WWE: The Gorilla Position ~ Vol. II

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A bit of a promo-heavy Raw due to last week only having half the roster with the travel restrictions.

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Monday Night Raw - June 16, 2003
American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas
Broadcast live on TNN

A video package aired, running through the event of Monday Night Raw last week. The show opened with a speech from the current World Heavyweight Champion, Triple H, where he outlined why Booker T was not worthy of holding the top spot in the company. That transitioned to the main event of last week’s show. Triple H took on Jeff Hardy in a champion vs. champion contest, and with the assistance of both Randy Orton and Test, it was the World Heavyweight Champion who came away with the victory. Following the main event, Booker T, the number one contender for the most coveted prize on Raw, and the challenger at Bad Blood, took to the middle of the ring and delivered a heartfelt promo to the live audience. It was the chance of a lifetime at Bad Blood when he got the chance to step into the ring and become a World Champion for the first time under the WWE banner. This was what he had worked his entire life to achieve, and he was on the doorstep of a life-changing moment. There was no interruption or brawl to end the show - both champion and challenger were given the chance to speak their mind directly to the fans. The collision course was delayed by one week, because tonight was the night that Triple H and Booker T came face to face on Monday Night Raw!

The standard Monday Night Raw opening package aired, and the camera panned across the American Airlines Center in beautiful Dallas, Texas. The excitement from the crowd echoed over television screens across the world as they jumped to their feet inside the building. Signs filled the skies high with many branded with the names of their favourite superstars, including Booker T, Jeff Hardy, Scott Steiner, Stone Cold Steve Austin and many more. We were just thirteen days away from Bad Blood, live only on pay-per-view, and the crowd was white hot for an action-packed night of sports entertainment as only Monday Night Raw could provide. On commentary for this evening, Jim Ross and Jerry ‘the King’ Lawler welcomed us to the show and thanked Kevin Kelly and Shane McMahon for holding down the fort last week. They ran down the card, which included a much hyped main event where Evolution defends their World Tag Team Titles against the Dudley Boyz in a tables match! Plus, Michael Cole from SmackDown will host a one-on-one sitdown interview with the two men involved in the World Heavyweight Championship match at Bad Blood.


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The camera moved over to the ring, and Eric Bischoff stood inside of it with his right-hand man, Christian, alongside him. The Raw General Manager was still selling the impact of the assault at King of the Ring by Stone Cold Steve Austin, and had to be helped down to the ring during the open video package. This was not shown on television, but is mentioned by Jim Ross in commentary as he explained why Eric Bischoff was wearing a neck brace and had a crutch tucked under his left arm. Bischoff told the audience to bear with him a moment, as his injuries had not fully recovered from the vile attack he received from Stone Cold. The crowd popped huge for that, and Christian snatched a microphone from ringside and yelled at them to shut up and show some respect! Through a voice filled with great pain, Bischoff said that his injuries had left him unable to walk properly. He failed to go to the bathroom without assistance, and Christian piped up that he was right there to help the General Manager because that’s what good friends do for each other. The crowd began to chant for Austin while Bischoff continued to try to gain sympathy. In the end, Eric said that he could see that none of his pain mattered to the filth that filled the arena. All they wanted was Stone Cold and for him to come out, drink beer and treat Monday Night Raw like his own personal sandbox. Well, not anymore! Bischoff didn’t care what the people thought or what Stone Cold thought; this was his show, and he was in charge. In thirteen days, Stone Cold was going to get the beating of his life when Christian beat him from pillar to post with every weapon under the sun.

The glass shattered! The roof on the building nearly came off as Stone Cold Steve Austin marched down to the ring and sent chills down the spine of the already wounded Eric Bischoff. The Texas Rattlesnake explained that he was hard of hearing lately and thought that being up close and personal might solve that problem since his name kept being dropped. Immediately, Christian cut him off, irked by the interruption and told Austin to go back to the locker room and wait his turn. This was time set aside for Eric Bischoff and Captain Charisma, and all his peeps around the world didn’t want this being ruined by some ignorant redneck. Austin laughed, and he claimed that’s where Christian was wrong. Austin said that this was a great opportunity for them all because he actually agreed with something that Christian and Bischoff had said. A confused look came across the face of Bischoff as he pondered what that could be, considering they had spent most of their time badmouthing the Texan. Christian spat back and asked what Austin was on about. Well, Austin was definitely in for a rough night at Bad Blood because he was unable to use weapons that night, but Christian could do anything he wanted. The Texas Rattlesnake began to list various weapons, and the crowd chanted ‘What?’ back at him. By the end of the list, Christian was fired up and smiled. He clapped his hands and said there was no way Austin stood a chance at the pay-per-view.

A slight smirk appeared on the face of Stone Cold as he rubbed his head. Christian and Bischoff were correct in that he couldn’t use any weapons at Bad Blood. However, that didn’t mean he was unable to use them on a different night. Bischoff’s eyes went wide as Austin lunged at Christian and took him down with a hard clothesline. The Canadian hit the mat and popped back up, and took a bump over the top rope and to the floor. Austin slowly turned around as the crowd roared with approval. He had Bischoff in his sights and kicked the crutch out from under him before connecting with another Stone Cold Stunner! Austin had stunned the Raw General Manager again, and the crowd loved it! On the outside of the ring, Christian cried out in despair at the pain felt by his father figure. The two wrestlers collided again, this time trading shots on the outside of the ring, where Austin sent Christian into the barricade near the timekeeper’s area. To the cheers of the arena, Austin pulled a steel chair out and cracked Christian across the back, forcing him to his knees. He looked around and asked if the crowd wanted more, and they did! Austin looked under the ring and found a trash can, which he slammed into Christian’s head! After searching around the area, Austin held up the ring bell and took one final swipe at Christian. Smack! He nailed Captain Charisma right in the face with the ring bell, and he was out cold. Stone Cold poured a cold one out next to his handiwork before he hauled ass up the ramp and made his exit. The camera lingered on the sight of Eric Bischoff, stunned in the middle of the ring, and Christian unconscious amongst a litter of weapons on the outside.



Commercial Break



Back from the break, Booker T had just arrived at the arena and was walking through the halls with his bag slung over his shoulder. There was a confidence to his appearance that had evolved since the night after WrestleMania 19. It had been much publicised that Booker T was frustrated with not being on the card for WrestleMania and had set out from that night onwards to change the direction of his career. Jonathan Coachman approached him as he turned a corner for a quick word or two. ‘The Coach’ questioned Booker T on the one-on-one sitdown with Triple H later on in the evening, and why it wasn’t being done out in the ring so that the live audience could view it directly. In response, Booker T told Coach that the decision didn’t come from him. He was told that Triple H wanted to do this sitdown interview with Jim Ross, and that was it. If it were up to Booker, the two of them would be out in front of people here in Dallas, Texas, not talking, but fighting for the World Heavyweight Championship. The number one contender wasn’t sure what Triple H was thinking, but he was going to be there later tonight and look the man right in the eyes, and see if he had the nerve to talk like he did last week when Booker T wasn’t there to smack him upside his head! Just as the interview was ending, Goldust appeared and told Booker that he was ready to have his back if anything went down tonight.


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Match 1 | SINGLES MATCH:
Maven vs. Lance Storm
Coming off a win on Sunday Night Heat, Maven stepped into the ring with one half of the Un-Americans to kick off the in-ring action for Monday Night Raw. Maven was accompanied by his girlfriend, Stacy Keilber, on the way to the ring, whilst Lance Storm was joined by William Regal. Before the opening bell sounded, Regal gave some advice to Storm and told him to stretch the kid on the mat. Elsewhere, Maven exchanged a kiss with Keilber, climbed up onto the turnbuckle and waved his arms up and down to fire up the crowd. Throughout the contest, Lance Storm would cut Maven’s fast-paced offence off and bring it back to a mat-based assault. Storm hooked a leg for the single-leg Boston crab, which almost caused the match to end via submission. Maven was able to dig deep and drag himself to the bottom rope to force a break. After seven minutes of in-ring action, Maven ducked a superkick and struck with his trademark dropkick to the head of Lance Storm, giving the Tough Enough winner a decisive victory.
Winners: Maven @ 07:26

In celebration after the match, Keilber climbed into the ring and hugged her boyfriend before kissing him on the cheek. Maven had his hand raised in victory by the referee, and replays played on the titantron of the picture-perfect dropkick that put Lance Storm away. In commentary, Ross and Lawler put over the dropkick and how nobody in the WWE has been able to kick out of the move since Maven has been training down in OVW. It has been a major game-changer for his career, and no matter who he hits it on, they've been unable to lift their shoulder off the mat before a count of three every single time. Maven and Keilber make their exit from the ring, both excited for what is in the future for the former Tough Enough winner.


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In the parking lot of the area, an ambulance is being packed up with two paramedics inside the vehicle and one on the outside with a checklist. The paramedic on the outside is heard saying they are good to go as the camera catches a glimpse of Eric Bischoff on a stretcher inside the ambulance being checked by the other two paramedics. To the right of the shot, Chief Morley appeared and demanded to know what was happening. He was informed that the General Manager had suffered a lot of pain after the confrontation with Stone Cold, and all onsite tests said he was fine, but Bischoff insisted on being checked at a hospital, so they were taking him to the nearest medical facility for a routine check to calm his nerves. The ambulance pulled out of the parking lot and left the area, while Morley realised that he was now the only official left on Raw. A slight smirk appeared on his face until it burned into a sneer. Morley pulled out his mobile phone and made a call. He informed whoever was on the other end that Stone Cold Steve Austin was a marked man and to find him before the end of the night! The hunt for Steve Austin in Texas was on! Morley vowed that he would make Austin pay for what he had done earlier in the night before the show came to a close, one way or another.



