World Wrestling Entertainment presents RAW
Date: 1/20/2003
From: Providence, RI
A video package reminding us that Vince McMahon has given Eric Bischoff 30-days to improve WWE RAW. McMahon brought out Shane McMahon from a limo to suggest that Bischoff could be replaced. On Heat before Royal Rumble, Bischoff teased a bombshell announcement for tonights episode of RAW.
RAW World Champion Triple H alongside Rice Flair makes his way out to cut a promo. HHH’s face is bandaged and bruised thanks to Scott Steiner at the Royal Rumble last night. HHH asks the fans who the World Champion is and is met with jeers for pointing out the obvious. HHH brags that he’s the champion and he’s the Game. HHH says he went 30-minutes with Scott Steiner and says he made Steiner look so bad in front of his freaks. Thus, Steiner had to hit him with a sledgehammer to save face. HHH considers Steiner to be a disgrace to the business and WWE. HHH declares there isn’t going to be a rematch. Scott Steiner’s music hits and Steiner storms towards the ring.
Steiner grabs a microphone from Ric Flair and tells HHH he didn’t come out to talk trash. Steiner came out to finish what he started and win the championship. Steiner demands his rematch to take place tonight on RAW. Steiner’s ribs are taped up. HHH tells Steiner he’d love to embarrass Steiner again tonight, but he has a doctor note. HHH reminds Steiner that Steiner hit him with a sledgehammer to cause his injuries. HHH hasn’t been cleared to compete tonight. Flair grabs the microphone and says if Steiner is looking for competition then he’s got his main man, Batista. Flair hypes up Batista as Batista makes his way out to join the segment. HHH attacks Steiner from behind, but Steiner decks Flair and clotheslines HHH to the floor. Batista gets on the apron, but doesn’t enter the ring as Steiner is fired up to end the segment.
Opening Contest: Rob Van Dam vs. Jeff Hardy: RVD controls Hardy with a wrist lock, but Hardy counters, but misses a leg drop. They both miss a few moves and have a standoff. Hardy kicks RVD to gain the advantage and delivers a jawbreaker. Hardy head scissors RVD out of the corner. Hardy dropkicks RVD to the floor. Hardy runs the barricade, but RVD leg sweeps Hardy on the barricade and hits a leg drop over the back. RVD rolls Hardy back into the ring and tries for a slingshot, but Hardy dropkicks RVD followed by punches. Hardy nails RVD with a leaping forearm smash for a two count. Hardy takes RVD down and nearly wins with leg drop pin combo. Hardy nails RVD with Whisper In The Wind for a near fall. RVD hits a rolling fireman’s carry and a springboard moonsault. RVD heads to the top rope and misses the Five Star Frog Splash. Hardy delivers a Codebreaker and heads to the top rope again. Hardy hits the Swanton Bomb for a near fall! RVD counters a neckbreaker with a backslide and manages to pin Hardy for the win. After the match, Hardy is noticeably frustrated. RVD offers a handshake. Hardy clotheslines RVD over the top during his celebration. On the floor, Hardy grabs a steel chair, but tosses it aside as the referee stopped Hardy. (**1/2. An enjoyable match with a lackluster finish. Hardy came across a lot more intense and presented himself in a darker tone with his paint choice. His actions afterward seem to tease a potential heel turn. I’m not sure if Hardy is a dislikable person considering his style. Regardless, Hardy has stumbled quite a bit since last summer and his breakout showing with Undertaker.)
Backstage, Christian and Christopher Nowinski are talking with Christian says he trusted Edge and is cost him last night. Bischoff enters the scene and asks what happened to Nowinski’s face. They want to know the big surprise. Bischoff says the bombshell is the biggest thing he’s done and tells them they have to wait just like everyone else. Nowinski thinks he knows and won’t tell Christian.
Backstage, Scott Steiner is pissed when Randy Orton cuts Steiner off. Orton says that sometimes are dead wrong and notes that his doctor said he’d be out for a year, but he’ll be back much sooner. Steiner grabs Orton and Orton says he’s only 95% recovered and can’t afford a setback. Steiner tells Orton that he’s 100% an asshole.
Backstage, Chief Morley is talking with referee Nick Patrick. Morley talks about the Dudley Boys winning the tag titles last night. Morley shows Patrick footage from last night and wants Patrick to give himself an honest evaluation. Morley shows footage of D-Von hitting Lance Storm with brass knuckles. Patrick tells Morley he didn’t see the brass knuckles and admits he made a mistake. Morley thinks Patrick needs to make a public apology.
