Raw is War - April 2nd, 2001

A Truly Unholy Alliance

We’re back! I’ve said it more than once that the Attitude era (in my opinion at least) ended at Wrestlemania X7 so this Raw is the beginning of the Aftermath, and I’ve spoken about what that means and how long that lasted elsewhere. Raw opens with a pan over the crowd showing lots of “Austin Sold Out” and “Why Austin Why?” signs as Jim Ross reminds us that last night at Wrestlemania the new WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin sold his soul to Satan himself and aligned with Mr. McMahon. In the arena, the show opens with Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley with a smile on her face. She’s dressed to compete and carrying a leather strap. She directs her fury at Trish Stratus who slapped her father Vince at Wrestlemania. “Payback is a bitch” and she challenges Trish to a “whipping match” tonight. She then introduces “the most important man in Sports Entertainment” Vince McMahon. He’s carrying a large gift wrapped box and is all smiles. He “got his comeuppance” last night when his son (and owner of WCW) Shane beat him up but thanks to how the PPV ended with Stone Cold, his misery didn’t last long. The crowd showers the McMahons with boos as they hug in the middle of the ring and Stephanie takes her leave. More on her exploits elsewhere. He says that he is all smiles tonight because when he arrives later he will have the pleasure and privilege of handing the WWF Championship to Stone Cold Steve Austin. He does at least recap his wife Linda and mistress Trish turning on him last night so the fans can cheer him being “kicked in the gonads”. Vince has spent a couple of months being one of the worst human beings who ever lived on TV (which is a lot closer to who he is in real life than any of us knew) so it is satisfying to have the fans cheer him being beaten up by Shane and Linda and Mick Foley. Loud boos as he turns his focus to the end of the show and he and Stone Cold standing proudly over The Rock. He says he’s watched it back and so gets out of the ring to confront Jim Ross about his commentary. He asks if he called Stone Cold “an SOB” and that he sold out “to the devil himself” which JR proudly says he did. Vince says that the fans in Texas last night cheered for Stone Cold even after his actions and puts on a cowboy hat (they’re in Texas again tonight, and that’s what was inside the gift wrapped box) and struts around pretending to be from Texas before stepping on the hat and calling Texas a hell hole.

That finally brings out the former WWF Champion The Rock. He wastes no time and demands his rematch for the WWF title tonight. Vince says no and so The Rock walks down to the ring to change his mind. There’s no levity, there’s no joking around. The Rock is ALL business. He circles Vince in the ring who asks him to calm down. The Rock is sick of listening to him so he flattens Vince with a punch and locks him in the sharpshooter! Vince agrees to the title match to get The Rock to leave him alone and our rematch is set - a Wrestlemania main event rematch on Raw. Before The Rock leaves, Vince makes it a steel cage match which puts a big smile on The Rock’s face. I feel like we never see Rock smile on TV so it looks weird to me.

Michael Cole interviews Triple H backstage and asks him about his “rare loss” at Wrestlemania. Triple H comes across as a babyface here, giving respect and praise to Undertaker and looking forward to the rematch. Cole asks him if he knew about his father-in-law’s deal with Stone Cold ahead of time, which Triple H denies. Intrigue - why wouldn’t Vince speak to his son-in-law about a pending alliance with one of his most hated rivals?

Vince heads down to the ring with the WWF Championship belt on his shoulder. It looks slightly different to me - the gold is less yellow and shiny. It might just be age and wear and tear but I think it has had an update. He says he’s shocked to hear the fans boo Stone Cold. He says that all Austin did is something that all the fans do every day - kiss the boss’s ass! He welcomes Stone Cold to the ring as Paul Heyman berates JR for staying silent. Heyman calls him the corrupt, “bought and paid for” Rattlesnake. JR gets angry and tells Paul to kiss his ass. Vince presents Austin with the WWF title belt and he snatches it to climb the ropes and celebrate. Austin looks like he might turn face - he says that now that he got what he wanted and now that he’s got Vince McMahon in the ring “if you want me to whip this son of a bitch’s ass give me a hell yeah!” The fans explode but Austin faked us out. It’s not going to happen tonight. He turns on the fans - he’s sick of all these people leeching off him. It didn’t do anything for him. He rips on the fans for expecting him to grant all their wishes. He calls Vince “Mr. McMahon” and says “how dare The Rock put him in a sharpshooter” He promises to beat The Rock all over the steel cage tonight and Vince ends with “and that's the bottom line” and the two leave together to McMahon’s theme music. Triple H is shown watching backstage with a scowl - it seems that he’s angry about this alliance too! JR spent the rest of the show asking questions and saying that neither Austin nor Vince really gave them any answers about how this turn came about or who reached out to who.

Kevin Kelly interviews Debra and asks her if she knew what her husband was going to do at Wrestlemania. She seems upset and refuses to say whether he’d told her his plans with Mr. McMahon or not.

Triple H goes to see William Regal and angrily demands to see Vince. He rants about how his father-in-law kept this secret deal with Austin from him and screwed him over! In the next segment he accosts Vince while he’s getting a coffee and slaps it out of his hand. Triple H can’t believe Vince would align with Austin of all people. Vince tells Triple H that it's none of his business. Stone Cold asked for his help and won at Wrestlemania. Triple H didn’t, and was a loser. 

Michael Cole interviews The Rock ahead of the main event. Rock is pissed off. He says that Austin didn’t explain why he did what he did at Wrestlemania but The Rock knows why - Austin knows in his heart and soul that he cannot beat The Rock! He needed Vince’s help. He saw the panic in Austin’s eyes every time The Rock kicked out. He asks if Austin has the balls to make tonight’s steel cage match one on one. He doesn’t even finish with his catchphrases! He is focused and as angry as he’s ever been.

The Rock enters first for the main event and then after Mr. McMahon does Austin’s ring announcement and he actually accompanies the new WWF Champion to the ring. The match starts as a wild brawl outside the cage and all around the ringside area. The Rock busts Austin open with the WWF title belt and then he slams the bleeding Rattlesnake into the cage a few times before finally getting him inside to start the match properly. This might actually be the biggest main event in Raw is War history. I said this was the biggest main event in Wrestlemania history and here we are with a rematch in a cage on TV. Austin gets control in the cage and Vince passes a steel chair to Austin. Boos rain down on him as he uses the chair on the challenger. Austin taps out to the sharpshooter but Vince has the referee distracted! Austin is a full on cowardly heel now who needs Vince’s help. Rock hits the people’s elbow and McMahon breaks up the pin! The Rock hits a Rock Bottom and Vince this time gets in the cage and shoves over the referee. The Rock has Vince trapped in the cage and puts a beating on the WWF owner but the distraction allows Austin to recover and he uses a low blow on The Rock. Vince knocks out the referee properly this time and Austin and Vince beat up The Rock two on one until Triple H’s theme music hits! The Game looks furious and is carrying his sledgehammer. Vince tries to calm Triple H down and it looks like he’ll hit Austin…but he hits The Rock instead! The three men violently beat The Rock and Triple H delivers another one of those super unrealistic beat downs where he hits The Rock over and over in the ribs with his sledgehammer - something that would kill The Rock in real life. A Pedigree and then a Stone Cold Stunner and Raw ends with Stone Cold, Triple H and Mr. McMahon sharing beers over a fallen bloody Rock. 

Abuses of Power

Stephanie goes to see Commissioner Regal and makes him promise that Trish can’t weasel out of the whipping match tonight. She fires up and whips his desk, getting angry and promising to whip her like “the pig that she is”. Later, Mr. McMahon goes to see Regal himself and gives him a wink and a nudge and makes sure Regal knows to “take care” of his daughter.

Stephanie enters first for the “whipping match” and runs to meet Trish during her entrance to start the fight on the outside. They trade moves and whip each other back and forth. On the outside, Heyman tells Steph to use JR as a human shield which got a laugh out of me but she uses ring announcer Lillian Garcia instead.

Trish gets the advantage and as she has Steph hung up on the ropes and whips her behind, Commissioner Regal runs down and lays out Trish with a neckbreaker and holds her for Steph to lash her across the stomach. That brings out Regal’s rival - Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho who chases off both Regal and Stephanie. The match ends in a no-contest. Backstage after a break Stephanie screams at Regal for not stopping Jericho from ruining her plan. Regal books Jericho in a handicap match against himself and Kurt Angle as punishment.

Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho takes on William Regal and Kurt Angle. Angle was also victorious last night at Wrestlemania over Chris Benoit. Jericho puts up a good fight but the two on one odds are too much for him. Regal pins the IC Champion and after the bell, continues the beating two on one. Angle has Jericho locked in the ankle lock until his Wrestlemania opponent Chris Benoit runs down to make the save. There’s tension between old rivals Jericho and Benoit - He didn’t save Jericho, he just hates Angle. 

WCW’s Shadow

“The One” Billy Gunn faces X-Pac along with his X-Factor stable mates Justin Credible and Albert. X-Factor don’t have their infamous Uncle Kracker theme music yet. There’s a lot of talk during this match about how WCW owner Shane McMahon was chatting to Billy on Smackdown and might have been trying to recruit him and so this match was made by Vince to punish Billy for “fraternising with the enemy”. With a lot of distraction from Credible and Albert, X-Pac wins with the X-Factor and then they beat down Billy with a double superkick after the match for good measure.