Commercial Break



In the building, Rob Van Dam made his way down the rampway to the ring. No longer showing any signs of the attack that cost him a spot in the King of the Ring tournament. Van Dam was not in his usual laid-back mood; he did not engage with the crowd on the way down to the ring and made no move to do his trademark taunt. Inside the ring, RVD was showered with cheers and chants of his name from the live audience, to which he nodded and mouthed the words ‘thank you ’, but even that did not change his attitude for the moment. He told the crowd that tonight was one of the most important nights in his career because he was going to find out the truth of what happened when he was attacked last month. We’ve all had uncomfortable moments where we had to challenge a friend who had hurt us, and tonight, that is what Rob was facing. For over a month, RVD had sat at home watching Monday Night Raw as his best friend Kane got to have the run of a lifetime in the King of the Ring tournament while he was sitting on the bench, thinking he might not make it back. RVD had no problem with Kane taking his spot in the tournament; he was happy that his friend got to get the chance to compete in the tournament, and there was no bigger supporter of Kane when it came to the final than Van Dam. However, if Kane was the reason Rob was sitting at home, then he had a big problem! With that said, Rob turned to the rampway and asked Kane to come down to the ring, look him in the eye and tell him the truth!

Fire erupted from the top of the stage, and the arena turned blood red as Kane marched down to the ring. The Texas crowd cheered him as well, showing that they did not believe Kane to be the villain that some would portray him as. Rob said it was good to see his friend again and thanked him for coming down to the ring. It had been a long time since they had been together, but Rob wanted to do this as soon as possible and in front of the fans so that everyone could make their judgment. They squared off, face to face, as Van Dam asked Kane if he had anything to do with the assault that took him out. There was a long pause as Kane looked from one side of the arena to the others before shouting into a microphone - NO! The building popped, Kane and Van Dam maintained eye contact as RVD raised his microphone up - but was cut off by the arrival of Sean O’Haire!

The Devil’s Advocate sauntered onto the stage, but did not join the two tag partners inside the ring. He would conduct himself from far away on the stage, perhaps too afraid to get near Kane after accusing him of such a betrayal. O’Haire joked that there was no way that Van Dam could believe Kane, surely not. He pointed to the titantron and played footage of Backlash, where RVD hit Kane with a steel chair by accident, costing the Big Red Machine the Intercontinental Championship. He reminded everyone that Kane had lost to RVD at WrestleMania earlier this year as well. Two months in a row, Van Dam had been directly responsible for Kane losing a match, and O’Haire accused Kane of being sick to death of it! Kane had become the ‘other guy’ in the tag team, and he wanted the spotlight for himself, so he did the only thing he knew how to do. He attacked Rob Van Dam when he wasn’t expecting it, and Kane stole his spot in the King of the Ring tournament and seized for himself what he deserved! O’Haire laughed. He preached that Kane was only giving in to the same sinful nature that runs through the veins of all of these people in Texas, and if the shoe were on the other foot, Rob Van Dam would’ve done the same damn thing!

From inside the ring, Kane yelled at O’Haire to shut up. The only thing he was going to give in to was the feeling to rip O’Haire limb from limb if he continued to accuse Kane of something he didn’t do. Kane looked to Rob and told him that this friendship was something he had never had before, even with his own brother, and he did not attack him. Kane had always had Rob’s back, no matter what and if Rob believed the lies coming from the mouth of Sean O’Haire, then maybe they weren’t ever friends after all. There was a pause as Rob lowered his head and pondered everything that had been said. Who did he believe? O’Haire had many valid points, and the person who directly benefited from the attack was Kane. However, Kane had never given Rob any reason to doubt him as a tag partner or a friend. Why do this sort of thing now? To the roar of the crowd, Van Dam told Kane that he believed him and would not fall for the sermon given by the snakeoil salesman standing at the top of the stage. O’Haire spat back that RVD was blind and that he put too much belief in people. People are selfish creatures, and they will do what is best for them, and them alone, and sooner rather than later, RVD would see that. Rob and Kane declared that they both trusted each other, and together they’d kick O’Haire’s ass if he had the guts to come down to the ring. The Devil’s Advocate declined, pointing out that the two of them had immediately turned to violence like the sinful creatures they are. No, he wouldn’t enter the ring tonight, but he would offer them a deal. In thirteen days, at Bad Blood, Sean O’Haire versus Kane and Rob Van Dam in a Devil’s Handicap Match! The deal was accepted - the match confirmed - and O’Haire had a sly smirk on his face as the segment came to a close.


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In the interview area, Teri Runnels is joined by the WWE Intercontinental Champion, Jeff Hardy. Runnels had a few basic questions for Hardy about his match last week against Triple H, and what it felt like getting to main event Monday Night Raw. The conversation quickly turned to the involvement of Test, the man who assaulted Hardy mid-match last week and caused his defeat to Triple H. Hardy informed Teri that he had no idea what Test’s problem was with him and that the two of them hadn’t spoken in a long time. If Test wanted a shot at the Intercontinental Champion, then all he had to do was ask for one. Hardy said he wanted to be a champion who gave people opportunities and put on exciting matches for the fans each week. He had no intention of hiding behind connections he had to get out of defending the belt like Christian had done before him. As Hardy was about to answer another question - he was hit from behind by Test! The big man laid the boots in on the champion and could be heard shouting that he was done waiting for his turn. Test grabbed Hardy by the upper body and launched him into a production crate, leaving the WWE Intercontinental Champion lying flat on his back, unable to move. Test bent down slowly, his fingers grasping the title belt, and he told Jeff to consider this his official challenge for a title shot.



Commercial Break



Backstage, the Dudley Boyz have just arrived at the arena for their main event title opportunity against Evolution later this evening. D-Von and Bubba Ray carry their bags through the halls until they arrive at the locker room. Both men have a serious look on their faces, knowing that tonight is a huge opportunity and likely the last title shot they’ll get as long as Evolution hold the gold. They give each other a fist bump before entering the locker room to begin their preparations for the match with Batista and Randy Orton for the World Tag Team Championships.


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Match 2 | SINGLES MATCH:
Jacqueline vs. Trish Stratus
For the first time since losing the WWE Women’s Championship at King of the Ring, Trish Stratus was in action on Monday Night Raw. Stratus still had some tape around her limbs to sell the impact of the Falls Count Anywhere bout from 8 days ago, and was visibly distressed a few times during the bout after executing impact moves. The crowd were firmly behind Trish as she did battle with Jacqueline in a short showcase match for the former WWE Women’s Champion. Throughout the bout, the camera would cut backstage, where Gail Kim was seen watching a monitor with great interest. Kim wore sunglasses inside whilst sipping a cocktail and looked unimpressed at the finish of the bout when it occurred. The finish itself came after Trish Stratus connected with a Chick Kick and secured the three-count! After the bout, Trish had her hand raised in victory and motioned to her waist, making the image of a title. She wanted the world to know that she was not done being the WWE Women’s Champion and that her eyes were still set on the gold, and her motivation was now to recapture the title that she lost in England. We saw one final cut to the back, but this time, Gail Kim was gone.
Winners: Trish Stratus @ 04:02


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Monday Night Raw turns to a closed room setup. The room is pitch black except for a set of lights hanging from above a single metal table. Two chairs are facing each other, and one sits in between them with the table as a buffer between all the chairs. For a modern context, the room is set up exactly like HBO Boxing does with their ‘Face Off’ series with Max Kellerman. Michael Cole walked into the frame and sat in the middle chair. After thanking Eric Bischoff for the opportunity to host this meeting, Cole introduced Triple H and Booker T. Each man arrived from their respective side and took a seat. Triple H carried the World Heavyweight Championship on his shoulder and placed it on the table, facing the big gold belt toward his opponent at Bad Blood and smirking before giving it a quick rub. Cole thanked both men for joining him and expressed how this was a rare opportunity to get both men in the same setting with no distractions around them, and he hoped this would prove to be productive and insightful for everyone, leading into their title match. Triple H spoke first, congratulating Booker T for getting to this point in his career. This was dismissed by the number one contender with a scoff, but Triple H reaffirmed that he meant it. He was impressed that someone as untalented as Booker T was able to scratch and claw his way into a main event spot, and that proved to ‘the Game’ that his opponent had a fire inside him.

Booker T cut in, saying that he had heard enough already and that if this was just going to be Triple H insulting him for fifteen minutes, then he had better things to do. They could step outside right now, and he would show Triple H just how ‘untalented’ he really was when he put his fist upside the champ’s head. After Cole calmed the situation down, Triple H arrogantly explained that this is exactly what he meant by his statements last week. Booker T thinks this is personal when it’s not. This is just business, but Booker T sees this as his big once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so his emotions are getting the best of him. That’s not the case for Triple H. At Bad Blood, it’s just another Sunday for him - yet another World Title defence and then he’s onto the next one, but for Booker T, this is a lifetime of work. That’s the difference between the two of them and why Triple H can sit here confident and calm while Booker T is on edge. In response, Booker T argued his fire and determination weren’t going to be a negative at Bad Blood, but that emotion would carry him to the title. When things got difficult, when the match looked lost, Booker T had something to grasp onto to make him dig that bit deeper and keep on fighting! With a smirk, Triple H said that the only thing he needed to hold onto was the World Title and keeping it was motivation enough without some bullshit family story of hard times and triumph.