Chief Morley makes his way out to the ring with Nick Patrick. Morley says they are out there for Patrick to make a public apology for his mistake at the Royal Rumble. Patrick issues the public apology for not seeing the brass knuckles used last night to give the Dudley Boys a title victory. Morley wants Patrick to reverse his decision and award the match to William Regal & Lance Storm. Patrick tells Morley that company policy means that he can’t reverse the decision. Morley can respect that and calls out the RAW Tag Team Champions Dudley Boys to come out to the ring.
RAW Tag Team Champions The Dudley Boys make their way out to a good reception from the crowd. Morley tells the Dudley’s that since Patrick admitted his mistake that they need to forfeit the titles back to Lance Storm and William Regal. D-Von tells Morley he’s out of his mind and he’s not getting anything from them. D-Von says that Morley can go to hell. Bubba tells Morley they are not giving up the titles and notes that Regal brought the brass knuckles into the ring. Morley insists that’s why he came out to stop Regal from using the knuckles. Bubba doesn’t believe that nor does D-Von. Morley demands the tag titles be handed over before they regret it. Morley says he’s the chief of staff and can do this. Bubba tells Morley that he’s a kiss ass, washed up ex-porn star. Bubba doesn’t regret punching Morley in the face last night and D-Von doesn’t regret hitting Storm with the brass knuckles. Bubba does regret one thing and that’s not taking Vince McMahon’s advice last week. Morley tries to take the titles, but is punched by D-Von. Bubba yells for D-Von to get the tables. D-Von slides a table into the ring. Morley struggles to his feet, but Regal and Storm enter the ring from behind. Regal clobbers Bubba with several strikes and Storm took out D-Von. Bubba is put through the table with a flapjack. Morley announces they are going to have a tag title match right now. Patrick rings the bell after Morley demands it.
Second Contest: RAW Tag Team Champions Dudley Boys vs. Lance Storm & William Regal: Regal covers Bubba and picks up the win after Patrick stopped at two for a moment. (NR. This isn’t entirely surprising since the Dudley’s with the titles makes for them to be rather boring. The money for them as a babyface team is chasing after heels. Storm and Regal are a good team and should be able to carry this program. I can’t imagine the goal is to get this all the way to WrestleMania, but it could be.)
Third Contest: WWE Women’s Champion Victoria & Steven Richards vs. Trish Stratus & The Hurricane: Stratus and Hurricane attack before the hell. Hurricane takes Richards over with an arm drag, but Richards cuts Hurricane off with a slam. Victoria enters the match, which means Stratus must enter. Victoria shoves Hurricane a couple of times. Victoria slaps Hurricane. Hurricane teases a chokeslam, but nails Richards with a neckbreaker. Stratus enters and hits a Thez Press and a head scissors out of the corner. Stratus messes up a move and gets a two count on a cover attempt. Stratus kicks Victoria several times in the corner. Richards grabs Status and drops Stratus over the top rope from the apron. Victoria nails Stratus with a kick to the face for a two count. Victoria tosses Stratus across the ring by her hair. Victoria scoop slams Stratus and heads to the apron to miss a somersault leg drop attempt. Richards distracts the referee, but Hurricane clotheslines Richards and slams Victoria. However, the referee prevents Hurricane from competing since he didn’t see the tag. Hurricane kicks Richards and Stratus plants Victoria with a springboard bulldog to pickup the win. (*1/2. A decent match, but it was also very unorganized and didn’t seem to have much rhythm to it. Stratus picking up the win should continue the feud with Victoria.)
Backstage, Bischoff is on the phone with Vince McMahon’s secretary and tells her to tell Vince that he has a bombshell that is going to light him up and it’s coming up next. Bischoff had been throwing darts at Shane McMahon’s picture.
A vignette promoting Sean O’Haire who asks why we go to church if God is right next to us. Plus, is there even a God? He thinks that church is a farce and a place of judgement. If there is a God he’d forgive you.
RAW GM Eric Bischoff makes his way down to the ring to reveal his bombshell announcement. Bischoff can tell that the fans are dying to find out what Bischoff’s bombshell announcement could possibly be. Bischoff thinks Vince McMahon is sitting at home just as excited as the fans are. Bischoff admits that he wasn’t sure about what he was going to do until he went to the 10th Anniversary Show and had a vision. Steve Austin won Superstar Of The Decade, but wasn’t there to accept the award. Bischoff can’t understand how the greatest superstar wasn’t even invited to the event. Bischoff explains that Austin walked out on the WWE and we’ve heard from Vince McMahon and Jim Ross on the matter. However, we have not heard from Steve Austin regarding the situation. Bischoff has stopped the presses on RAW magazine and is going to give Austin the opportunity to tell his side of the story. That’s not his bombshell. Bischoff got another great idea from the RAW 10th Anniversary event. Bischoff believes only one man can shake RAW to its very foundation. Bischoff publicly invites Steve Austin to make his return at the next pay per view, No Way Out. Bischoff is welcoming Austin back home to RAW.