The owner of WCW Shane McMahon is live at WWF New York. Shane has a nasty black eye and talks about how it's wrong for a son to be at odds with his father but he’s proud of himself for standing up for himself and his mother. The crowd chant “WCW” and “Shane-o”. He says that his focus now is on WCW and tells us to “stay tuned”. The fans finish on a “Vince sucks” chant as Shane says he hopes Linda divorces him and takes him to the cleaners. 

Other Happenings

• The Radical team of Perry Saturn, Dean Malenko and new European Champion Eddie Guerrero take on former Euro champ Test and the APA. Paul Heyman is great on commentary, saying that thanks to Eddie’s victory Mexico is going to secede from North America and join Europe. It’s a fun but short match. Test fails to give Terri a pumphandle slam but does pin Perry Saturn with a big boot. Heyman says that he personally would have just let Terri get slammed and then used the distraction to win but Saturn was too chivalrous. 
• WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Crash Holly takes on Rhyno. Rhyno doesn’t get an entrance on TV and is already in the ring (I guess because he doesn’t have a theme song yet). This is a non-title match of course as Rhyno is a big beefy boy. Rhyno wins quickly with a Gore (and it turns out he does have a theme song). Rhyno motors through Molly Holly with a Gore too after the match. The WWF in 2000/2001 LOVED man on woman violence. 
• Kane defends the Hardcore Championship against Val Venis of the Right to Censor. Earlier tonight Steven Richards gave the group a pep talk after their failures last night at Wrestlemania. Despite the help of Richards, Kane finishes Val off with a chokeslam to retain the title. The Right to Censor try to beat Kane down after the match but his older brother The Undertaker makes the save and the Brothers of Destruction clear the RtC out of the ring.
• None of the participants of TLC II are on this show but there are multiple recaps and highlights shown all night long. JR calls the match the greatest Tag Team Championship match in history. He’s not wrong.

Smackdown! - April 5th, 2001

Austin Crosses a Line

Backstage Vince is in his office with Stone Cold and Triple H. He gives praise to Undertaker and Kane’s impressive performance earlier. He asks Triple H how he feels about challenging Chris Jericho for the Intercontinental title tonight. Triple H says he’ll kick Y2J’s ass which gets a smirk from Austin. More on that in the next section. He asks Stone Cold if he’s looking forward to being interviewed by his close friend Jim Ross later. Austin can’t wait to have a heart to heart with JR.

After that backstage segment, Mr. McMahon heads down to the ring in the arena. He starts with an utterly perplexing promo about how the people in the arena remind him of the people in Zimbabwe as they’re “not all there”. I’ve no idea what he means, but it feels like he’s just being racist? He goes on for a bit, insulting the fans and the state. They’re in Oklahoma and he makes special note that Stone Cold is being interviewed by Oklahoma’s own Jim Ross later. He shows footage from Wrestlemania and from the closing moments of Raw but offers no explanation for why Austin has turned heel, sided with him or made a pact with his most hated rival in Triple H. Vince asks the fans if they want to see The Rock tonight? They cheer and then he takes great pleasure in announcing that The Rock not only isn’t here tonight but that he’s suspended indefinitely. He’s doing this as a benevolent gesture as Austin and Triple H would just keep beating him up. In reality, this was so that The Rock could disappear for a few months to film a movie. Historically a wrestler being suspended or “banned” made it more likely that they’d turn up anyway but that won’t be the case for The Rock this time.

Kevin Kelly interviews Debra again. She refused to say whether she knew what her husband Stone Cold was up to on Raw, and tonight she refused to comment on whether what happened to The Rock - her former client - was fair. 

Vince hypes up the interview with Austin and JR in multiple backstage segments. He tells Stone Cold that JR is shaking with nerves and Austin smirks. They’ve talked a LOT about how close JR and Stone Cold are. They’re best friends, and we’re really being beaten over the head with it.

Stephanie brings a tape to Vince - it's from his wife Linda. It basically serves to remind us that Linda is CEO and tell us that she’ll be on Raw for a big announcement for Vince. She praises Shane and then - along with Mick Foley - symbolically cuts a pair of grapefruits in half which Vince sells by looking down at his crotch. 

Jim Ross interviews Stone Cold in the ring. He starts by asking him why he has aligned with a man he hates so much in Vince McMahon. Austin gets some good boos and heat by saying his own name over and over. He says that McMahon is an insurance policy. He made the biggest comeback in wrestling history and he isn’t stupid enough to roll into Wrestlemania and risk being a loser. McMahon was his insurance policy at Wrestlemania and he will continue to be so. JR asks if he feels remorse for turning his back on the fans and Stone Cold refuses. He points out that he’s never said he wanted to be a hero, he’s never claimed to be a hero. He’s never said he loves or cares about the fans and it's never been true. He has always only cared about being WWF Champion and he’s always told us DTA - don’t trust anybody. Especially him. He then asks Steve how he can side with Triple H - the man who ran him over. Austin calls Triple H a sick bastard who’d do anything and that's the kind of man he wants on his side. JR explains why he’s so upset as Austin mocks him for looking like he lost his best friend. JR says he does feel like he’s lost his best friend.

Austin gets angry and slaps his hat and glasses off and says that all he’s done is turn up the volume and now JR doesn’t want to be his friend anymore. JR tries to leave and so Austin attacks him from behind, stomping on him and hammering him with punches. Vince McMahon comes out and looks like he’s about to make him stop, but then says that he’s taking it easy on his best friend and encourages Austin to “open him up!” Vince rants like a mad man as Stone Cold busts open JR and beats him unconscious in his own home town. He even chokes him with his belt until finally referees manage to get him to stop. The fans chanted “Rocky” the whole time as sadly the reality that he’s gone for a while hasn’t sunk in yet. This was tough to watch. He finishes by grinding the WWF title belt into JR’s face. Vince has wild crazy eyes, delighted at having seemingly altered Austin’s brain chemistry. Triple H is also shown watching backstage and having a good laugh at poor JR’s misfortune. 

The Game claims Gold

Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley goes to sarcastically wish Chris Jericho luck ahead of his match with her husband Triple H tonight. She tells Y2J that he’s going to get beaten within an inch of his life. He promises her that if she interferes he’ll make her scream louder than Triple H ever has.

In the main event, Triple H faces Chris Jericho for the Intercontinental title. It feels strange that Triple H at this stage of his career is chasing the mid-card title but the more positive way to look at it is that Triple H is lifting the IC title to the main event level. Gold is gold at the end of the day. This is a decent match that, for a TV main event, gets a good bit of time as they fight in and out of the ring. Jericho hits a Lionsault and has the three count, and locks in the Walls of Jericho for a submission but both times Stephanie has the referee distracted. William Regal runs in with a steel chair but Jericho fights him off and blasts him with a chair instead. Jericho puts Stephanie in the Walls of Jericho until Triple H clubs him in the head with a stiff chair shot.

Jericho kicks out of that but he staggers into a Pedigree and THAT is enough to end it. Triple H is the new Intercontinental Champion. Smackdown closes with Stone Cold backstage watching on with a big smile and Triple H as the new champion.

A Busy Night for the Brothers of Destruction and more WCW related Punishments

Smackdown opens with Hardcore Champion Kane and The Undertaker fighting the Right to Censor in a three on two handicap match. It’s Steven Richards, Bull Buchanan and The Goodfather. RtC don’t put up much of a fight and Undertaker picks up the victory with a big thumping Last Ride Powerbomb on Steven Richards.

Commissioner William Regal calls Lita and The Hardy Boyz into his office. After promoting Lita’s Raw magazine cover, he books Jeff Hardy in a match with The Big Show. Just like for Billy Gunn on Raw, this is punishment for him and Matt daring to be friendly with WCW Owner Shane McMahon. 

The Big Show faces Jeff Hardy (along with Matt and Lita) Both Hardys are still very banged up from the TLC match at Wrestlemania. Edge and Christian have only appeared in a backstage segment and we’ve seen nothing of The Dudleyz yet. All six men must be sore from head to toe. Show gets distracted beating up Matt and chasing Lita around and almost chokeslams her but Jeff does at least manage to save her. Big Show gets cocky and climbs to the top rope but misses his elbow drop. With the big man down Lita gives him a moonsault, Matt gives him a leg drop and then Jeff follows up with a Swanton Bomb! The referee - who’d also been shoved around by Big Show - then gives Jeff a really fast count and in a big upset, Jeff Hardy pins The Big Show. Team Xtreme limps and rush up the ramp with the referee as Show gives chase. After a break, Big Show rampages through the back looking for The Hardy Boyz and finds himself barging into UndeRtaker and Kane’s locker room! They beat the hell out of him with a steel chair and leave him laying. Undertaker gets a laugh bellowing “Next time, knock!” 

Other Happenings

• After a recap of Chyna’s dominant Women’s title victory at Wrestlemania, she's interviewed by Johnathan Coachman in a bikini top which is…a little distracting. She’s quiet and reserved and says that she’s been through a lot and is really proud of having inspired lots of men and women to never give up.

• William Regal goes to see Kurt Angle ahead of their handicap match with Chris Benoit tonight. They have a little disagreement about which of their submission finishing holds is the better move and Angle is condescending to Regal about his Regal stretch.