Things got heated when Cole spoke out against the main event match last week on Raw, where Goldust put his hands on Randy Orton. He directed the question to Booker, asking what he thought about his close friend getting involved in Evolution business so close to Booker’s title opportunity. Before Booker could provide an answer, Triple H spat that Booker T had best keep his pet in line or Evolution would find a way to put it down. Booker stood up from the table and dared Triple H to threaten his friend again. The World Champion rose to match the attitude of the challenger, and they argued back and forth about stepping over the line and kicking off their match at Bad Blood early! Thankfully, things were able to simmer down, but neither man took a seat. With the World Heavyweight Championship over his shoulder, Triple H reminded Booker that this was his idea. He wanted to look Booker in the eyes in this setting without the noise of the fans. He wanted to get the measure of his opponent for Bad Blood and see what he was like away from everything else, because at the end of the day, all that mattered was what these two men did in the ring. The same way it was just Triple H and Booker T now, this was how it would be in thirteen days in Houston. After a short pause, Triple H extended his hand and offered it to Booker T. The challenger returned the handshake and declared that he was more than ready to meet Triple H inside the ring. As Booker T turned his back to exit, Triple H flipped the table and smashed him in the back with the title belt! Booker T collapsed to the ground as Triple H calmly reminded the challenger to never turn his back on him. Hunter stepped over Booker’s body and exited the room as Booker T clutched the back of his head while lying on the floor.



Commercial Break



Back from the break, we are treated to a vignette showcasing WWE Women’s Champion Jazz training and working out. In the video, Theodore Long is dressed in a tracksuit, has a whistle and a stopwatch. He oversees the Black Diamond’s training, including lifting heavy weights on the bench press with the Women’s Championship firmly wrapped around his waist, even while she trains. Jazz carries a backpack of weights up a major flight of stairs, she jumps rope, flips heavy tyres and finally is shown running the ropes. All of this is done with the WWE Women’s Championship around her waist, refusing to let it escape her grasp. The vignette comes to a close with Jazz chugging a jug of water and screaming that she wants more!


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Inside the squared circle, Tommy Dreamer stood with a selection of Singapore canes in a trash can. He reminded the audience of the attack that Christopher Nowinski executed against his friend, Spike Dudley, last week. Footage was played of Nowinski blasting Spike repeatedly with a Singapore cane after their match, along with a backstage clip of the Harvard alumni declaring himself hardcore. After the footage was played, Dreamer outlined the challenge once again for this week. Both men would take five cane shots delivered by the other. At this point, Nowinski’s music hit the speakers, and he made his way out to the ring in his varsity jacket with the famous ‘H’ on it. Nowinski rubbed his face with great concern, almost looking fearful at the prospect that faced him after talking such a big game for all these weeks. The ongoing issue between Nowinski and Dreamer has been building over the last month or so in verbal barbs thrown back and forth. Dreamer offered Nowinski the chance to back out, but he’d have to admit to all the people in the arena, and the millions watching at home, that he was a coward! Nowinski shook his head in defiance - even though his face showed the exact opposite.

Dreamer asked who wanted to go first, to which Nowinski decided he wanted to get it over and done with. He removed his jacket and faced the ring ropes, grasping them tightly to distract himself from the incoming pain. Dreamer waved the Singapore cane in the air to a big pop from the crowd after playfully taking his time to select one from the bunch. Across the ring, Nowinski kept looking back as he expected the shot to come, but it never did. He would turn and shout for Dreamer to hurry up, and Dreamer would fake a shot and pull back laughing. Eventually, Dreamer struck Nowinski across the back with the cane, and it caused the Harvard graduate to scream “holy shit” and collapse to his knees. Nowinski was in near tears after one shot - one-tenth of what he inflicted on Spike Dudley seven days earlier. After selling the first spot for a minute, Nowinski grabbed a microphone and said they should take it shot-for-shot until one of them gave up. Dreamer agreed before taking off his shirt and standing in the middle of the ring with his arms crossed, ready for the shot. Suddenly, Nowinski went crazy with the Singapore cane and didn’t just hit him once, but unloaded with multiple strikes! Security rushed the ring after Nowinski had unloaded with 15 strikes with the Singapore cane, finally getting the weapon away from him. Nowinski was showered with boos as he walked up the entrance ramp, selling the single cane shot he took before cowardly breaking the deal with Dreamer!


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Evolution was seated in their locker room, the World Tag Team Champions and Ric Flair discussed the Dudley Boyz ahead of their title defence later tonight in the main event of the evening. Flair was confident that Batista and Randy Orton had everything under control. In his words, they were younger, faster, stronger and far closer to what a superstar in this business was supposed to be compared to those damn dirty Dudley Boyz. Orton told Flair that the champions were going to put the Dudley Boyz once and for all. Batista claimed that he had been dreaming of putting D-Von and Bubba Ray through tables all week and was visibly excited as he flexed his muscles at the thought. The door to the locker room would then open, and Triple H joined the other three members of the faction. He wished Orton and Batista luck for the evening and told Flair that he should be at ringside for the bout just in case. Flair agreed, and the segment came to a close.



Commercial Break



Match 3 | SINGLES MATCH:
Kane vs. Steven Richards
In his second appearance on the show, Kane enters the ring against Steven Richards. There is no mucking around in this bout. Kane enters the ring, hits a big boot and then tosses Richards into the turnbuckle. A set of punches landed hard against Richards until Kane grabbed him by the throat, pulled him back into the middle of the ring and lifted him up for a chokeslam! It took just over thirty seconds for the Big Red Machine to secure the win tonight. He was in no mood to do anything other than cause pure destruction after the confrontation with Sean O’Haire earlier. In the post-match, Kane went to leave the ring until he saw Richards moving on the mat. Slowly, the masked demon turned back around and lifted Richards up onto his shoulder, and spiked him with a Tombstone for good measure.
Winners: Kane @ 00:32


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While Kane made his way up the ramp, Chief Morley walked by him to a chorus of boos from the live audience. Morley demanded a microphone in the ring and told production to cut the music. Shouting into the microphone, Morley had the production team replay the shot of Stone Cold Steve Austin hitting the Stunner on Eric Bischoff, and then the later scene of the ambulance taking the Raw General Manager away to the hospital. Morley told the audience that he was not moving an inch until Stone Cold was found and brought to justice for what he had done. This attitude would not be tolerated by the Administration, and putting your hands on a WWE official was a fireable offence. If not for Stone Cold’s ironclad contract, he’d be serving fries at the local McDonald's, where he belonged. Morley joked that Austin didn’t have the guts to come out to this ring and face him right now. As you would expect, the glass shattered, and the place lost its mind as Stone Cold Steve Austin marched down to the ring. He rolled directly under the ring ropes, got to his feet and booted Morley in the stomach and hit a Stunner! It was that quick from the Texas Rattlesnake, wasting no time as he planted Morley with a Stunner just as he did Bischoff to open the show. Stone Cold climbed the turnbuckle and called for some beer, which was thrown to him. After cracking open the beer, Austin poured it into his mouth to applause from the audience as Morley began to stir behind him. Much to the delight of the audience, Stone Cold saw Morley moving and went back to deliver a second Stunner! This time, Morley bounced to the outside of the ring, leaving Austin to celebrate with the fans by himself.

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The camera then cut away to the front row of the ringside. Teri Runnels was front and centre to interview the newly signed Sable, who sat front row! Runnels expressed her excitement in seeing Sable back in the WWE, asking what took so long for her to return to the company. Sable admitted that this was something that had been on her mind for a long time since she left the company. As a former WWE Women’s Champion with a single reign, Sable felt like she had left a legacy on the table when she exited the WWE in 1999, but the time had come for her to return, and the stars aligned perfectly over the last few weeks. She admitted that there was some trepidation with the return because the women here in the WWE had continued to up their game in the ring while Sable had been out of the business for four years, but she was ready to get back to training and find her way back to being the WWE Women’s Champion again! At the mention of the title, Jazz stormed out from the back and confronted Sable. They exchanged words with raised voices, Jazz calling Sable a dumb bitch for thinking she was just going to walk back onto Raw and mention Jazz’s title. Sable stood up from her seat and said she wasn’t about to back down from Jazz. Without warning, Jazz ripped a drink from the hand of a fan nearby and threw it directly into the face of Sable. Sable attempted to jump the barricade, but security stopped her, and Jazz hightailed it out of the area.

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Commercial Break



Wasting no time coming out of the commercial break, Chris Jericho made his entrance down the rampway, entering a squared circle that had been decorated to his liking. For the first time ever, the WWE audience would be treated to a new talk show segment known as the Highlight Reel, hosted by Y2J! The ring had two chairs, a pair of custom art features forming ‘X’s’, and a television monitor that hung from above, known as the Jeri-tron 5000. Jericho posed on the top rope for the fans in the arena, smirking as he was washed over with boos from the crowd. Opening the Highlight Reel for the first time, Jericho welcomed the audience to what he promised was the hottest new segment in all of television. No second-rate host, no crappy graphics, no lame jokes - just pure 100% entertainment brought to you by the Ayatollah of Rock 'n' Rolla! The boos grew louder as Jericho continued to hype himself, and the Highlight Reel was a true revolution in both sports’ entertainment and general television viewing. Y2J knew that this was what the people around the globe had been begging for, and as usual, it would be Chris Jericho who answered their prayers. The same way he had answered their prayers four years ago when he came to the WWE and saved it from complete financial ruin! Chris Jericho had saved the WWE after the likes of Shawn Michaels nearly killed the entire company, and he was here to do it all again.