Fourth Contest: Booker T & Goldust vs. Three Minute Warning: Jamal and Goldust kickoff the tag match. Jamal doesn’t budge on a shoulder block, but Goldust tries for a sunset flip. Jamal misses a sit down splash and Goldust hits a clothesline and punches Rosey on the apron. Booker tags in and elbows Jamal to the mat for a two count. Booker chops Jamal several times against the ropes. Jamal kicks Booker and connects with a clothesline. Jamal keeps Booker on the mat with a sleeper. Booker arm drags Jamal, but Jamal responds with a big clothesline to turn Booker inside out. Jamal punches Booker into the corner several times. Jamal works over Booker with an elbow strike and more strikes. Booker boots a charging Jamal and delivers a kick. Goldust leg drops Jamal on the arm and tags Booker back into the match. Jamal knee lifts Booker followed by a forearm. Rosey enters the match and clubs Booker to the mat with an overhand strike. Rosey headbutts Booker to the mat. Rosey misses a clothesline and is kicked by Booker. Booker nails Rosey with a spin kick for a two count. Booker nails Jamal with a heel kick and Goldust enters to clothesline Jamal. Goldust backdrops Jamal coming off the ropes and punches Rosey into the corner.
Goldust sets Rosey up in the corner and tries for the Golden Globes, but Jamal cuts Goldust off with a savant kick. Rosey splashes Goldust for a near fall as Booker makes the save. Goldust is choked in the corner by 3MW. Rico cheap shots Goldust from the floor. Goldust tries to fight back, but Rosey stops Goldust and eye gouges Goldust on the mat. Rosey controls Goldust with a neck vice, but Goldust gets to his feet and elbows free. Rosey cuts Goldust off with a knee lift to the midsection and Jamal tags in to get a near fall. Jamal keeps control with a neck vice, but Goldust gets to his feet and fights free with strikes. Jamal plants Goldust with a powerslam for a two count. Jamal strikes Goldust in the corner a few times. Jamal charges the corner, but runs into a boot. Jamal misses a splash and Booker tags into the match. Booker pummels Rosey in the corner and clotheslines Jamal. Booker nails Rosey with a spinning kick. Jamal misses a clothesline and Booker hits a forearm smash. Booker misses Rico on the apron and almost crashes to the floor. Booker plants 3MW with a double DDT and does a spinarooni. Booker plants Jamal with a spinebuster. All four men are in the ring until Goldust is sent to the floor and Jamal superkicks Booker. Rosey slams Booker and Jamal goes to the top missing a big splash attempt. Rico gets on the apron, but Rosey accidentally knocks Rico to the floor. Booker kicks Rosey to the floor and nails Jamal with a scissors kick to win the match. (**. At one point I thought 3MW were destined for a heel tag title run, but for whatever reason their push in recent weeks has been derailed completely. Booker is fantastic and holds my interest every time he’s in the ring. With RAW not having many top babyfaces for HHH, Booker should be seen as a potential viable contender.)
A video package highlighting the Royal Rumble where Chris Jericho eliminated Shawn Michaels after a chair shot and lasted quite a while in the Rumble itself until Michaels came back out and Test eliminated Jericho from the match.
Chris Jericho cuts a promo about having a dream similar to Martin Luther King Jr., with his dream being to win the Royal Rumble but it was unfairly taken from him. Jericho knows the fans love it. Jericho says there is retribution to be paid by Michaels and Test.
Fifth Contest: Test vs. Chris Jericho: Test clotheslines Jericho to start the bout. Test backdrops Jericho coming out of the corner followed by a right hand. Test strikes Jericho against the ropes. Test sends Jericho over the ropes, but Jericho pulls himself up. Test press slams Jericho gut first to the mat. Test nails Jericho with a running clothesline in the corner. Jericho eye pokes Test and hits a middle rope missile dropkick. Jericho strikes Test on the mat several times. Jericho chokes Test over the middle rope as Keibler cheers Test on. Jericho splashes onto Test’s back over the middle rope while taunting the fans. Jericho pulls Test up and delivers a back suplex. Jericho kicks Test in the ribs to keep the advantage. Jericho snapmares Test to the mat and keeps control with a chin lock. Test gets to his feet and elbows free. Jericho misses a spear and hits the post. Test clotheslines Jericho followed by an elbow strike. Test punches Jericho several times in the corner. Test runs into a boot in the corner. Test plants Jericho with a tilt a whirl slam for a two count. Test punches Jericho against the ropes. Test kicks Jericho and delivers a powerbomb for a near fall. Test signals for the big boot. Test misses the big boot and backdrops Jericho over the top to the floor. Test pummels Jericho on the floor and tries for a pump handle slam, but Jericho sends Test into the ring post. Jericho grabs a steel chair and misses Test, but accidentally whacks Keibler! Test freaks out and checks on Keibler along with several referees. Medical comes down to the ring to check on Keibler. Jericho is looking on concerned and gets in the ring. Jericho is saying this isn’t his fault. EMTs make their way down as Keibler hasn’t moved. The replay shows the chair shot again, which Jericho hit the ring post, but the visual is Keibler getting smashed with the chair. (**1/4. A decent match and now we’ve got a potential storyline between Jericho and Test. Test attempting to cry was a bit… well.. not good. If I had to guess, we’re getting a Jericho/Test filler match at No Way Out. Anyway. The action was solid and Test has been doing rather well in his new face role.)
