match will be the same.
Match Five
World Heavyweight Championship Match
Triple H (c) w/Ric Flair vs. Bubba Ray Dudley
Yeah, as expected this didn’t quite live up to the quality of the feud. It wasn’t terrible but was a combination of bland and boring. Just kind of there with nothing noteworthy happening, which is disappointing. They go through the motions in a rather lacklustre affair which is of course littered with Ric Flair interference throughout to further establish the Triple H/Flair partnership. In the end though, Bubba goes for a Powerbomb but Triple H powers out with a Back Body Drop, before hitting a Pedigree to win. I really liked the booking here, and whilst the match wasn’t offensive and about on par with the opener, it wasn’t where it needed to be. **
In the back, Trish Stratus is walking towards gorilla to make her entrance for her title match versus Victoria, but Victoria attacks her. Victoria ripped off Trish’s top and continued to attack the champion with right hands and kicks. Trish is probably my all time favourite so top off equals ratings. No, but seriously, I don’t mind this. Adds more fuel to the fire between these two, and works well with how the match plays out.
Match Six
WWE Womens Championship Match
Trish Stratus (c) vs. Victoria
As expected, after their brawl in the back, Trish charges to the ring to restart the brawl in a hurry, even decking Victoria with a cool Lou Thesz press on the ramp. It’s divas in 2002 so whilst these two are two of the better ones at this point, it’s still relatively sloppy. You could probably argue that the sloppiness adds to the chaotic nature of the fury both these women feel towards each other, but it just doesn’t quite make it passable for me. In the end, they are fighting on the outside and Victoria crushes Trish with a chair shot to the skull for the DQ. Love this finish because it’s not often at this point that women would take chair shots. Feels like a big deal and much like the brawl earlier, adds more heat to this awesome rivalry. Not good but not the worst women’s match in 2002 by a long way. *1/2
After the match, referees have to hold back Victoria from the unconscious Trish. Just really solid booking for this feud this week.
Backstage, Stacy Keibler talks to Eric Bischoff asking for more airtime so she can beat Trish Stratus in a Babe of the year challenge. He doesn’t care and instead explains Raw Roulette, spin the wheel and make the deal. Raw Roulette will debut next week. He says you won’t see anything like this on Monday Night Football. Segment was fine. Trish/Stacy next week will most likely get a degrading stipulation which is whatever. More importantly though, we’re getting the first edition of Raw roulette which should be interesting. Nice way to hype it here. On the Monday Night football stuff, kind of reeks of desperation that they’ve tried to take little pot shots at them throughout the show. This isn’t the Monday Night War.
A video package for Survivor Series in November airs, set to “Always” by Saliva.
A video package airs on Randy Orton. It’s crazy how much they were already putting into Orton here. Two victories over established talent and the video package treatment as well.
In the back, Christian and Lance Storm keep arguing after their failures earlier tonight. Test and William Regal come in and they tell them they will show them what real harmony is. Segment is fine for what they are going for. Not sure whether to keep harping on the rushed nature of this though. I guess I did.
The Coach heads into a locker room to interview Triple H but instead finds Ric Flair, a good looking blonde and a bottle of champagne. Flair calls H out of the shower. Triple H comes out wearing a towel. Triple H starts to talk about his title defence at No Mercy. Two women poke their heads out from the shower, waiting for him to come back. Chris Jericho then enters the room and wants to talk to Triple H. The Coach is told to leave but Triple H returns to the shower, so Jericho sits down and starts hitting on the blonde with Flair. Jericho goes with the Joey from Friends, how you doin which got a pop from me. I really liked this. Not only does this set up the heels being dastardly in the main event, but this feels like the first real sign of the Evolution gimmick between H/Flair as well. Not only that, but I love continuity and the tension and fact that Triple H and Jericho still don’t get along, despite potentially being willing to work together is great.
Backstage, Rob Van Dam and Tommy Dreamer are heading towards the ring for their tag match when Dreamer asks RVD if he’s ready. RVD has his ribs taped up but he says he’s ready. Okay way to put over that RVD is still suffering from the sledgehammer shot from Flair at Unforgiven.
Match Seven
Rob Van Dam and Tommy Dreamer vs. Test and William Regal
Well, it definitely feels like RVD has fallen down the card very quickly. Just over a week ago this guy was in a World Title match on pay per view, and now he’s here. Interesting. Anyway, this certainly happened and was another below average match, which is kind of disappointing when you think that two guys like RVD and Regal are involved. Continuing with their terrible tonight, the UnAmericans have a miscommunication when Test accidentally Clotheslines Regal. This leaves Test in a two on one, and even though he gets Tommy in position for the Pump Handle Slam, RVD kicks test in the face, allowing Dreamer to get the win. Meh match and RVD being demoted to this so soon after Unforgiven makes me mad. *3/4
After the match, Christian and Lance Storm run down to try and attack RVD and Dreamer, but the winners bail. The UnAmericans start arguing again and then Christian and Storm start brawling with each other. So do Test and Regal until Regal and Storm clear the ring of Christian and Test. And just like that, in one night, with no warning, The UnAmericans are over. WWE 2002, the year of the rushed reshuffle of plans and rosters continues.
Backstage, Booker T taunts Chris Jericho, calling him a sucka after Jericho didn’t allow him to earlier. Jericho is mad but keeps walking, ready for the main event. Booker just randomly appearing an hour later to say sucka isn’t great for me. Whilst Booker/Jericho leads to great things, Booker has looked extremely bad in his hometown tonight.
We get a video package showing highlights of the WrestleMania XIX press conference. One of my favourite Manias.
Match Eight
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
Chris Jericho (c) vs. Kane
A solid main event with Jericho basically putting on a really good bumping performance to make Kane looks terrific. Keeping with the earlier segment with Jericho and Triple H, Ric Flair comes down to ringside to keep an eye on things. The lack of continuity here kind of frustrates me as Jericho/Flair hated each other and had two matches against each other on PPV just recently, yet now here’s Flair saving Jericho by putting his foot on the ropes after a Tilt A Whirl Slam from Kane. Flair keeps interfering so gets ejected. Flair doesn’t want to leave so Kane basically beats him up the ramp. Interestingly enough, despite Kane being freshly returned and being treated like the hot face, the crowd gets pretty mixed as this one goes on, seemingly digging Jericho. Jericho worked Kane’s knee a bit, but Kane ignores it completely when he goes on the offense, basically making that part of the match completely meaningless. As Kane looks close to finishing things off, Triple H now runs down to interfere, only for Kane to knock him off the apron. Eventually Kane ends up on the outside, and Triple H botches a Spinebuster on the floor, with even JR calling it a Belly To Belly Suplex. Kane powers through all the interference and ends up hitting the Chokeslam to win the IC Title and become the number one contender for the World Title. This match got a long run time for this time period and in turn, was a solid main event. It does leave us with the awfulness that will come from this Triple H/Kane feud, but let’s cross that bridge in the coming weeks. **3/4
After the match, Triple H is on the ramp and holds the World Championship in the air but he’s clearly livid that Kane won the match. Nice way to put over the danger Kane presents to H’s title reign.
One of the poorer episodes in a while. Outside of the main event, the in ring action wasn’t good. Felt like some missteps with booking to in regard to Booker T, and The UnAmericans. Could argue the Orton push was the only thing handled well, but even that was tainted by being lined to The UnAmericans stuff. 