Jericho then listed some of the great talk show segments throughout history, and pointed to the titantron where clips were shown. Each clip involved Shawn Michaels in some way - the Barbershop incident & Sensational Sherri’s declaration of love on the Funeral Parlour, just to mention two of them. The fact was that Chris Jericho’s Highlight Reel would last the test of time for years to come, and only one man who would be remembered as having hosted the greatest talk show in all of wrestling would be - Y2J! The crowd began to chant for the ‘Heartbreak Kid,’ which drew the ire of Jericho. He pouted and accused them of being ungrateful for not appreciating the incredible moment they were seeing tonight. Jericho remembered how, after all these years, the crowd welcomed Shawn Michaels back into the company as if he had never left. But Jericho remembered how Shawn Michaels had quit on everyone - when times got tough, the ‘Heartbreak Kid’ took his ball and went home while there was a war going on each Monday Night. Jericho was on the frontline, and he defeated World Championship Wrestling all by himself. Did Shawn Michaels ever thank him for that? Did Shawn Michaels ever thank Chris Jericho for making it so he had a job to waltz back into like he was some big shot? No! Jericho said that a lot had changed since 1998, but the one thing that had stayed the same was that Shawn Michaels was still a selfish prick!

The rant from Jericho was cut short as Shawn Michaels made his way out to the ring. The ‘Heartbreak Kid’ slapped hands with some of the fans in the front row before he entered the ring, which caused Jericho to roll his eyes and criticise HBK for sucking up to the losers here in Texas. There was so much tension in the arena. Jericho and Michaels locked eyes and circled each other inside the ring. Slowly, Jericho raised his microphone and told Michaels that he had not introduced his guest yet, and that it was incredibly rude for him to jump the gun, but not totally unexpected for the man who had to be the centre of attention. Michaels snapped back that while Jericho was trying to save the fans with this nonsense, HBK had to save the fans from this nonsense! Jericho’s eyes went wide with anger, disgusted at the insult, and he shouted back that Michaels just didn’t get it. Michaels scratched his head, thinking maybe he didn’t, but if he had to think like Jericho to understand it, then he’d rather toss himself into the nearest lake and sink to the bottom. They argued back and forth. Jericho pointed out that Shawn was not going to take over this show, not the first Highlight Reel ever! Jericho had beaten him at WrestleMania - a point that made Jericho smile with glee - and he said that should’ve been the end of it. If he had been given the shot at the World Heavyweight Championship at Backlash, then Shawn Michaels would’ve been out of his life. But that wasn’t the case; the ‘Heartbreak Kid’ had stolen it from right under Jericho, taking something he did not deserve! In response, Michaels reminded Jericho that he earned the title shot and he would be World Champion if not for Jericho throwing a hissy fit and screwing him out of the title.

Jericho raised his voice further and accused Shawn Michaels of being vindictive for flying halfway across the world to screw him out of the King of the Ring tournament. Michaels had to laugh at that - he told Jericho that it didn’t feel so good when the shoe was on the other foot, did it? They went forehead to forehead as things continued to get heated with the back and forth. Jericho spat into the microphone that he ruined Shawn Michaels’ return to WrestleMania, and he knew that it ate the ‘Heartbreak Kid’ alive. That was something he could never get back, and the history books would always show that on the grandest stage of them all, Chris Jericho owned Shawn Michaels! The ‘Heartbreak Kid’ looked Jericho up and down, telling him that this had to come to an end. Jericho said that Michaels was free to leave, and HBK told Jericho that he didn’t mean the Highlight Reel. He meant them - this issue between the two of them had to come to an end. According to Shawn, the loss at WrestleMania had been burned into his mind ever since that night. No matter what happened afterwards, Michaels could never redeem that first loss; Jericho was right. However, between the two of them, they both had one win, it was 1-1. The ‘Heartbreak Kid’ challenged Chris Jericho to one final match, the last chapter in their war - to find out who was really the best between the two. After a brief pause, Jericho said that he accepted it but only if it took place at Bad Blood. That was acceptable for the ‘Heartbreak Kid’, but he also had one other provision, because this feud would not end until one of them couldn’t stop fighting. The only way for this to end was for there to be only one who walked away from Bad Blood. They both agreed, and the crowd roared as Shawn Michaels’ words made it official… Shawn Michaels versus Chris Jericho at Bad Blood - Last Man Standing!


_____________________________________

In the larger backstage area, multiple superstars are sitting around watching the monitor as we prepare for the main event of the evening. The camera focuses in on Scott Steiner and The Hurricane, who are front and centre of a much larger group. The two men who will challenge for the World Tag Team Championships against the winners of the upcoming bout between Evolution and the Dudley Boyz. The commentary team discusses whether Steiner and Hurricane would have any particular preferred opponent for Bad Blood. We cut to the final commercial break of the evening with Steiner and Hurricane chatting back and forth as they await the result of the main event.



Commercial Break



Match 4 | TAG TEAM TABLES MATCH | WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS
Evolution (Batista & Randy Orton) vs. Dudley Boyz
The main event had finally arrived, and it was the culmination of a rivalry that had been on and off since the night after WrestleMania. Evolution was oozing confidence on their way to the ring, much in part due to the addition of the sixteen-time World Champion, Ric Flair, by their side. In contrast, the Dudley Boyz made their entrance with just as much confidence, not because of any additional support they had, but because this title match would be contested under Tables rules, a match type that they made famous. When the bell sounded for the beginning of the contest, all four men came to blows and started throwing wild punches to the roar of the watching audience. Bubba Ray and Batista paired off while Randy Orton went up against D-Von as they split the ring to give each other space. It was only a few minutes into it before both teams began looking to incorporate tables into the action, and they both shared a few close calls.

In total, four men would go through tables during the contest, but only three counted towards the match itself. The first person to go through a table was Randy Orton after he got cocky on the top rope, taunting the Dudley Boyz, which allowed Bubba Ray to shove the third generation, stay off the top and through a table on the outside of the ring. It was a complete crash and burn for Orton on the outside, and Ric Flair was livid with the youngster for putting Evolution down 1-2 with the titles on the line. The second person eliminated from the bout was D-Von Dudley. He and Bubba were able to double-team Batista for a segment of the match after Orton was eliminated. They went for the 3D, but Batista was able to spear Bubba Ray before being launched into the air. Batista caught D-Von with a lariat and then lifted him onto his shoulder and hit a Spinebuster through a table leaning against a corner of the ring! The third person to go through a table was Ric Flair. Even though he was not in the match, Flair got involved to save Batista as Bubba Ray was about to plant him through a table. Flair rushed the ring and shoved Batista free, and sacrificed himself! Bubba Ray and D-Von would hit the 3D on Flair for good measure. The final table spot saw Batista claim victory for Evolution with a powerbomb on Bubba Ray Dudley after Orton threw powder into his eyes, blinding him! Unable to see anything around him, Bubba was left victim to a devastating Batista Bomb through the table.
Winners: And STILL World Tag Team Champions - Evolution @ 10:48

In the immediate aftermath, Batista leaned back against the ring ropes and demanded the title belts. He held both up for a moment before handing one to Randy Orton as he entered the ring, his hands covered in that white powder that blinded Bubba Ray. Ric Flair joined his champions and had words with them, pointing at the bodies of the Dudley Boyz in the ring. Suddenly, ‘The Game’ hit the speakers and out walked the World Heavyweight Champion with the title around his waist. Triple H was tapping his fists as he walked to the ring, and he motioned to Evolution to pay attention. The camera caught his words - “we are not done with them - put them in a ground, now!”

It was an all-out assault from Evolution as all four members began to attack the Dudley Boyz post-match for no reason. Triple H mounted Bubba Ray and fired off multiple closed fist punches to the head. Things were going from bad to worse as Ric Flair grabbed two steel chairs and handed them to Orton and Batista. A sick, sinister look came across the face of the World Heavyweight Champion as he eyed the steel chairs, thinking of the punishment that Evolution could inflict with those. As Triple H was about to give more orders… ‘Rap Sheet’ hit the speakers, and the number one contender appeared on the stage with support! He was not coming alone; Booker T was flanked by his friend Goldust and Freaks & Geeks! All four men rushed down to the ring, and the fight was on! Freaks & Geeks collided with the World Tag Team Champions, and they spilled from the ring and ended up scattering through the crowd. Goldust and Ric Flair paired off and also escaped the ring in the chaos.

This left just two men in the ring, and all eyes turned to them! Triple H and Booker T squared off for the first time in front of a live audience. The noise in the building was thunderous as punches flew between champion and challenger. Neither man was willing to give an inch, big shot after big shot, until Booker T blocked one! A big kick to the stomach by Booker T landed, and he went for the Scissor Kick, but Triple H moved out of the way and loaded up the Pedigree! Unexpectedly, Booker T spun free from the Pedigree, unloaded with three hard punches and then hit a clothesline to send Triple H over the top rope! The Game bumped flat on his ass while Booker T stood tall in the ring - winning the first physical confrontation between the two. Inside the ring, Booker T picked up the World Heavyweight Championship and raised it above his head - meanwhile, Triple H shouted that it was his title and it was always going to be his!