• Rhyno faces K-Kwik, who raps his way to the ring and gets a decent reaction. K-Kwik/R-Truth is still doing this 20+ years later and gets an even better reaction now. Rhyno finishes him off with a Gore quickly. They’re really getting behind the man-beast. As Rhyno leaves he's attacked by Light Heavyweight Champion Crash Holly! Rhyno gored him and his cousin Molly on Raw, and Crash gets another Gore tonight. Good effort though little guy. Backstage Rhyno is congratulated by his good friends the WWF Tag Team Champions Edge and Christian.
• Kurt Angle and William Regal face Chris Benoit in a handicap match. Benoit puts up a good fight just like Y2J did on Raw but they overwhelm him and both lock in their submission holds at the same time. Benoit taps out but Angle isn’t satisfied with a victory, he won’t release the ankle lock. He wants to break Benoit’s ankle. Eventually Chris Jericho returns the favour from Raw and makes the save and the two Canadian Chrises share another stare down.

• X-Factor - who now have a different theme song with lyrics, but still not the Uncle Kracker one - take on the team of Grandmaster Sexay, Steve Blackman and Billy Gunn. A short nothing match which X-Factor wins after an X-Factor from X-Pac on Billy Gunn and Justin Credible steals the pin.

Raw is War - April 9th, 2001

Marital Strife and Stone Cold crosses the line (again)

Linda McMahon arrives and greets the APA and women’s champion Chyna backstage with big smiles. Elsewhere, Vince is very worried about what she has to say.

Linda McMahon heads down to the ring (to the old Wrestlemania theme song - so very 90s but I love it). JR sings her praises like she’s a saint and an angel sent from heaven. The reality is that she probably has a lot of patience for having put up with Vince for real for all these decades. Linda is a babyface because she’s anti-Vince but she was always a terrible performer. She says she has three announcements to make. The first is that she’s fine mentally and physically and has resumed all responsibilities as CEO of the WWF. The second is that she is very proud of Shane for what he did at Wrestlemania and for purchasing WCW. She wishes him all the luck and success. I feel like they’ve set up that a big announcement here will be the return of Mick Foley as Commissioner but that sadly isn’t the way it goes. Her third announcement is about Vince so she calls him out to the ring because she knows he loves doing things in public. Vince tries to give her a hug but she stops him dead. She tells him to shut up and shows the footage from December where he demanded a divorce. She says that she was made ill by that but not ill enough to be in a sanitarium - his drugs did that to her. She shows a bunch of clips of the sick things Vince did, mostly to poor Trish Stratus, that she was forced to watch while she was comatose. Vince assumes that all Linda wants is a public apology and even gets down on his knees to do it. He doesn’t want a divorce anymore - it would cost him too much money. He gives her a sincere apology which no one believes and the fans boo. She looks into his eyes and says that SHE wants a divorce.

This was the first step of some larger booking plans which would ultimately become the brand split in 2002. Linda and Vince take half the company each with their own rosters.That did happen of course but not as part of this storyline.

As Linda leaves the arena, Lita catches up with her to tell her that she’s awesome and how inspiring she found it to be. Vince is unable to catch Linda so he takes his fury out on Lita instead. He books her and The Hardyz in a six person tag team match against Stephanie McMahon, Triple H and Stone Cold Steve Austin tonight.

Vince leaves the arena in a panic to “sort out family business” as Steph and Triple H worry about the first real test of his alliance with Stone Cold, actually having to team with him tonight. Elsewhere, Lita lets the Hardyz know about the match and while Matt is concerned, Jeff is excited about what it would mean to their careers if they actually win tonight! 

In the McMahon locker room, Austin and Triple H talk strategy. There’s no tease of tension or any of that - Austin tells Triple H to stick to the plan, and he says he will.

In the main event, Lita and The Hardy Boyz take on Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, Intercontinental Champion Triple H and WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin. There’s no denying the championship team looks awesome with their title belts. JR and Heyman really stress that this match is intergender meaning that the men and women can and will wrestle each other. Austin and Triple H waste no time and rush The Hardyz. This does show us one of the major positives of Austin’s heel turn - totally fresh matches and opponents for him. Matt and Jeff move at a million miles per hour and put up a really good fight. This was a star-making performance for The Hardyz looking so strong against THE main eventers. With the men all fighting on the outside, in the ring Lita gives Stephanie a Twist of Fate and a Moonsault to win the match! Lita and The Hardyz win and with Matt and Jeff down a furious Austin and Triple H corner Lita in the ring. Triple H clubs her from behind and stomps on her before giving Lita a Pedigree and then as Matt and Jeff fight to make the save the WWF Champion hammers both Hardyz with a steel chair over and over and over. Lita crawls onto her boyfriend Matt’s body to try and block the abuse and so Austin hits HER with the steel chair, hammering her across the back and legs and even driving it into her stomach as Triple H flattens Jeff Hardy with a Pedigree. Even Stephanie looks absolutely shocked by the actions of Triple H and Stone Cold. The Game drags Lita around by the hair and then lifts her up for Austin to finish her off with a Stone Cold Stunner. This was, much like the beating of JR on Smackdown, pretty tough to watch and the crowd was stunned into silence. JR does have some great calls here, almost soberly saying that something has gone wrong in Austin’s head. Something inside the Rattlesnake has snapped.

Austin and McMahon torment JR

Raw opens with an “earlier today” footage as Vince McMahon catches a bruised and beaten Jim Ross entering the arena and tells him he needs to talk to him in his office before letting him go on the air with “a head full of ill thoughts” tonight. The show opens with Paul Heyman solo on commentary and doing the classic “welcome to Raw” introduction. Heyman says that if JR is busy in Mr. McMahon’s office all night, he’ll play both roles and gives us a bad JR impression including screwing up his face to mimic the bell’s palsy. 

After the Hardcore title match we find out that JR is still in Vince’s office. This is all about getting JR in the right mindset to call tonight’s show, apparently. Stone Cold comes in to join them and he intimidates JR before Vince makes him watch the segment of Stone Cold beating him bloody on Smackdown.

They actually do replay the entire 10 minute segment - Raw must have been short on content this week. This is also the second time in two shows they’ve used this “people at the arena watch a VHS tape together” framing device. Back in Vince’s office, Austin says he’s realised how weak and pathetic JR is. I’m not really sure what the point of all this is apart from hammering home that Stone Cold is a villain through and through now. Vince asks if JR is in the right frame of mind now and JR says that he is, but he’s also got a lawyer. He says suing isn’t his style, so maybe he’d quit instead and go to work for Shane and WCW. That gets an angry reaction from Vince. Jim then heads out to ringside and joins commentary for the rest of the show. Heyman gives him an over the top sarcastically “happy to see him” reaction which made me laugh. He also drops a world class Jerry Lawler joke as he says that if JR quits he’d walk out with him because that’s what a good broadcast partner does. When one quits, they both quit. (Jerry walked out back in February. JR, his broadcast partner, obviously didn’t).

The Big Show crosses paths with the Brothers of Destruction 

Kurt Angle opens the show and after some of his usual “ripping on the local sports team” banter, moves onto talking about how he is sick of having no gold. He won the King of the Ring in this same building, and so he challenges any champion in the back who is brave enough to give him a title shot tonight. He mentions Austin and Triple H by name but his reverse open challenge is accepted by the Hardcore Champion Kane. Heyman points out that the Hardcore title is the only singles title in the WWF that Kurt hasn’t held. Kane gets his leg tied up in the ropes which I think was a legit botch but Kurt covers for him and distracts us by getting some weapons from under the ring giving Kane time to recover. This match is good fun and as Kane takes control, The Big Show runs down with his own referee to cash in on the 24/7 rule. He flattens Kane but he and Kurt argue over who should get the pin fall. The Undertaker does run down to back up Kane against these two on one odds and the Brothers of Destruction give Show a double chokeslam and Kane pins him to end this “match” as Angle makes his escape. 

After the match as Big Show hobbles through the backstage area, Kevin Kelly asks how he feels. He’s furious at Undertaker for sticking his nose into his business and challenges the American Badass to a match tonight.

The Undertaker vs. The Big Show. There’s no mention of their history but so much has happened since 1999 that it's fair enough. We’re into a period where while a lot of the roster is technically the same, most are unrecognisable from a year or two ago. This is a short match as Big Show mounts Undertaker in the corner with punches, Taker gets underneath and drops Show with a massive powerbomb for the victory.

The Right to Censor struggles on

Backstage, the Right to Censor speaks to Raven and tries to encourage him to save himself and join their ranks. Raven calls them hypocrites and speaks in riddles. Val Venis tells him that he’s either with them or against them. That sets up Raven vs. Val Venis later in the show. The RtC has been on a bit of a losing streak and it continues. Raven flattens Val with a DDT, then drops Steven with one on the outside. Bull and Goodfather distract the referee and lay out Raven but he kicks out of that, and out of Val’s fisherman suplex. Bull gives him a scissors kick and Val follows up with a Money Shot and that’s finally enough. JR really hammers home that it took four men to beat Raven which is hardly a victory. 

Other Happenings

• Rhyno faces Light Heavyweight Champion Crash and his cousin Molly Holly in a handicap match. Rhyno wins quickly with a Gore on Crash and then as he prepares to Gore Molly too, their other cousin Hardcore runs down to make the save and sends Rhyno packing.

• Michael Cole interviews Spike Dudley. He was defeated by Lita last night on Sunday Night Heat. He’s gracious about it and praises her but the “runt of the litter” is picked on by X-Factor. They laugh at Spike for losing to a woman and when he won’t back down, Albert throws him through the chain link fencing part of the backstage area. 