After a commercial, Keibler is on a stretcher and has her neck stabilized.
Footage from The World is shown where Al Snow was with the Tough Enough 5 finalists. Snow promotes the finale for Tough Enough. There will be two winners this year.
They are still working on Keibler and really making this come across as a legit injury.
Backstage, Ric Flair is hyping up Batista as being ready for this opportunity against Scott Steiner tonight.
Teddy Long comes out with D’Lo Brown and cuts a promo about it being Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Long says that D’Lo isn’t going to be a supporter and puts down MLK for being passive and look what happened to him. Long says that they have to take what they want. Long wonders why D’Lo was excluded from the Royal Rumble match last night. Long says that the man booked D’Lo in a brutal match tonight. Long thinks that Tommy Dreamer was in the Rumble last night because he’s white. Long declares that they are going to teach all the WWE superstars that it is time to get down with the brown. Brown says “free at last, free at last to cane a white boy’s ass.”
Sixth Contest: Tommy Dreamer vs. D’Lo Brown in a Singapore Cane match: Dreamer hits Brown on the apron with the cane and tosses D’Lo into the ring to deliver a shot with the cane. Dreamer baseball slides Brown to the floor. Dreamer leaps off the apron to whack Brown over the back with the cane. Brown avoids a shot and clotheslines Dreamer. Brown whacks Dreamer in the midsection with the cane before returning to the ring and chokes Dreamer. Brown whacks Dreamer over the back several times with the cane. Brown scoop slams Dreamer onto the cane for a near fall. Brown whacks Dreamer over the knee with the cane several times. Dreamer blocks a strike and clotheslines Brown. Dreamer whacks Brown over the back with the cane a few times. Dreamer whacks Brown over the chest. Dreamer leg drops the cane on Brown’s chest for a two count. Dreamer knee lifts Brown and delivers a DDT. Dreamer grabs the cane and leaps off the middle rope, but Brown whacks Dreamer in the midsection. Brown hits the Lo Down and pins Dreamer to win the match. (*. The match itself wasn’t all that memorable or good for that matter. The focus on race for D’Lo and Teddy Long is a bit odd, but it’s an easy way to garner heat, I guess. Teddy being the mouthpiece for D’Lo was also odd since he had been a referee previously. It’s an interesting turn of events. Teddy cut a good promo and came across as someone who could get over in the role.)
Backstage, Scott Steiner is headed to the ring for the main event.
Main Event: Scott Steiner vs. Batista: They shove each other after locking up. Batista tries to shoulder block Steiner, but Steiner doesn’t budge. Batista also doesn’t budge. Steiner ducks a clothesline and shoulder blocks Batista to the mat. Steiner works over Batista with strikes and chops in the corner. Batista stops Steiner with a clothesline in the corner. Steiner hits a belly to belly suplex. Randy Orton gets in the ring and attacks Steiner to cause a quick DQ. Flair gets involved, but Steiner clotheslines Flair. Steiner pummels Batista in the corner with strikes until Triple H enters the ring and beats down Steiner with a flurry of strikes. Orton and Batista beatdown Steiner. They hold Steiner to allow HHH to deliver several strikes. Steiner has been busted wide open. Flair low blows Steiner. HHH taunts Steiner while slapping him and continues to pummel Steiner with strikes. HHH spikes Steiner with the Pedigree. HHH, Flair, Orton and Batista stand over a fallen Steiner. HHH taunts a bloodied Steiner and they pose in the ring to close out the show. (NR. Hardly a match, but rather the goal of forming a new stable. It’s a great idea to put Orton and Batista with the established veterans. Batista is already benefiting from the association and it hasn’t been long, at all. Steiner sold the beating fairly well. I’m surprised nobody ran out to help Steiner at any point, though.)
Final Thoughts:
I enjoyed this episode of RAW. There was a different feel to the program coming out of the Royal Rumble. The crowd seemed energetic and the action throughout was solid enough to be completely wasteful. They advanced all the major angles coming out of the PPV. I’m interested to see the approach regarding the Keibler incident and if this is going to be an attempt to elevate Test by working with Jericho. RAW has my interest for the first time in a little while.
Thanks for reading.