END OF SHOW


BadBlood2003.png

Current Card for Bad Blood:
Date:
June 29, 2003
Location: Compaq Center in Houston, Texas

World Heavyweight Championship Match:
World Heavyweight Champion, Triple H defends against;
Number One Contender, Booker T

!! PART THREE: THE FINAL CHAPTER !!
Last Man Standing Match:
Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho

Singles Match:
~No Disqualification for Christian ONLY~

Christian vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin

Devil's Handicap Match:
Sean O’Haire vs. Kane & Rob Van Dam

World Tag Team Championship Match:
Evolution (Batista & Randy Orton) vs. Freaks & Geeks (Scott Steiner & The Hurricane)
 
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SmackDown is finished. It will be posted this weekend.

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SmackDown! - June 19, 2003 Preview
SBC Center in San Antonio, Texas
Broadcast on UPN

Thursday Night SmackDown will find itself in San Antonio, Texas, this week! Coming to millions around the world from the SBC Center, broadcasting on UPN, the hottest show on Thursday Night promises to once again be full of high-paced wrestling and exciting confrontations. Join the voice of SmackDown, Michael Cole, and Tazz for two hours of the best action you can find this side of Thursday Night!

WWE Thursday Night SmackDown promises a huge one-on-one match with major implications going into the Madison Square Garden special in just seven days. With only one week until we crown a number one contender for the WWE Championship, the three men involved have been brewing in their own anticipation for the highly promoted bout. Two of those men will clash this week when Kurt Angle goes one-on-one with Edge. This is not the first time that these two men have wrestled this year, and the history between them is well-documented. Back at No Way Out, Kurt Angle defended his WWE Championship against Edge, with a chance to main event WrestleMania 19 hanging in the balance as well. It was already a match with high stakes, but it was heightened due to the time of year and the implications it had toward the grandest stage of them all. In the end, neither man would main event WrestleMania. However, it was Kurt Angle who walked away with the victory, thanks in part to interference by then Team Angle members, Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas. Blame has also been thrown in the way of Brock Lesnar by Edge, as he believes Lesnar failed in his duty as the special enforcer that night, and ultimately cost Edge the WWE Championship. Edge has a lot of resentment toward both Angle and Lesnar, feeling that he has been looked over for those two men and that he has never gotten a fair shake at challenging for the WWE Championship while both Angle and Lesnar have already had their chances. This week, Angle versus Edge is pivotal in determining who walks into SmackDown in Madison Square Garden with momentum and thus putting themselves in a prime position to challenge The Rock for the title at Vengeance.

Last week on Thursday Night SmackDown, a risky challenge was made that had the opportunity to change the trajectory of two teams. Los Guerreros had been refused another chance to challenge for the WWE Tag Team Titles after losing both at WrestleMania 19 and at Judgment Day to the current title holders, the World’s Greatest Tag Team. In a desperate attempt to shift their fortunes, Eddie Guerrero offered up a deal that could not be refused. A seven-match series between the two teams, with the winner either gaining or retaining the WWE Tag Team Championships, and the losing team would have to disband forever! The World’s Greatest Tag Team, much to the dismay of their manager, Paul Heyman, accepted the offer and now, with SmackDown on the horizon, the series begins! In any seven-match series, the first bout is critical to maintaining control and setting the tone for what is to come. Who will claim the first victory and go up 1-0? Tune into SmackDown to find out.

Another developing story from a week ago, Rhyno did battle with Big Show and looked to be in a good position to claim victory until interference from the Full Blooded Italians. This week, Rhyno will take on A-Train as he attempts to get some retribution for the loss last week. We know that money was exchanged between Big Show and the FBI, but will they make an appearance again to thwart the ‘War Machine’ in his contest? Do the FBI have a personal vendetta against Rhyno, or is this just a case of business being business?

The final two things confirmed for SmackDown are an appearance by Mark Henry and Billy Kidman will be in action. The World’s Strongest Man shocked the wrestling landscape to its core last week when he destroyed the ‘Immortal’ Hulk Hogan like it was nothing. Henry forced Hogan to cough up his own blood and has reportedly broken the ribs of the Hulkster, a tough welcome back on his first night on SmackDown in months. There is no remorse from Henry as he sets his sights on making sure the world knows he is more dangerous than ever. In other news, Billy Kidman competes on SmackDown and will provide an update on his future. The former WWE Cruiserweight Champion lost the title a few weeks ago at Judgment Day and hasn’t addressed the loss since. Discussions around whether he’ll remain in the cruiserweight division have swirled around the WWE. Is it time for Kidman to find a new challenge, or will he seek revenge on the FBI?


Confirmed For SmackDown:
Kurt Angle vs. Edge
Rhyno vs. A-Train
World’s Greatest Tag Team vs. Los Guerreros - Match 1: Best of Seven Series (0-0)
Plus; Billy Kidman will be in action!
 
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SmackDown! - June 19, 2003
SBC Center in San Antonio, Texas
Broadcast on UPN

There is no long recap video to open the show this week. We get the standard opening theme and promo package for the hottest show on Thursday Nights, then cut to a shot of the SBC Centre in San Antonio, Texas! It’s a packed house once again for the blue brand, and our commentary duo of Michael Cole and Tazz greet us with great excitement. Cole runs through the announced matches for the evening, including Kurt Angle going up against Edge in a singles bout, with rumours that Brock Lesnar will be at ringside for the contest. With just seven days before all three men compete in a triple threat match for the number one contendership to the WWE Championship, it’s sure to be an explosive contest when Angle and Edge go one-on-one! Cole and Tazz quickly shift their attention because coming up immediately is the opening contest in a Best of Seven series between the World’s Greatest Tag Team and Los Guerreros, where the losing team must disband.

_____________________________________

Match 1 | TAG TEAM MATCH | MATCH ONE (BEST OF SEVEN SERIES; 0-0):
World’s Greatest Tag Team (with Paul Heyman) vs. Los Guerreros
You would expect nothing less than an amazing opening bout from these two teams if they are given time on the show to express themselves. With a fine bout between the two at WrestleMania and then a critically acclaimed ladder war, both of these teams have come into the best-of-seven series with a point to prove, and knowing that this will be the final (potentially seven times) that they compete against each other, with the loser having to disband. Fortunately for the audience, both at home and in the crowd, this match gets a full 17 minutes, and all four men work their butts off to put on a show for the fans. With Paul Heyman at ringside, providing instructions and advice to his team, the World’s Greatest Tag Team starts hot and seems just a step quicker and one step ahead over the veteran team that they clash against tonight. It’s mentioned in the commentary by Tazz just how valuable it is for the World’s Greatest to have Heyman at ringside, and he questioned if the young guns realise how big a difference he makes for them.

The bout had multiple nearfalls for the two teams, as you would expect, and many of them got the crowd to bite, thinking it was the finish. Eddie hit a Frog Splash for a close two count on Haas, which was broken up by Benjamin launching himself into a senton from the ring apron. A tight STF from Charlie Haas almost got Chavo to tap, but he refused to be the reason that his team went down 0-1 in the series, especially with so much on the line. The Guerreros fought as hard as they possibly could in this first match of the series, but ultimately fell short after Benjamin hit the T-Bone suplex on Eddie Guerrero for the three count. That would be the end of the match and put the World’s Greatest up 1-0 in the series, drawing first blood and now being just three short wins away from ridding themselves of Los Guerreros forever.

Winner: World’s Greatest Tag Team @ 17:04

After the match, Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas posed with the title belts while Paul Heyman celebrated by their side. The camera caught Eddie's reaction, his head in his hands, shaking it as he realised this was now the third straight loss to the champions for Los Guerreros. This was his idea, reminded Michael Cole. It was Eddie’s idea for the best of seven series and to put the team at risk, and now the real danger of being unable to team with his nephew was setting in as their opponents made their way up the ramp in victory.

_____________________________________

After being introduced by Michael Cole, the show transitions to a pre-taped interview with one-third of next week’s triple threat number one contender’s match. Standing in the rafters of the arena (ala the man with the crow facepaint), Edge explained how this year, the first six months, had completely changed both himself and the way he looked at the business of professional wrestling. Just two years ago, he was running around SmackDown with a party hat and a kazoo. He didn’t have a care in the world other than having fun with his brother, Christian, but now he didn’t recognise the man he saw back then. Or maybe he didn’t recognise the man who looked back in the mirror at him now? From wrestling The Undertaker at WrestleMania to being one second away from being the WWE Champion at No Way Out, this year had changed everything for Edge. With a harshness to his voice, anger building in his tone, his hand brushed through his hair as his heart pounded in his chest. Edge said that there were two people responsible for him not being the WWE Champion, and in seven days, he’d get to be in the ring with both of them at the same time. Kurt Angle had cheated to beat him at No Way Out, and Brock Lesnar had screwed up as the special referee for the contest. Edge had never forgiven either man and spat that next week it was his time! He deserved to challenge for the WWE Champion one-on-one without either of those two vultures bickering for what they’d already had. He’d never been WWE Champion, and that’s what kept him up at night now - he had changed. The games were over, and the WWE Championship was all that mattered, and he’d take it by any means necessary.