• Commissioner Regal calls Johnathan Coachman into his office. He’s concerned about the budding friendship between Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit, united against himself and Kurt Angle, so he books them against each other tonight and tells Coach to go and let them both know. 
• All three Dudley Boyz team up to face X-Factor after the way they bullied Spike earlier. For the third show in a row, X-Factor has an entirely different theme song...but it's STILL not the Uncle Kracker one. Albert slams little Spike into a ringpost which looked sick but he recovered and with a 3D on Justin Credible The Dudleyz win. They give X-Pac the Wazzup headbutt to the groin afterwards and call for the tables! Albert has recovered and throws Spike impossibly far out of the ring and up the entrance ramp. Bubba and D-Von clear him out and try to give X-Pac a 3D through the table but Justin makes the save and Albert choke-bombs Bubba through the table instead. X-Factor stands tall.

• Chris Jericho takes on Chris Benoit. They’ve faced each other many times as part of a long rivalry but now as babyfaces with loosely aligned interests against William Regal and Kurt Angle. Before the match begins, William Regal comes out dressed as a referee to officiate this match. They try to wrestle but Regal keeps encouraging them to actually fight. He gives Jericho a very slow count and is then distracted by waving to the fans and doesn’t count Benoit’s cover. He shoves them both and that's too much for them to bear and they team up to pummel the referee. Regal takes a Lionsault and a diving headbutt before being locked in a Walls of Jericho and Crippler Crossface combo. They rip and tear and stretch at the commissioner until referees finally come down and break it up. His plan has backfired and if anything he has made Jericho and Benoit even more allies. 

• At WWF New York, WWF Tag Team Champions Edge and Christian are live with a cake with a picture of themselves on it. JR asks them how they feel about how the Holly family treated their friend Rhyno earlier. Edge says that they’ll defend the Tag Team titles against Hardcore and Crash on Smackdown. They then show off their cake which celebrates them being 7 time Tag Team Champions. That does make them the all time record holders at that point. They give us a 7 second pose.

Smackdown! - April 12th, 2001

Xtreme Title Change

At the top of the show, Michael Cole and Tazz explain that neither Matt Hardy nor Lita are here tonight and share their disgust at the actions of Triple H and Stone Cold on Raw. Mr. McMahon isn't here either - he’s off preparing for the divorce proceedings between himself and Linda. In the arena, Intercontinental Champion Triple H and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley open things up followed by WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin making their entrances separately. Triple H speaks first about how they can do what they want and take out whoever they want. He tells all the fans that say they’ve gone too far to shut up and that they’ll decide when it's too much or too far. Austin’s facials here are great as he sneers and smirks along with Triple H’s promo. He looks like a psychopath.

He takes the mic and demands an “Oh hell yeah” which he doesn’t get. He reiterates everything Triple H said - he did what he did at Wrestlemania because he wanted to, and he beat JR senseless because he wanted to. He says JR has made a fortune riding his coattails and he’s sick of it. He’s sick of not doing whatever he wants all the time and by siding with Vince McMahon and Triple H now he can and no one can stop him. He talks about beating Lita with a steel chair and how good it felt to just haul back and do it. He’s going mad with power! As Austin continus talking and insulting the crowd, Jeff Hardy slips into the ring while they all have their backs turned and hits Triple H across the back with a steel chair! He hits Austin in the head as he turns around and then drops Stephanie with a Twist of Fate! Jeff escapes and Austin and Triple H are apoplectic with rage. That was an awesome capper to a strong promo. Jeff Hardy got an insane reaction here. After the break, Triple H goes to see Commissioner Regal and demands a match with Jeff Hardy, even offering to put the Intercontinental title on the line.

In the back, Debra is looking around for JR. She still hasn’t commented publicly on her husband’s actions since Wrestlemania. Debra does find JR and promises him that she had no knowledge and nothing to do with what Steve has been doing and apologises.

She starts to talk about her disgust at his actions towards Lita but Austin walks in while she’s midconversation. The demented champion accuses him of flirting with his wife and tells him to get out of his sight before intimidating Debra who looks close to tears. He tells her to pack her bags and that they’re leaving.

In the main event, Triple H defends the Intercontinental title against Jeff Hardy. With Matt and Lita in the hospital, Vince off dealing with legal issues and Stone having already left with Debra this match is a fair one on one encounter. Triple H doesn’t even have his wife Stephanie with him as she’s still backstage selling the effects of that Twist of Fate at the start of the show.

This is a good match with Jeff getting lots of offence but also taking some rough bumps out on the floor as Triple H counters a dive off the apron into a powerslam. You can tell that much like the tag team match on Raw, this was viewed as a star making performance for Jeff Hardy. The finish comes as after Triple H uses the referee as a human shield and then shoves him for taking exception to it, the referee goes down. Matt Hardy arrives - much to everyone’ surprise - and blasts Triple H in the head with a steel chair! The Game is down and Jeff follows up with a Swanton Bomb just as the referee revives. The pin, the three count and Jeff Hardy beats Triple H for the Intercontinental title! Jeff Hardy wins his first singles title and Smackdown ends with The Game furiously kicking at the ropes in the ring. 

The Big Show struggles to find some friends

In a pair of segments in William Regal’s office, Jeff Hardy is happy to learn of his IC title match tonight and says he’ll win it. Big Show then marches in and demands a match with Undertaker and Kane tonight. Regal tells him to find any tag team and it’ll be a three on two handicap match

Big Show goes to see the APA and asks them to be his partners against Undertaker and Kane. They aren’t interested and are pretty funny talking about how he used to weigh 3 tonnes but he’s dropped some weight and down to 2.5. He goes to Grandmaster Sexay and asks if he and Steve Blackman will be his partners. Sexay blows him off in rap-speak and he doesn’t quite get it. He’s about to get physical but Blackman shows up with his nunchucks. He asks if he sleeps with those things to which Steve replies “sometimes”. 

The Big Show, who appears to be getting more desperate, asks Kaientai to be his partner against Undertaker and Kane tonight. They have an interpreter who wants to know who the opponents are and Show refuses to say so they agree to be his partners. Show gets racist talking about Chinese food - Taka and Funaki are both Japanese, obviously. Despite the racism, Show was pretty funny in all of these segments.

Big Show, Taka and Funaki enter first for the three on two match. Both Japanese guys flip out when Kane’s pyro explodes. They don’t want to be in the ring with Kane or the Undertaker. This is a straight up comedy match when Taka and Funaki are in the ring and it's good comedy too. Their blows have no effect on either brother of destruction who throws them around with ease. Show refuses to tag in and ultimately takes a walk, giving up and after a pair of chokeslams, Undertaker teaches Kane how to do the Last Ride on the limp Kaientai using their bodies as crash test dummies to win the match.

Candians against the World

Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit talk about their match tonight backstage, which is the two of them against WWF Tag Team Champions Edge and Christian, Kurt Angle and Commissioner William Regal in a four on two handicap match. Jericho does all the talking and says that they’re being set up to be screwed (duh, its 4 vs. 2). Benoit doesn’t care and says they should just go with it. They’re all smiles and seem to be forming an actual friendship. Of course they’d been close friends for years in real life, but were heated rivals on TV up until now. Benoit wasn’t an obvious choice for a face turn but that’s a testament to how good Angle and Regal are at playing heels - they can get anyone cheered opposite them.

That match is next and the Canadian Chris’ show no fear and rushes the ring to fight off Edge, Christian, Regal and Angle. After some back and forth Jericho and Benoit get Angle and Regal in their respective finishing moves - the walls of Jericho and Crippler Crossface. Edge and Christian make the save and end up in the holds instead. The four on two odds are too much and Angle gives Jericho the Olympic Slam to win the match but Jericho and Benoit refuse to be denied and fight them off and get Angle and Regal back in the Walls and Crossface for a bit before they escape. A chaotic match.

The Right to Censor falls apart

In a Wrestlemania rematch, Chyna defends her WWF women’s title against Ivory who has Steven Richards with her this time. Chyna has changed up her ring gear and is wrestling in black spandex style gym gear which Michael Cole says is her own clothing line. No memory of her having a clothing line but that’s pretty cool. Ivory works on Chyna’s neck and gets in a lot more offence than she did at Wrestlemania Even with Richards help it's not enough and Chyna retains with a military press slam. Steven tries to drop the champion with a superkick but she catches it and drops him with a DDT instead. That would seem to be the end of her issues with the Right to Censor as this felt very definitive.

Test is checking out Lita’s spread in that month’s WWF Raw magazine as he’s accosted by the Right to Censor. Val, Bull and Goodfather ask him to join and Test pretends to be excited by the prospect of giving up on women and dressing just like them so Venis challenges him to a match.

Test faces Val Venis. Just like on Raw with Raven, this comes from them trying to recruit new members. Right to Censor try to use the four on one odds again but a mistimed superkick to Val and an assist from a Raven DDT, Test wins with a big boot on Venis. Afterwards the Right to Censor argues and Bull, Godfather, Val and Richards all come to blows! The fans cheer as the four men in white shirts throw punches and fight all around ringside. It seems to have broken down as Goodfather and Bull vs. Richards and Venis. 

Other Happenings

• Albert (with X-Pac and Justin Credible) takes on Spike Dudley (with Bubba and D-Von) and Yes, X-Factor FINALLY comes out to their Uncle Kracker theme! Don’t get me wrong, it's a terrible song BUT it’s kind of infamous among wrestling fans from this era. I’ll talk about it a lot more at Backlash I promise. Spike puts up a good effort and gets a couple of close near falls as everyone fights on the outside but ultimately a big boot from Albert is enough to defeat Spike. The action continues after the bell and the crowd explode for Bubba and D-Von getting the table. X-Pac recovers and takes out D-Von with an X-Factor on the floor and then he and Justin take out Bubba with a double superkick. Albert finishes by lifting Spike from the floor up into a chokebomb and slamming him from the ring through a table to the floor. For the second show in a row, X-Factor left all three Dudleys down and out and drove one of them through their own table..

• As Kevin Kelly tries to speak to Crash Holly about he and Hardcore’s tag title match tonight, Rhyno Gores him into a metal shutter. With Crash taken out, Commissioner Regal changed the match to Edge, Christian, Regal and Angle against Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit in a four on two handicap match which I talked about above
• With Crash taken out and the Tag Title match cancelled, Hardcore Holly faces Rhyno one on one. The referee goes down and Molly Holly runs down and throws a trash can to Hardcore which he uses to blast Rhyno. The match is thrown out.
• There’s multiple XFL adverts during this show. They’ve changed the presentation focusing on the players pride, passion and courage. Men who refuse to give up. It even mentions how nasty “the media has been” which was true. The league will be dead soon and never mentioned again. There’s only three games left.

Raw is War - April 16th, 2001 

Someone stands up to Austin and Triple H

Raw opens with a pretty awesome recap of Jeff Hardy’s dramatic upset victory over Triple H on Smackdown to claim the Intercontinental title, plus some clips from a Triple H interview on last night’s Sunday Night Heat. The Raw intro has also been updated to feature Austin’s heel persona so here’s that to enjoy too. 

Mr. McMahon opens the show to address his pending divorce from Linda as JR and Paul Heyman discuss the prospect of his fortune and the WWF itself being split in two. He says that divorce should be illegal and goes on like that for a bit. It’s pretty obvious he just doesn’t want to get divorced because it’ll be expensive (which is why I suspect he and Linda never divorced in real life either despite allegedly having not been a functional couple for two decades at this point). He says he’ll make any sacrifice he has to to make their marriage work and that brings out Stone Cold Steve Austin’s wife Debra. She calls him a liar and blames him for all of her husband’s villainous actions lately but Vince says no. He refuses to take any blame and says that everything - what he did to The Rock, teaming up with Triple H, what he did to JR and what he did to Lita was all Stone Cold’s idea. It’s all on him, and Vince calls Austin a great man. He says he’s proud of all his achievements now that we know the “real Stone Cold”. Vince insults Debra, so she says that she does blame Stone Cold too and slaps Vince across the face!

She leaves and Vince is left looking shocked in the ring. Maybe there will be more than one WWF divorce on the horizon. After the break a furious Vince is shown getting into his limo and leaving the arena. Elsewhere, Austin marches Debra to their locker room and shouts at her for daring to slap Mr. McMahon and tells her to stay there in her seat until he comes to get her later.

Michael Cole catches The Hardyz as they arrive at the arena. Jeff says that he is happy to be Intercontinental champion but his rematch with Triple H tonight is about more than the title - it's about making him and Austin pay for what they did to Lita.

Michael Cole interviews Austin and asks if him leaving the building early cost Triple H his title on Smackdown. As Austin (rightly) points out that it took two men and a steel chair to beat Triple H he’s jumped from behind by Matt Hardy! Matt leaves the Rattlesnake laying after referees split them up. In the Triple H and Stephanie office Austin bursts in and wants to go kick their asses. Triple H calms him down and points out that this is what the Hardyz want. The fans cheer when Austin says that he got his ass whipped. Triple H says that Stone Cold needs to calm down his temper or he’s going to ruin everything. He asks the champion to trust him and Austin reluctantly does so. Triple H’s more cerebral gameplan is at odds with Austin’s temper and desire to do whatever he wants whenever he wants with no impulse control. Later, Austin seems to take Triple H’s advice as he demands Debra pack her bag and he grabs his WWF title belt and cooler full of beer. He’s leaving the arena in a huff again. 

In the Hardy locker room Matt and Jeff talk about how good it felt to even the odds with Austin too, they’re going to show Triple H that they’re men tonight. Lita shows up too - they weren’t expecting her tonight but she can’t stay away from the action.

After a replay of the video package that opened the show and of Matt Hardy attacking Stone Cold earlier, Commissioner Regal stops The Hardyz and Lita to tell them that Matt is barred from ringside. 

For the main event, Triple H enters first and the new Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy enters last. He does still have Lita with him at least.

The last few weeks have been star making performances for both Hardyz mixing it up with and even pinning former WWF Champions. This is a really good match. Triple H dominates for a while but after Lita breaks up a cover and she and Stephanie almost come to blows on the outside Jeff uses the IC title belt as a weapon sending The Game up and over the announce desk and into JR and Heyman’s laps. There’s a flurry of near falls in the ring with dives off the top and reversing a Pedigree attempt into a backslide but Triple H perseveres.Earl Hebner massively gets on my nerves as he continually tries to stop Jeff from going to the top rope and makes himself the centre of attention - classic Earl. I hate him. Jeff misses a Swanton Bomb and then Matt Hardy, who we’ve seen all through the match watching backstage is attacked by Stone Cold! It seems he didn’t leave the arena afterall. He hammers Matt Hardy with a steel chair and then heads out to the ring and with a sinister look on his face stalks Lita around the ring. They don’t even show the finish as the cameras focus on Austin we hear the three count happen in the ring. On a replay, Triple H gave Jeff a Pedigree to regain the title. Austin and Triple H start to whip Jeff with a belt and Matt runs down with a steel chair to try and save his brother but it backfires as Triple H unarms him and they violently beat both men with brutal chair shots to the head and body.

Austin chokes them both with his belt and with both Matt and Jeff seemingly unconscious they turn their attention to Lita again. Stephanie throws Lita into the ring and just as it seems like they’re about to beat Lita even worse than they did last week the arena lights go out with a bang of pyro - Undertaker and Kane are here! Austin and Triple H look worried and angry as the Brothers of Destruction slowly walk to the ring. The WWF and Intercontinental Champions look like they’re standing their ground but instead bail out as they get to the ring and do a runner instead. Raw ends with the Rattlesnake and The Game on the ramp talking trash with Undertaker and Kane standing tall in the ring having successfully saved Lita from…I guess being murdered in cold blood on live TV? 

Commissioner Regal tries to divide and conquer 

Kurt Angle protests to Edge and Christian about tonight and how Commissioner Regal has booked him against Jericho and himself against Benoit instead of the other way around. Regal walks in on Angle mocking his accent and the Commissioner asks him to come to his office and discuss the plan.

Kurt Angle faces Chris Jericho. Before the match Angle tries to speak but he’s cut off by Y2J who tells him to “please shut the hell up”. Not an inspiring promo. Angle uses a sneaky ringbell shot to the ribs to take control on the outside and shows off that much more vicious mean streak that he’s had since losing the WWF title in February. Jericho comes back and as he seems to have the match in hand, Angle bails out of the ring and lures Jericho up the ramp where he’s jumped by William Regal. Jericho wins by disqualification. This must have been Regal’s plan but it doesn’t go perfectly as back in the ring, Jericho gets Regal in the Walls of Jericho.

He releases and slams Angle to give him a Lionsault but his holding off both men doesn’t last long and they overwhelm Y2J. They put him in their combo Regal Stretch-Angle lock and that brings down Chris Benoit to help his new buddy. He drops both of them with German suplexes - even slamming Regal onto Angle with one and during the commercial break, Benoit helped Jericho backstage. Regal is still in the ring with Kurt Angle and he demands Benoit come back out to start their scheduled one on one match right away. Benoit does come back out and he has Jericho with him for backup. They rush the ring and Jericho and Angle fight to the outside to leave Benoit and Regal to their match. They do stay at ringside to watch. A little interference from Jericho allows Benoit to get Regal into the Crippler Crossface for a submission victory. He stops Angle from jumping Benoit too and the pair of Chris’ celebrate together in the ring as JR continues to express his disbelief that these two men are now seemingly friends and allies. 

The Big Show dominates

The owner of WCW is shown arriving in a long black limo with a WCW 1 licence plate. Shane McMahon is in the building. After some cringey chat with Grandmaster Sexay Shane runs into The Big Show who is all smiles and friendship and asks Shane to stick around and watch his match later. Shane is a little busy with WCW business but says he’ll talk to him later.

The Big Show faces Kaientai in a two on one handicap match. Show is furious at Taka and Funaki for “failing him” on Smackdown. He was the one who walked out and left them to Undertaker and Kane! Kaientai continue with their badly dubbed promo gimmick. Taka says that they have lured Big Show into their trap - he may be Godzilla but that is no match for cold, hard cash. “Indeeeeeeed”. They’ve hired the APA! Bradshaw and Faarooq head down to the ring and destroy Big Show two on one and finish with a massive double spinebuster (which looked terrible, Bradshaw fell over). The match begins and with a pair of top rope elbow drops, Taka and Funaki feel good about their chances. After all of that it doesn’t matter as they dive off the top rope and are caught with a double chokeslam for an easy Big Show victory. He’s sore from the APA attack but it wasn’t enough to keep him down.