*Commercial Break*



When SmackDown returned from the commercial break, Bradshaw and Ron Simmons marched through the corridors of the arena, on the hunt for Jamie Noble. Dating back to last week’s show, the APA had been swindled out of thousands of dollars by Noble, who ran off and got out of trouble for the meantime, but time was running out for the cruiserweight. Infuriated by being shortchanged, Bradshaw and Simmons made their way through the corridors, grabbed unsuspecting passersby, and interrogated them about the whereabouts of Jamie Noble. Nobody had any clue where Noble was hiding tonight, and the APA's frustration continued to grow. Bradshaw punched a wall in anger and told Simmons that they could not be seen to be weak if they let that geek Noble off the hook. If he could get away with stealing from the APA, then anyone in the whole WWE would feel like they can walk right up to their table and take their money, their cigars or even their beer (for Christ’s sake!). Simmons agreed that this wouldn’t be good for their image, and they continued to look for the pest. As they turned a corner and walked out of frame, Jamie Noble popped his head up from out of a production crate, a very concerned look on his face as he snuck out and tiptoed his way in the opposite direction.

_____________________________________

In the locker-room area, Eddie and Chavo Guerrero sat with a look of dejection on their face after their loss to begin SmackDown. Even though they had put up a brilliant fight, the defeat was a hard one to swallow, especially with the stipulations surrounding the bout. Chavo tried to encourage his Uncle as best he could, but Eddie responded by apologising for putting them in this position. He said that he wanted to win the titles back so badly that he may have rushed into this without thinking about the consequences. For him, getting to tag with Chavo was the highlight of his career, and he didn’t want to think about the idea of that being over. At this point, a voice from behind them told them to lift their spirits and focus on evening the series.

Into the frame walked Rey Mysterio, dressed in street clothes, as he has no match tonight. Mysterio hyped the Guerreros up he praised their performance earlier and believed that they were right on the cusp of beating the World’s Greatest. They didn’t need to sit here all sad; it was just one match, and if they went on to win this thing 4-1, nobody would even remember that they dropped the first bout. Spirits began to lift as Eddie and Chavo stood up, fist-bumped Rey as they all locked eyes. The masked luchador declared that Los Guerreros are still the best tag team on SmackDown, and when they had the WWE Tag Team Titles around their waist after winning the series in a gentlemen’s sweep, then they could all look back on this night and laugh. With that said, Eddie appreciated the support and offered his support towards Rey regaining the US Title that he lost last week. Rey smirked and said that he needed to take his own advice - and get right back on the horse so everyone in this room could take the gold from the Dangerous Alliance.

_____________________________________

Match 2 | SINGLES MATCH:
A-Train (with Big Show) vs. Rhyno (with Spanky)
Not an overly good match by any measure between these two men. After SmackDown started with some of the highest levels of wrestling, it had to be lowered back to a certain standard. The concept of the match was a hoss fight, both men just throwing hard shots at each other for the five-minute period that the match had assigned to it. Spanky cheered on Rhyno in support and was overly loud, so much so that the microphone at ringside continued to pick him up over the commentary. In contrast, Big Show stood with his arms crossed and watched in silence at his associate's performance in the squared circle. We were reminded in the commentary about the involvement of the Full Blooded Italians from last week when Rhyno went up against the Big Show. This would come into play again as the referee was knocked down! With the official on the ground, the FBI hit the ring for the second week in a row, and this time it was Johnny Stamboli who jumped into the ring! He was hit with a Gore by Rhyno, but this distraction allowed A-Train to recover from a prone position and hit the A-Train Bomb for the three count once the official recovered.

The FBI had struck again, and when the bell sounded, we saw a shot of Big Show slipping Nunzio a rolled-up band of cash! They’d paid off the FBI again to secure themselves a victory on SmackDown, and Rhyno had fallen victim to it. In the aftermath, Rhyno was seething was rage at the sight of the FBI at the top of the ramp, smiling like nothing had happened, counting their money with glee. With a grunt from the ‘War Machine, ’ it was clear that he had a new target on his radar, and one that he wasn’t about to let get away with screwing him out of two wins in back-to-back weeks.

Winner: A-Train @ 5:18



*Commercial Break*



A vignette played once SmackDown returned from the break. It was a recap of last week’s attack on the ‘Immortal’ Hulk Hogan by the World’s Strongest Man, Mark Henry. In the retelling of the incident last week, a video narrated by Mark Henry, which interchanges footage of the attack and stylised shots of him posing in a warehouse somewhere, breaking things into pieces and testing his own strength. Henry gloats that he has killed what could not be killed. He destroyed what they said could not be destroyed. In a world full of superheroes for the masses, Mark Henry had squeezed the life out of Superman himself, and now he was at the top of the mountain looking down upon everyone else. Hulk Hogan felt the power of the World’s Strongest Man and couldn’t make it to work the next week. The camera now cut to a close-up of Henry’s face, and he laughed briefly before slamming his fist into his other hand. Henry asked who on earth could stop him? If Superman himself lay dead on the ground in front of you, who do you call to save the planet from the most dangerous force that SmackDown has ever known? He had broken the ribs of Hulk Hogan once, and if the Hulkster dared return to challenge him again - Henry promised to break more than just his ribs.

_____________________________________

Through the halls of the backstage arena, Kurt Angle made his way toward his locker room to prepare for his match against Edge. A match that was four months in the making, in what promised to be a huge rematch from their WWE Championship bout dating back to No Way Out. Angle had just about made it to the locker room when, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something that grabbed the Olympian’s attention. He rubbed his head, thinking about it for a moment, before taking a deep breath, and he walked across the hall to where Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas stood! The WWE Tag Team Champions had not changed out of their wrestling gear after successfully defending their titles earlier in the evening. Angle approached and wanted to congratulate the duo on a fine performance out there tonight. Haas and Benjamin exchanged a quizzical look, and Benjamin said it was far better than fine, it was the world’s greatest performance - the gold standard - because that’s all this team does nowadays.

Haas sniped that Angle may not have realised that, since he’d been gone for so long, but in the time he was gone, they’d won the titles and dominated tag wrestling on SmackDown. The Olympian said he was impressed with Haas and Benjamin, and it was no surprise to him to see the success they had. He was the person who picked them after all to be in Team Angle. He understood that they were angry with him, and frankly, they deserved to be angry. He had to go away, and he left them, but if he had stayed, he’d likely be in a wheelchair rather than potentially wrestling for the WWE Championship in a few weeks. Angle was proud of the duo, and he made that clear. Once the next two weeks were over, he wanted to sit down and have a chat with them, clear the air and see if they could get on the same page again. At this point, Paul Heyman arrived and guided the World’s Greatest Tag Team away, not saying a word, but he glared at Angle like a venomous snake warning a predator to back off.

_____________________________________

The hunt for Jamie Noble continued for the APA as they stalked the corridors of the arena. Bradshaw and Simmons had spoken to just about every person they passed, but nobody had a clue where Noble could be hiding. Simmons told Bradshaw that they might be out of luck and to call it quits. Shouting at the top of his lungs, Bradshaw threatened Noble to show his face before the APA tore it right off! No reply… until they heard a slight groan from around the corner. With caution, Bradshaw and Simmons approached the location of the groans and discovered Jamie Noble beaten up! His clothes had been torn to pieces, only a few dollars were left with him, and his face was all bruised up as if he had been bashed by multiple men. While Bradshaw checked on Noble, Simmons turned around and was confronted by Leati Samu and Umaga Fatu - the Samoan Death Squad! They were flanked by Jim Cornette, who had a stack of cash in his hand and was counting it, as if he had just come into possession of it, a big, stupid smile on his face. Bradshaw immediately jumped up and shouted that the money belonged to them.

Cornette simply stated that he had no idea what Bradshaw was talking about - he was counting his own money, and last time he checked, possession was nine-tenths of the law. The APA pointed to the beaten body of Noble, a man they had been chasing around the arena for a week for their money, and stated that it didn’t take a rocket scientist to put two and two together as to what just happened. Cornette feigned disgust and asked if he was being called a liar, to which Bradshaw stuck a big fat finger in his face and did just that! The SDS stuck their chests out and squared up to the APA for disrespecting their manager. Cornette calmed them down and offered a solution if everyone wanted to fight so badly. A match - tonight between the APA and the Samoan Death Squad. With the winner keeping the money, of course. Bradshaw accepted the challenge as the SDS walked away, and Simmons quipped that maybe they should get a doctor for Noble, to which Bradshaw responded with a complete lack of care for Noble now that he had none of their money.



*Commercial Break*



Match 3 | SINGLES MATCH:
Edge vs. Kurt Angle
Once the commercial break had concluded, the arena’s attention turned to the stage for the entrance of Edge. He hyped the crowd up on his way to the ring and was given a rockstar reception filled with cheers and applause from the live audience. His opponent was greeted much the same way, in between the chants of “You Suck”, as you would expect. Once both men were in the ring, ready to compete, they were interrupted by Brock Lesnar sauntering down to the ring until he reached the commentary desk. Lesnar put on a headset and advised that he was going to have a front row seat for this match, confirming the rumours that had circulated all day long. The in-ring action started hot, both men wrestling a fast style until Angle swept the legs of Edge and nearly caught him in the Ankle Lock within the first sixty seconds. This caused Edge to slide to the outside of the ring, at which point Lesnar mocked him and threatened to toss him back into the fire if he didn’t man up. Throughout the next minute or so, Angle would catch Edge in a hold and look to transition to the Ankle Lock, only for Edge to somehow escape - it was very impressive and showed that Edge had learnt a thing or two since February.