Other Happernings

• Edge and Christian defend the WWF Tag Team titles against Hardcore Holly and Light Heavyweight Champion Crash Holly. This match was rescheduled from Smackdown after Rhyno took out Crash backstage. Before the match, Edge hands Paul Heyman a piece of paper and he spends the match showering them with compliments that sound like they wrote themselves like “radical” and “bodacious”. I’d love the Hollys to win this and see Crash as a double champion but before the match begins, Edge and Christian’s buddy Rhyno flattens Hardcore with a Gore. The Hollys put up a good fight and get a couple of close near falls but Edge rolls through a crossbody and grabs Crash’ tights to retain the tag team titles.
• X- Factor has their generic non-Uncle Kracker theme again on this episode of Raw. Must be a rights issue and I guess it still appears on some shows because whoever did the editing for the WWE Network missed a couple. Justin Credible (with Albert and X-Pac)  takes on Bubba Ray with D-Von at ringside. Spike isn’t here after his wicked bump through a table on Smackdown. Albert and X-Pac interfere a bunch but it ends up backfiring as X-Pac has the referee distracted allowing D-Von to help with a Wazzup headbutt double team to give Bubba the victory.
• Jonathan Coachman interviews Steven Richards about the end of the Right to Censor. Richards says that what we saw on Smackdown was a release of frustration and tonight after he wins the Hardcore title he will reunite the RtC even if he has to sacrifice himself.
• Kane defends the Hardcore Championship against Steven Richards. Steven hits Kane over and over with a trash can which the big red machine no-sells. This is as one sided as you’d imagine and they fight backstage. Richards has the rest of the RtC jump Kane four on one but The Undertaker is there to help out his brother and after clearing the way Kane lawn-darts Richards into the side of a truck to win and retain his Hardcore title. 

• Backstage, Test and Billy Gunn discuss that while they understand their own motives for teaming against the Radicals later - why is Raven here? Raven speaks in flowery riddles as they laugh about it and still don’t know if they can trust him.

• European Champion Eddie Guerrero teams with Perry Saturn and Dean Malenko to take on Test, Billy Gunn and the newly babyface (thanks to the Right to Censor) Raven. This is a good match that the fans weren’t totally into. The finish is pretty cool as in the chaos and with all six men fighting, Raven avoids an Eddie frog splash which Latino Heat rolls through and then runs right into a DDT. Raven pins the European Champion in what feels like a big upset! That should earn him a title shot. 
• Trish Stratus was live from WWF New York. She struggles through a pre-written promo where she starts almost every sentence with “y’know…”. She says that while she’s naughty, she’s also nice. She was only attracted to Vince for his money (duh). She finishes by pledging her support to Linda McMahon in her divorce proceedings.

Smackdown! - April 19th, 2001

Two-Man Power Trip

In the arena, Commissioner William Regal begins Smackdown and asks Undertaker and Hardcore Champion Kane to come to the ring. He tells them off for getting involved in Austin and Triple H’s business on Raw (presumably because Vince told him to) and tells them to stay away from them.

He then tells Kane to defend his Hardcore title against Rhyno (who has the WWF Tag Champs Edge and Christian with him) and doesn’t give Taker or Kane a chance to respond. Undertaker brawls with Edge and Christian and the three of them disappear through the crowd leaving Kane and Rhyno one on one in the ring. Kane seems to have full control with a flying clothesline and a chokeslam but he’s attacked from behind by Triple H and Stone Cold. They violently beat Kane with literally dozens of chairshots and focus their abuse on his left arm and shoulder. Austin drives the edge of the chair into it over and over and over again and after what feels like a hundred chair shots to Kane’s body, Rhyno pins him to win the Hardcore title! Triple H’s music plays after the three count for some reason.

Undertaker realises what happened and sprints back to the ring but he’s not fast enough and Austin and Triple H escape having cost Kane the Hardcore title. Michael Cole calls Austin and Triple H “the two-man power trip” for the first time here which is what this union was ultimately known as. 

Backstage Undertaker and Kane (who is heavily selling his arm like it might be broken) look for the Commissioners office. Taker threatens Regal and says that he knows he set him up. He demands a match with Triple H and Austin, and once he’s done with them they want Rhyno, Edge and Christian too. Taker tells Kane to show William what happens when he’s upset and then off camera, Kane sets fire to Regal’s trash can. In a panic, Regal gives them a Tag Title match tonight. He isn’t satisfied so Kane sets a bigger fire. He then agrees that if Kane and Taker beat Edge and Christian tonight they can have Austin and Triple H too. He makes tonight’s main event tag title match a no disqualification match too and Kane finishes by setting Regal’s desk on fire.

As Triple H, Stone Cold and Mr. McMahon demands William Regal explain himself for the matches and promises he’s made Undertaker and Kane. He points out that tonight’s main event is no disqualification and “anything can happen” (wink wink) Vince tells them all to sit tight and enjoy the show as he heads out to the ring promising some “entertainment” involving his son Shane, the owner of WCW. (see the next section). Later in the show, Vince wishes Edge and Christian luck but tells them that he doesn’t think they’ll need luck (wink wink).

I mentioned it a couple of shows ago but they once again do this “people sit down and watch a VHS tape together” framing device for recaps as Vince, Triple H and Stone Cold watch the conclusion of Raw together. 

Kevin Kelly interviews Undertaker and Kane (who now has a very heavily bandaged arm) Undertaker asks who told Austin and Triple H that beating up commentators and women makes them badasses. They’ll show them who the real badasses are and tonight they’ll win the Tag Team titles.

In the main event, with Stone Cold and Triple H watching on from their locker room, Edge and Christian (with Rhyno) defend the Tag Team titles against The Undertaker and a badly injured Kane. He doesn’t even lift his bad arm when he cues his pyro. Edge, Christian and Rhyno jump Kane three on one while Undertaker makes his entrance to start this no disqualification match. The champs isolate Kane and work on his arm but when it breaks down - even with Rhyno’s help - Undertaker and Kane keep control. Kane plants Rhyno with a chokeslam on the steel entrance ramp  and is then jumped by Stone Cold and Triple H again. As they beat down Kane, Undertaker spikes Christian with a Last Ride to become the new WWF Tag Team Champions. This is quite a big deal really as this was the last time Edge and Christian ever held the tag team championships together! Austin and The Game try to jump Undertaker too but Kane recovers and Smackdown ends just like Raw - Austin and Triple H on the ramp talking trash with Kane and Taker in the ring only this time, they’re holding the Tag Team titles. 

Last McMahon Standing

Vince McMahon heads down to the ring for whatever he has planned for Shane McMahon tonight. After running down all the things Shane has done to him recently including stealing WCW and beating him at Wrestlemania he calls him a stalker for being on Raw and being here again tonight. He asks if Shane has the guts to come to the ring and face him man to man. He also calls him “Shane-o” about 36 times. I wonder if they were trying to get that over as his nickname. Shane does come out, and doesn’t have his awesome “here comes the money” theme song yet so still uses “No chance in hell”. He tells his dad that if he knew kicking his ass at Wrestlemania would be that much fun he’d have done it years ago. Shane says that Linda is still going to divorce him. Vince stops Shane from leaving and shows a replay of his interaction with Big Show on Raw before calling Big Show down to the ring so that he and Shane can have a conversation in public rather than in private. Vince is still being paranoid about Shane trying to steal his talent for WCW it seems. He does get Show down to the ring and Vince calls Big Show a giant disappointment. He goads Big Show into saying he does want to go to WCW with Shane before showing footage of Shane making fun of Big Show last year and smashing a concrete block on his head at Judgment Day 2000. He finishes by showing Shane the next night on Raw speaking in rhyme to mock him and hammers home his old “which way did he go?” catchphrase (which I never got? I think he’s calling Big Show stupid). He tells Big Show that he has to pick a side (while also saying that Show has squandered all his chances so far - this feels like Vince actually humiliating Show on TV because this is how he actually feels. He’s done that for years). Big Show grabs Vince by the throat but then changes his mind and plants Shane with a massive chokeslam instead. Vince then books Shane vs. Big Show in a Last Man Standing match at Backlash. That’s the first match they’ve announced for Backlash and we’re only 10 days away from the event.

This segment mostly existed for Vince to give Show a dressing down on TV to try and “inspire him” to improve. It’s just like when they made fun of Vader and Mark Henry’s weight on television. 

A Pair of matches for Backlash

In a match set up by William Regal, Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit take on Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley in a tag team tables match. Before the match starts, Regal and Angle come out onto the stage and give us two more Backlash matches - Jericho vs. Regal in a Duchess of Queensbury rules match, which he says he’ll explain at a later date and Angle vs. Benoit in a 30 minute Ultimate submissions match which is basically an Iron man match but with submissions only. Regal leaves but Angle stays on the ramp to watch this table match. This is a good match as both teams set up several match ending spots but the victim’s partner keeps moving the table out of the way at the last minute. Benoit seems to have the victory setting up a dive off the ropes onto D-Von who’s on a table but Kurt Angle slips down and shoves Benoit off the top and sends him crashing through the table which the referee missed but did see the aftermath and so declares the Dudleyz the winners. 

Kurt Angle enters the arena for what is announced as a “five minute submission exhibition”. That makes sense given the announcement of his Ultimate submission match at Backlash earlier. Before bringing out his “opponent” Kurt talks about the importance of submissions to him. Pinfall victories are nowhere near as satisfying to him and says that submission victories are the ultimate domination and the best feeling in the world. He promises Chris Benoit 30 minutes of pure torture at Backlash. He brings out three local enhancement talents (I didn’t recognise any of them) and offers himself up to let all three of them try to make him submit. He takes down all three with ease and makes them submit to a side headlock, a front facelock and an armbar. They try to jump him from behind and he continues to take them down and clamp them in different holds racking up seven submission victories until finally Chris Benoit comes down and with Angle’s back turned, locks him in the Crippler Crossface. Angle taps out but Benoit holds on for a while, ripping and pulling at Angle’s neck and shoulder and making his point.

Other Happenings

• The show opens with a recap of the events of Raw with Undertaker and Kane chasing off Austin and Triple H. They use the same kind of dramatic movie trailer-esque music they’ve always used for these types of videos but on Raw and here its new music. The video packages all through 1998, 1999 and 2000 were great but did tend to use the same 5 or 6 songs every single time. Seems like 2001 brought some new material.
• The Right to Censor (with Ivory) face the APA and Kaientai in an eight man tag team match. Seems like Steven’s comments on Raw were true and the RtC haven’t broken up - last week's skirmish was just frustration about their recent losing streak. The losing streak continues as after an APA double spinebuster and Taka drops a knee off the top rope he pins the massive Bull Buchanan to win the match for his team.

• Chyna defends the WWF Women’s title against Molly Holly. Their pre match rituals are Molly giving a cheerful “never give up” interview to Johnathan Coachman and Chyna admiring her own body in a mirror with a sultry little smile which I guess was to promote her new range of gymwear. It’s nice that she’s so confident. Chyna wins pretty easily with a big smile and blows kisses to the fans. She is so radically different as a character to how she was even a year ago - it’s insane.

• There’s more commercials for the XFL - what would prove to be the final game. They only show these on Smackdown because NBC was their partner in the XFL and Raw was on TNN which is a different company.
• Eddie Guerrero catches Grandmaster Sexay admiring his European title belt. Eddie loses his temper and it leads us to a European title match later on. Seeing Grandmaster Sexay just makes me miss Scotty 2 Hotty who sadly will be out for quite a while due to a neck injury. Eddie retains his title with a roll up and his feet on the ropes for leverage in a short but decent match. 

Raw is War - April 23rd, 2001

Tag Team Mayhem

Raw opens with an energetic recap of the events of Smackdown with Undertaker and Kane winning the WWF Tag Team titles and earning a match with Stone Cold and Triple H. It’s important to mention it as it also includes footage from Sunday Night Heat where Vince McMahon lets the Two-man power trip know that thanks to his wife Linda, their tag team match at Backlash will be for ALL the gold - Taker and Kane’s Tag titles, Triple H’s Intercontinental title and Stone Cold’s WWF title will all be on the line in that one match. They clarify the rules later but the gist is that if you’re pinned, you lose your title to whoever pinned you. It does give Austin and Triple H an advantage in that whichever one of them wins they both become Tag Team Champions. They’ve done this stipulation before - in 1995, IC Champion Shawn Michaels and WWF Champion Diesel won the Tag Team titles from Yokozuna and Owen Hart under the same stipulations. 

In the arena, the new Tag Team Champions Undertaker and Kane open the show. Kane’s left arm is still heavily bandaged from the wicked steel chair beating Austin and Triple H gave him on Smackdown while costing him the Hardcore title (this feud is only a week old and has featured a LOT of championships). Undertaker cuts kind of a long rambling promo but he does keep having to stop to let the crowd cheer for him and Kane. He says that they aren’t known for their sense of humour but it did make them laugh when Triple H called himself and Stone Cold the two most dominant men in the WWF. Undertaker recaps the titles stipulation at Backlash but says that tonight they should fight with no titles on the line - just to see who the more dominant team is.

He calls them out but instead its the former WWF Tag Team Champions Edge and Christian who arrive. Edge says that being 7 time champions makes them 7 times better than the Brothers of Destruction. Christian says that they know they’ll be too cowardly to defend the titles tonight but they want a fight and walk down to the ring. This seems uncharacteristically brave for E+C but it turns out to be a setup and a distraction so that Stone Cold and Triple H can jump them from behind. The Rattlesnake and The Game hammer both Kane and Undertaker with chairshot after chairshot. Austin has made taking his belt off and using it to whip and choke people a trademark since his heel turn and he does it again here but also uses it to tie Undertaker’s leg to the ropes. The WWF and Intercontinental Champions leave their challengers at Backlash flat on their backs in the ring with another savage steel chair assault. 

Backstage Vince and Stephanie McMahon are shown gloating over the beating on Kane and Undertaker but are cut off by footage of Mick Foley arriving at WWF New York. We’d drop in on Mick again after the next match to see him eating piles of food and putting it all on Vince’s tab. 

Michael Cole gives us a medical update on Undertaker and Kane. Kane’s elbow is badly injured and Undertaker will be out of action for the rest of the night but they’ll both be good to go for Backlash. Stone Cold and Triple H drop by and intimidate Cole before heading out to the arena. In a sight you’d never have believed 6 months ago, they come out together to Mr. McMahon’s “No Chance in Hell” theme song. Triple H makes a joke about how the altitude in Denver has probably made all the fans dumb. Christian and Vince McMahon have both already made that same joke tonight as well. Triple H does most of the talking as he’s the expert at cutting heel promos. It’s about how everything from the arena to the ring to the title belts belongs to him and Austin. They are the most dominant men in the WWF. Austin smiles and smirks along with Triple H’s words before taking the mic and agreeing with everything The Game said. Stone Cold starts to threaten all the fans in the front row. He’s gone mad with power - he’s getting addicted to the thrill of being able to do whatever he wants and having zero impulse control. He dares Undertaker to crawl off the doctor’s bed and come out to the ring. It’s not Undertaker who coms out - it’s Matt and Jeff Hardy and they’re dressed to compete. Matt cuts a scrappy doo “we’ll never give up” promo as Austin and Triple H laugh and dare them to come down and fight. They’re about to head down but to everyone’s shock Undertaker and Kane arrive instead. They head down and want to fight but with the odds now four on two, the two-man power trip bails out of the ring. Mick Foley’s music hits! Is he here? No, he's at WWF New York. This would have been a great spot for him to be the one to announce the “all the titles on the line” stipulation for Backlash rather than doing it on Sunday Night Heat last night. He has another one of the mysterious blank contracts that Linda McMahon signed for him last year (We learned about them the week before Wrestlemania) and it allows him to book tonight’s main event - he makes an eight man tag of Edge, Christian, Triple H and Stone Cold against Matt and Jeff Hardy, The Undertaker and Kane. 

Ahead of the main event, Triple H and Stone Cold give Edge and Christian a pep talk which amounts to “no goofy stuff, turn the voltage up and get serious”. Undertaker and Kane’s chat with The Hardyz looks a lot friendlier. 

Edge and Christian enter first (the onscreen graphic still mistakenly calls them the Tag Team Champions) followed by Triple H and Stone Cold. You can tell they’re still experimenting with ways to get the WWF Champion booed as the iconic glass shattering has been removed from the start of his theme music. Matt and Jeff have Lita with them but they smartly stop on the ramp and wait for Kane and The Undertaker before heading down to the ring. Its absolute chaos as all eight men fight and brawl. The fans actually chant for Lita which is pretty cool considering how big stars all these men are. He debuted them the previous week but I’ll mention them here - after only ever wearing black knee braces, Stone Cold has added red to them. He gets a loud “Austin sucks” chant as he works over Kane in his the corner which I’m sure was a relief to hear that his heel turn is working. The villains isolate Kane in their corner and work over his injured arm. It all breaks down and in the chaos, Undertaker chokeslams Triple H as JR screams to “break his damn back!”. With Matt Hardy and Triple H legal, Austin drops Matt with a Stunner and Triple H gets the pin and the victory. There’s no celebration as the two-man power trip gets the hell out of the ring and poses up the ramp instead. 

Vince Takes his bad mood out on Trish and Test

Big Show goes to see Vince and wants to know if he meant what he said on Thursday when he called Show a disappointment and a failure. Vince back peddles and says that he didn’t mean that but did mean to put him in a Last Man Standing match with Shane. Show gives Vince and Stephanie a VHS tape and once again we get people watching a tape together. It’s footage of Test congratulating Jeff Hardy for giving Stephanie a Twist of Fate on Smackdown and laughing about it. They’re furious of course so Vince books Show against Test later so he can give us a preview of what he’ll do to Shane at Backlash.

Jonathan Coachman interviews Trish Stratus. He’s basically a bit pervy towards her and they use this to promote the “Divas in Hedonism” VHS tape. I didn’t have it but it was very much marketed towards teenage boys who like seeing girls in bikinis.

The Big Show faces Test. I quite like that through all the betrayals and broken engagements and heel and face turns, Test has stayed friends with Shane McMahon after the rough way in which they became friends in 1999. Show looks like he has the match won as he sets up a chokeslam but Shane O’Mac cracks him across the back with a steel chair. Show wins by disqualification and as he’s distracted watching Shane run away, Test gives him a big boot up and over the top rope. 

Backstage, Vince rampages around looking for Shane after his sneak attack on Big Show and runs into Trish Stratus. He hasn’t seen her since Wrestlemania. He says that since she’s such a goody two-shoes these days she can go and get dressed to wrestle. She has to fight Ivory and if she loses she’ll be forced to join the Right to Censor.

Backstage as the Right to Censor argue and bicker, Ivory calms them down and asks them all to trust her to end the losing streak against Trish. She tells them to stay in the back and watch her win and bring them a new member. They’re true to their word and let Ivory go to the ring solo for her match with Trish. Trish shows off some of her new wrestling skills and despite both women being pretty covered up the fans chant “we want puppies”. Heyman mocks the term puppies. I very much enjoy him taking shots at Jerry Lawler. Ivory misses a missile dropkick and Trish hits a sloppy botched bulldog headlock to pick up an upset victory! 