The biggest takeaway from the bout, other than both men colliding equally and getting a good showing, was the finish itself. Edge stood near the turnbuckle as Angle slowly pushed himself off the mat and began to fight to his feet. His hair hanging in front of his face, his teeth clenched as he eyed his target from the corner, stomping his feet to fire up the crowd, Edge was on the verge of a major victory. He shot for the spear, but Angle caught him with a cradle pin, which he managed to get the shoulder off the mat for at the last second! Both men scrambled to their feet, and they ended up crashing to the outside. After a struggle on the outside, Edge was shoved across the announce desk and fell into Brock Lesnar - hard! He got up and pushed Lesnar off him, before engaging with Angle again. Edge had the advantage and tossed Angle into the ring, the victory in sight, until he heard Lesnar shout an expletive at him! Edge and Lesnar argued furiously on the outside, no physical contact, but it was enough to delay Edge’s attack on Angle. By the time he got back in the ring, Angle played possum and, like a snare trap, grabbed Edge’s ankle unexpectedly and applied the Ankle Lock! There was no escape this time, and Edge was forced to submit.

Winner: Kurt Angle @ 09:48

The fight was not over once the bell sounded - not by a long shot! While Angle had his hand raised by the referee, unbeknownst to him, Brock Lesnar slid underneath the bottom rope and struck with a vengeance. ‘The Next Big Thing’ scooped Angle onto his shoulders, marched around the ring like the weight was nothing and flattened him with a stiff F5, centre of the ring! The crowd roared as Lesnar slapped the ropes, ripped his t-shirt off and savagely ripped Edge off the canvas before tossing him into a corner. A few hard shoulder tackles against the turnbuckle followed until Lesnar screamed at Edge, looking him dead in the eyes, and executed the F5 on him as well! It was a destruction of the two men he will face next week in the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden. ‘The Next Big Thing’ may not have had a match tonight, but he was the only man left standing when the dust settled. It was a clear message: Brock Lesnar was the man to beat, and he was coming for the WWE Championship, and he didn’t give a damn who he had to run through to get it.

_____________________________________

Backstage, Rhyno and Spanky sat across from each other, with the former tending to his wounds from his loss earlier in the night. They were approached by SmackDown interviewer Josh Mathews, who asked if they had a moment to chat about what happened with the FBI. Spanky brought up that this was the second week in a row that the FBI had screwed Rhyno out of a match, and while he’s all for people earning a living, it’s not okay to make that money at the expense of someone else. Rhyno’s head was down during this; his fists shook with anger as he thought about what the Full Blooded Italians had cost him the last fortnight. While Spanky continued to answer questions from Mathews, the camera slowly turned to focus on Rhyno. He stood up and grabbed Mathews around the collar. The ‘War Machine’ spoke through gritted teeth, telling Josh to get a message to the FBI. He wasn’t going to let this go - they had made money off his back and taken food off the table of his family. Now, Rhyno was going to come after them, take something that they cared about, and split them in half because when you messed with him, it always ended the same way - Gore. Gore. Gore. Gore!

_____________________________________

We moved to the office of the SmackDown General Manager, Stephanie McMahon. The camera joins the scene mid-conversation with Stephanie McMahon in a heated discussion, some would say argument, with the WWE Champion, The Rock! The Rock was apparently sick of repeating himself, but declared he’d try one more time just to get it through that thick McMahon skull surrounding Stephanie’s teeny tiny brain. The WWE Champion was the most important person in all of sports entertainment; the person who had the WWE Championship was the WWE Champion, the WWE Championship was on The Rock’s shoulder, so therefore that meant The Rock was the most important man in all of sports entertainment. It was for that reason, he should have been consulted on decisions like making a triple threat match for his title shot against him. Stephanie inquired why she needed to run things by The Rock when SmackDown was running at its peak with her at the helm. Again, The Rock rolled his eyes and raised his voice, telling Stephanie that he had an agreement with her father. He was cut off immediately. Stephanie reminded The Rock that her father was not here and had not been seen since WrestleMania. This was her show, and she was going to run it how she saw fit.

At this point, Ron Simmons knocked on the door and entered the room. He ventured into the office, not for Stephanie, but to speak with The Rock. The WWE Champion asked what was so important that Simmons had to interrupt a private meeting between the champ and the general manager. Simmons explained what happened with Jamie Noble earlier and said he didn’t have a problem with the SDS looking for a fight, but if you touch a man’s wallet, that’s another thing entirely. With a slight chuckle, The Rock asked if Simmons wanted him to slap his cousins on the wrist, give them a little big cousin advice. The Rock told Simmons that out of respect for who Ron used to be, he’d forget that this conversation ever happened, and that if Simmons ever thought it was appropriate to approach the ‘Great One’ to bitch and complain about his family, he’d best think again.



*Commercial Break*



Amongst the craziness of SmackDown, Big Show is shown walking towards his car in the parking lot. His packed bag slung over his shoulder, Big Show is done for the evening after seeing his associate, A-Train, get a victory earlier in the night. As Big Show opened the door to his car, he was approached by ‘Big Sexy’ Kevin Nash, also dressed in street clothes. He told Big Show that they hadn’t talked in a long time, and Nash offered to shake his hands with someone he had once called a close friend. Big Show eyed the hand and declined to shake. He told Nash that things had changed around these parts, and he wasn’t some kid who was fresh in the business whom Nash could whisper advice into his ear to keep him down. Nash apologised for any advice that Big Show felt was sabotage, but ‘Big Sexy’ reminded him that his advice led Big Show to the WWE and to being one of the biggest superstars in the business. That didn’t vibe with Big Show, who questioned what Nash wanted. He was trying to leave, and this was holding him up. The discussion then turned to Mark Henry’s attack on Hulk Hogan from last week. It would seem that Nash had plans of confronting Henry next week in Madison Square Garden and was looking to see if Big Show would have his back if things got ugly. Big Show broke out into a laugh. He told Nash that his days carrying Hogan’s bags were long overdue and that Nash should’ve left that behind when they closed up shop in Atlanta. Big Show got into his car without further discussion and left the building, leaving Kevin Nash wondering how much the business had changed since he was last here.


_____________________________________

Match 4 | SINGLES MATCH:
Billy Kidman vs. Local Jobber
It’s a complete and total squash match to purely show off the ability of Billy Kidman to the SmackDown audience. The man who had previously been the longest reigning champion in the WWE until he lost the WWE Cruiserweight Title to Nunzio back at Judgment Day makes quick work of the local enhancement talent. His stiff kicks keep the no-name talent down on the mat, and he no-sells any punches that are thrown by the jobber. Kidman hits a brainbuster near the edge of the ring before ascending to the top rope. The crowd rose and cheered as Kidman performed the shooting star press, as only he can, and scored the three-count for the win.
Winner: Billy Kidman @ 02:01

In the aftermath of the match, Kidman called for a microphone and remained in the ring. He had barely broken a sweat in just over two minutes of in-ring action. Still fresh as anything, Kidman said that he had spent the time since Judgment Day thinking over what he wanted from his career moving forward on SmackDown. He had conquered the cruiserweight division and beaten nearly the entire roster at WrestleMania when he ran the gauntlet against them. Going back to chasing that title, as much as he loved it and cherished his time being the WWE Cruiserweight Champion, would feel like a step backward for his career. He needed to find a new challenge, a new goal to set himself apart from the pack. That goal was simple: Kidman wanted to earn a shot at the WWE United States Championship! The crowd cheered as Kidman pointed toward the entrance stage and made a challenge to John Cena for a chance to earn a title shot. He wanted a one-on-one match against the champ, non-title, but if he won, he would have earned a match for the gold.

‘Basic Thuganomics’ hit the speakers and signalled the arrival of the King of the Ring, WWE United States Champion, John Cena, flanked by his ‘OG’ Paul Heyman. Cena had a microphone in his hand, dressed in a throwback Rick Rude t-shirt from his days in the Dangerous Alliance. In a mocking tone, Cena asked the audience who the hell Kidman was to think he could call out the realest champion in all of WWE. He cut a rap about Kidman, mocking his size, his lack of long hair that he had in WCW and his stupid circus style finisher. At the end of it, Cena told Kidman that there was no way in hell that he’d even give him a non-title match, let alone a shot at the gold. His time was precious; he was the ‘Man of the Hour’ and not even a second could be wasted on Kidman. Suddenly, Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas stormed the ring and began to assault Kidman! Cena rushed to the ring and joined in - the Dangerous Alliance in full swing. They clearly did not appreciate being challenged! As things looked bad, Cena was readying up his title for a belt shot to the head, Kidman found some help in Rey Mysterio! The luchador stormed the ring with a steel chair to even the odds, which forced the Dangerous Alliance to scatter. Inside the ring, Mysterio and Kidman exchanged a supportive nod. They had a common enemy, but both men sought to challenge John Cena for the WWE United States Championship. How would that work?