Tag Team Submission match

Kurt Angle drops in on Commissioner Regal and thanks him for tonight’s match - it’s the two of them against Benoit and Jericho in a tag team submission match. They have a friendly disagreement and rivalry over which of them will be the one to make someone tap out tonight. Regal continues to be cagey about the Duchess of Queensbury rules at Backlash against Chris Jericho. 

Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho enter first for the Tag Team Submission match. All four of these men have effective and well established submission finishing holds. Jericho cuts a promo on Regal and the unknown Duchess of Queensbury rules at Backlash which gets pretty homophobic as most Attitude era babyfaces tend to do. This match is basically tornado rules with all four men brawling and being submissions only means there’s no disqualifications or countouts. Benoit wins the match for his team by making Regal submit to the Crippler Crossface surprisingly quickly.

Other Happenings

• Spike Dudley challenges Rhyno for the Hardcore title. Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley join commentary to watch their little brother in action. Last night on Heat, Spike cost X-Factor a tag team match with The Hollys. Bubba confirms that all three Dudleyz will face X-Factor in a six man tag at Backlash and on cue, X-Factor comes out onto the ramp to watch this Hardcore title match. Spike puts up a good fight and even has the match won but the skirmish between Bubba, D-Von and X-Factor distracts him and a Gore retains the title for Rhyno. The Dudleys flatten Justin Credible with a 3D and stand tall in the ring as referees lead Albert, X-Pac and Credible away from the ring.
• Bull Buchanan and Goodfather of the Right to Censor face Kaientai who beat them on Smackdown (with some help from the APA) Before the match, Steven Richards screams at his RtC cohorts that they MUST win and end this losing streak. Taka and Funaki have their best pre-match promo yet as they wear local sports team gear and get some big laughs with their lip-dubbed promo. That gimmick is super over “Indeeeeeed”. Kaientai wins again - this time, with no help! Bull catches Taka’s top rope crossbody but Funaki dropkicks him and turns it into a cover and helps with a little leverage. RtC’s losing streak continues. I love Kaientai so I enjoyed this a lot. 

• Raven forms another odd team alongside Grandmaster Sexay and Steve Blackman to face The Radicals. Raven speaks in riddles but he’s easier to understand than Grandmaster Sexay’s rap speak. Dean Malneko, Perry Saturn (with the ever useless Terri) and European Champion Eddie Guerrero. Raven pinned Eddie on Smackdown and was jumped and attacked by him in return on Heat which set up Raven challenging Eddie Guerrero for the European title at Backlash which JR tells us about during the entrances. It’s a messy match which Eddie wins for his team with a roll up on Raven.

Smackdown! - April 26th, 2001

Backlash Main Eventers in action

Triple H and Stephanie arrive in a limo. Mr. McMahon goes out to meet them and tells them to hurry back to his office where Stone Cold is waiting. He has BIG plans tonight he needs to discuss with them. 

After a long video package recapping not just the build up to Backlash’s main event but Austin’s whole heel turn so far. In the McMahon office he tells Stone Cold and Triple H the plans for tonight. Kane will face Edge and Christian in a handicap match and Undertaker will fight three members of the Right to Censor and if they interfere in each other’s matches then only the tag titles will be on the line at Backlash. He also teases them by saying they need to compete in a tag team match against a mystery team who will really “push them to their limits” before leaving the arena to handle his own business. 

Stone Cold puts his wife Debra in her place and makes her go and get coffee for him, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley.

One armed Tag Team Champion Kane takes on Edge and Christian in a handicap match. They focus on his heavily bandaged arm as Triple H and Stone Cold are shown in their locker room watching and talking strategy (spoilers - it's to focus on Kane’s bad arm). Kane fights back but with one arm and two opponents it's too much even for him. Edge and Christian tie his injured arm up in the ropes and slam a pair of steel chairs on it to lose via disqualification but, much to The Game and The Rattlesnake’s joy, leave Kane writhing in pain in the ring. He was even screaming in pain.

After this match, Debra returns with the coffee but gets a disgusted look from Steph for having messed up her order. She then “accidentally” spills it on Stone Cold who screams at her and makes her go out into the parking lot to sit in the truck. Abusive husband is one way to get him booed I guess.

In the Right to Censor locker room it seems like Val Venis, Goodfather and Bull Buchanan are sick of being lectured by Steven Richards. He tells them he’s been added to the match to make it four on one so he can “lead by example”. 

As they enter for the four on one handicap match, Richards tries to work his troop up into a frenzy. This is surely the best chance they’ll have to end their losing streak. Undertaker doesn’t look concerned when he rides out on his motorbike. Richards motivational tactics continue as he shouts at Bull and slaps him in the face following being thrown around by Undertaker. Goodfather and Val Venis don’t fare any better. With a three on one advantage they do manage to beat down Undertaker at which point Steven decides to take over. The RtC stand by and watch as Undertaker pounds Richards with a Last Ride Powerbomb to win the match despite four on one. The other three members of Right to Censor walk out in disgust. This is the final time we’ll see Val Venis with the Right to Censor gimmick and in fact the last time he’ll be seen at all until the 2002 Royal Rumble. 

In the Two-man power trip locker room, William Regal discreetly tells Austin and Triple H who their opponents are. They seem very concerned and tell Stephanie to stay in the back for her own safety.

When Austin enters for the main event tag team match he has the glass shattering back at the start of his music. That must have been a one-off on Raw. Probably a botch in that case. We still don’t know who Stone Cold and Triple H’s opponents are but they look very focused. The opponents are…Kaientai! Taka and Funaki show no fear and even give us another great lib dubbed promo.

They get to the ring and do another one but this time it’s not their normal voices, it’s Undertaker and Kane! With Stone Cold and Triple H distracted, Taker and Kane jump them from behind and send them packing out of the ring. The match didn’t even start. Smackdown ends with Stone Cold and Triple H looking angry and concerned on the ramp and Undertaker and Kane standing tall holding all four championship belts!

Backlash midcard fills out

Matt Hardy challenges Eddie Guerrero for the European title. Eddie is supposed to defend his title against Raven at Backlash. Matt has Jeff and Lita with him and Eddie has Perry Saturn and Terri with him. This is a good match and after Jeff and Lita take out Perry and Lita on the outside, Lita gives Eddie a top rope hurricanrana behind the referees back. Matt follows up with a Twist of Fate and in a big upset - especially considering he has a title defence already announced for the PPV - Matt Hardy wins the European title!

The female fans had been squealing for Matt and the male fans cheering for Lita but they shut everyone up by making out afterwards in victory. 

Edge and Christian go to see Commissioner Regal and ask “what's in it for them?” with regards to tonight’s handicap match with Kane. Christian wants a shot at the European title as “his grandmother is from Luxembourg”. Regal agrees and books Matt defending the title against Christian and former champion Eddie Guerrero at Backlash. Raven was promised a title match at the PPV so by way of appeasement he gives him a shot at the Hardcore title instead. So that’s two title matches added to Backlash. He could have just made the European title match a fatal four way but this is probably better as Raven was always great in hardcore matches.

Rhyno defends the Hardcore title against Test. The winner of this match will now defend their title at Backlash against Raven. This is good as Test and Rhyno use trash cans and fire extinguishers and brawl up into the crowd where they find a shopping cart and use that too. In the loading dock Test gives Rhyno a big boot and would seem to have the match won but he’s jumped by Big Show who throws Test around into a metal shutter and that allows Rhyno to retain the Hardcore title. Show continues the beating and gives us a preview of his Last Man Standing match with Shane McMahon at Backlash, chokeslamming him onto a pile of wooden pallets which snap under his weight.

Finally in a pre-recorded promo from WWF HQ before the main event, Shane McMahon reads a rhyming storybook about he and Big Show’s Last Man Standing match. It’s funny and you’ll see the best bits of it in the pre-match video package for that match at Backlash.

Other Happenings

• The Smackdown intro has had a big update. There’s still a lot of The Rock in there considering he won’t be around for a while but it has all the recent updates and some of the new debutees in Rhyno and Spike Dudley. 
• The show opens with a big match and a sort of rematch from Raw. It’s William Regal and Kurt Angle against Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho and this time it’s Duchess of Queensbury rules, so hopefully we’ll get some idea what Chris Jericho has in store for him at Backlash. There’s really no indication of what the rules are as they wrestle a normal tag team match. All four men trade finishers and get near falls but in the end Regal and Angle lock in their combo Regal stretch and ankle lock to make Y2J submit. The referee actually ends the match via disqualification for the double team but Regal says that the Duchess of Queensbury rules make that perfectly legal and so they do in fact win by submission. 

• In the arena, for what I think is the first time he’s spoken on WWF TV, Justin Credible addresses the Dudley Boyz. X-Pac and Albert are there too. Justin addresses his ECW history with The Dudleyz (which Tazz disputes on commentary). X-Pac makes fun of the Wazzup headbutt and says that all three of them couldn’t beat Albert. That brings out all three Dudleyz to answer the challenge. After some generic “We’re going to kick your asses” banter, they walk down to the ring. X-Factor shows no fear and goes out to meet them and the six men brawl all around and in the ring. The Dudleyz get the upper hand, giving Albert a Wazzup heatbutt and dropping X-Pac with a 3D to end the segment.