_____________________________________

Elsewhere in the arena, specifically the private tour bus provided to The Rock, we see the WWE Champion making his way to the door. He opened it and entered, but came to a sudden stop, his face dropped as he removed his sunglasses. The Rock spat out a question, his tone sharp and leaving no room for anything other than a direct answer - “What the hell do you think you’re doing here?” The camera circled and revealed Brock Lesnar lounging back against the comfort of the WWE Champion’s private tour bus. Lesnar only wanted to talk; he wasn’t looking for a fight and offered The Rock a drink from the counter. That was The Rock’s own whisky that he had been saving, he shouted, and he demanded that Lesnar get out of his bus before he dragged him out of here himself. Lesnar stood and approached the ‘Great One’ as both men clenched their fists. No, Lesnar had no intention of fighting The Rock tonight. He just wanted to see the man up close before next week, when he became the number one contender. Lesnar eyed the bus up and down and remarked that this would all be his in just a few weeks because he was the one to take down The Rock. He had him beat at WrestleMania and now, on his second chance, he was going to finish the job. The Rock flexed his muscles and pushed the title forward a little on his shoulder, and promised that Brock Lesnar would never beat him again. The title belonged to The Rock, and it was going to stay right where it belonged, no matter which of the three stooges won the triple threat. Madison Square Garden, the world’s most famous arena, was The Rock’s throne, and maybe he needed to remind the world of that.



*Commercial Break*



Match 5 | TAG TEAM MATCH:
APA vs. Samoan Death Squad (with Jim Cornette)
The bout had been built up all night, and the fans were ready for the clash of the two brute teams on SmackDown. During the entrance of the SDS, Jim Cornette let loose to the camera. He carried on about the power of the Samoan Death Squad, that they were unlike anything he had ever seen, and no team in all of wrestling could match their speed and power. When the match began, it was a pure slugfest with very little actual chain wrestling on show. It was big shot after big shot from both sides of the ring, neither side selling for the other. At one point, Bradshaw cracked Umaga Fatu with a stiff lariat, but the Samoan no-sold it, refused to drop to the canvas and slapped his legs, daring Bradshaw to try that again! Hard punches were dished out by Bradshaw and Simmons as they took turns slugging it out with the Samoans in the corner of the ring.

Eventually, the action spilled to the outside of the ring. Chaos erupted when Bradshaw called for the announce desk to be ripped to pieces. The APA tore it apart and had their sights set on putting at least one member of the SDS through it! The match came to an abrupt end when Leati Samu put a stop to that idea. He smashed Bradshaw across the back with the ring bell. The referee saw it, and in conjunction with the APA bringing the announce desk into play, he made the decision to call this bout a no-contest. There was a lot of booing from the live crowd at that decision, but the fight continued on!

Winner: No Contest @ 5:21

Amongst the chaos of the brawl on the outside, nobody saw what was coming down the aisle. Simmons had his hands full with fighting the dangerous Umaga when he was hit in the back of the head with a forearm! The building erupted with hate as the camera panned over to reveal The Rock! The WWE Champion had stormed down to the ring and was unloading on his former friend, Ron Simmons. He pushed Simmons into the ring, grabbed a steel chair and slowly sauntered into the squared circle like he had all the time in the world.

In one hand was a steel chair, and the other was a microphone. The Rock asked if Simmons was awake or if he was knocked out by the biggest forearm in the world, hitting him in the back of his head. A steel chair shot followed, and The Rock mockingly joked that the chair shot should wake up this jabrooni, piece of shit. With a foot on his chest and the chair digging into Simmons’ throat, The Rock cut a promo to end SmackDown. He told the world and Simmons to listen up when the ‘Great One’ was talking. See, this was still his show; people seem to have forgotten about it. Not only that, but Simmons thought it reasonable to approach him - The Rock - the WWE Champion - the most electrifying man in Hollywood! How dare he?

None of you deserved to approach The Rock, not even the idiots in the building who purchased tickets to see him. You all needed to bask in his greatness from a distance. Not tonight, though, because The Rock had a message for Ron Simmons. He told Simmons that he thought The Rock was so approachable, maybe because he thinks they’re on the same level. Well, next week, The Rock is going to prove to the world that he is the main event, that this is still his show and that the WWE runs through The Rock and his family! Next week - Madison Square Garden - regardless of the triple threat match for a shot at the title - the main event in the world’s most famous arena is going to be The Rock’s match!

In front of the millions of his fans, The Rock will main event MSG and he’ll deliver the ass whooping of a lifetime to YOU! The Rock looked down at Ron Simmons, a smile showed across his face as he slowly unclipped the WWE Championship from around his waist. “And it’s for the WWE Championship! If you smell… what The Rock… is cooking!”

END OF SHOW

***

Vengeance.png

Current Card for Vengeance:
Date: July 27, 2003
Location: Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado

WWE Championship Match:
WWE Champion, The Rock OR Ron Simmons defends against;
Brock Lesnar
OR Edge OR Kurt Angle

***


WWE_Live_from_MSGSmack.jpg

Current Card for SmackDown from MSG:
Date: June 26, 2003
Location: Madison Square Garden in New York


WWE Championship Match:

The Rock (c) vs. Ron Simmons

!! WINNER CHALLENGES FOR THE WWE CHAMPIONSHIP AT VENGEANCE !!

Triple Threat Match:
Brock Lesnar vs. Edge vs. Kurt Angle

WWE Tag Team Championship Match:

~ Best of Seven Series: Match 2 (1-0)~
World's Greatest Tag Team (c) vs. Los Guerreros
 

Haskell

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Another great show buddy.

I LOVE the idea of The Rock defending his title against Faarooq at MSG. Given their history together, it’s a very smart piece of booking.

Angle comforting Haas & Benjamin was interesting, especially when he apologised to them for his hiatus. Looking forward to you pulling the trigger of Haas & Benjamin finally betraying Angle.

Mark Henry’s promo was fantastic. I‘m waiting in anticipation to see how you push the World’s Strongest Man to main event stardom.

All in all, another interesting read.

I can’t wait for MSG.
 
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EZ3

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The go-home show for Bad Blood is completed for Raw. The plan is to release it this week and hope that I'll have made progress on SmackDown by then. If all works out, we should be looking at Bad Blood in 2, maybe 2 and a half, weeks for a release.

Until then, please enjoy a pair of B-Show events. Moving forward, I'll group Velocity and Heat in a single post like this with a brief rundown. For the most part, these will be skippable if you want, but you'll find the odd title defence for the midcard or some character work (ie Dawn Marie-Wilson on this episode of Velocity) which may be of interest.


WWE Velocity| June 21, 2003
Taped before SmackDown on June 19, 2003

wwe_velocity_2002_logo_by_clarkvl9_dgnko9s-414w-2x.png

Josh Mathews and Tazz welcome us to the show this week. They briefly recap the events of the past week, then run down the card for tonight’s show. The main event will see gold up for grabs when ‘the Don of WWE’ Nunzio puts the WWE Cruiserweight Championship on the line against Funaki!

Rikishi defeated Bill DeMott @ 05:05 after forcing a submission following the stinkface in the corner by the big man. After the match, Dawn Marie-Wilson came out onto the stage in her black-veiled bride attire (dressed in all black with a wedding veil, the darkest shade of black possible covering her face). She pointed at Rikishi with a gloved hand and left without saying a word.

Hardcore Holly defeated Shannon Moore @ 06:56 with the Alabama Slam for the three count. Holly was rough with the youngster and gave him a few potato-style punches, and did not let up with the boots in the corner. Post-match, Matt Hardy challenged Hard-Ass to a tag team match on SmackDown next week!

Mark Henry defeated Tajiri in 03:21 following the World’s Strongest Slam. Henry was dominant in his win and went back to hit a second slam after the bell had already rung.

In the main event, Nunzio defeated Funaki to retain the WWE Cruiserweight Championship @ 07:57, in a back-and-forth match. The finish came when Nunzio connected with the Arrivederci on Funaki, after the FBI had got involved! Palumbo slapped at Funaki’s foot without the referee seeing, and this allowed Nunzio to strike with his finisher and retain the title in his first showing as champion since Judgment Day.


_____________________________________

WWE Sunday Night Heat | June 22, 2003
WWF,_WWE_Heat_logo_(2000).png


Jonathan Coachman and Kevin Kelly open the show for yet another week. It is announced at the beginning of the broadcast that starting in July, Al Snow will return as the co-host of Sunday Night Heat alongside the Coach.

The first match of the night saw Gail Kim and Molly Holly defeat a pair of local wrestlers @ 03:36 after Gail Kim hit the Eat Defeat. After the bout, Molly Holly grabbed a microphone and called out Sable, who had returned on Raw the week before. She challenged Sable to a one-on-one match tomorrow night on Raw.

Goldust defeated William Regal @ 06:11 after executing a schoolboy pin on the Englishman. Once the bout was complete. Lance Storm tried to cheapshot Goldust, but the bizarre one fled the ringside area in a hurry, escaping any further damage.

Lance Storm defeated Spike Dudley @ 02:42 after applying the Canadian Maple Leaf for the submission. The Canadian secured the win directly following the defeat of his tag team partner, William Regal. After the match, Storm declared that he would challenge Goldust to a one-on-one bout next week on Heat before Bad Blood.

In the main event, Jeff Hardy successfully defended the WWE Intercontinental Championship against Chief Morley. While Morley was coming off a loss last week on Heat, he decided that, as the acting authority figure on Heat, he was the most deserving of a title shot against the Charismatic Engima. The bout lasted 07:03 when Hardy got the pinfall after connecting with the Twist of Fate for the three count.