Raw - January 21st 2002

The Road to Wrestlemania (which isn’t a thing yet)

The Undisputed WWF Champion Chris Jericho makes his way down to the ring to celebrate his (extremely tainted) victory over The Rock at last night’s PPV. He looks very pleased with himself. He rants like a mad man that he said he wasn’t a joke and told us all he’d retain the title and he did. He shifts his rant away from The Rock and says he’s beaten everyone and screams himself hoarse demanding a standing ovation from the crowd until he’s finally interrupted by the 2002 Royal Rumble winner, Triple H. He sarcastically gives Jericho the applause he was demanding. He tells Jericho that he’s a liar for claiming to have beaten everyone - he’s never beaten The Game. He says he’s “the one man” which also definitely isn’t true, since we’re fact checking stuff Triple H. He reminds us that he will challenge for the title in the main event of Wrestlemania but what everyone is wondering is whether Jericho can make it to Wrestlemania - he has two months to prove he’s not a fluke and that he’s not a joke. I feel like continually calling Jericho a joke and a fluke and acting shocked that he’s achieved anything might be eroding his main event star power somewhat - he comes across as the lesser talent in this exchange once again. He basically wishes Jericho luck because if he makes it to Mania it’ll be time to play The Game.

Triple H’s talking down to the Undisputed Champion is interrupted by Kurt Angle. He gets the now trademark “you suck” chants in time to his theme song louder than ever. That seems to have finally caught on. As has WHAT as the crowd follows up everything Angle says with one. Kurt says Triple H attacked him from behind to eliminate him at the Royal Rumble and he should have warned him. He should have gone head on, like Kurt will do now and he rushes the ring. Triple H fights off Jericho and Angle but a shot to the head from the WWF title belt stops him. Triple H absorbs an Angle Slam and is then put in the Walls of Jericho which brings Triple H’s tag team partner for tonight’s main event sprinting down and he clears out Jericho and Angle. The Rock got, by far, the loudest reaction of anyone in this segment but it’s worth noting that as a heel, Kurt is getting a much much bigger reaction than Jericho.

In his locker room, Triple H goes to see The Rock and tells him that he doesn’t need his help. The Rock makes everyone laugh asking Triple H why the hell he’s so angry all the time. He won the Rumble - go have some ice cream and calm down! He’s right, you know. He says they don’t need to be friends but tonight they’ll be united and whoop Jericho and Angle in the main event.

Before the main event Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley tells her husband that it's disgusting he’d team with The Rock and she wants him to destroy him instead. Triple H snaps at her - he’s had enough. The world doesn’t revolve around what she wants and she needs to just shut up for once! 

It’s an all star main event. I don’t know how interesting this is but I’ll mention it anyway - Triple H wore big heavy knee braces for most of 1999 - 2001, apparently having issues in both legs. Since his return he’s down to normal knee pads with no visible extra support so I guess in addition to rehabbing his torn quad all that time off gave him a chance to resolve some other nagging issues. The Rock and Triple H - the real stars - have no issues dominating both Jericho and Angle. The Undisputed Champion uses the WWF title belt to take out Triple H but when he tries to use a ring bell to do the same to The Rock he ducks and Kurt gets clocked - an almighty thud too - to be knocked out and Jericho walks into a Rock Bottom. The Rock pins the Undisputed Champion which one would think gets him another title match. Raw ends with The Rock and The Game standing tall. 

Desperate McMahons call for Desperate measures

Co-owner of the WWF, the victorious Ric Flair heads down to the ring. He has a bandage on his head from his street fight last night and gets choked up during his entrance as the fans in his home state (This Raw is in North Carolina) give him a very warm and emotional welcome. In 2025, Ric is known for lots of things but one of them is crying often so it’s not a shock to see him fighting back tears here. He talks about his long career and how much he sacrificed to be the best, specifically having left his family behind. He says he saw all four kids be born but after that he was never home, missing baseball games and dance recitals and first days at school. He says he has no regrets because the fans became his family. This is a weird promo and comes across a little “screw my kids”. He says his goal now is to be around and be a dad to his four kids and try to make up for all the years he missed. That’s a nicer sentiment which sadly ended up not being true. He finally ends up on Vince and says he beat him for his family and for all the fans. He says that while Vince stole his daughters camera last night, the pictures weren’t great but he has two to show us taken by his daughter. The first one isn’t great but the second one is - a hilarious screenshot of a bloody Vince having his face contorted by Flair.

That’s enough for Vince McMahon himself to come out and interrupt this celebration. Vince says that he didn’t lose last night - every single WWF superstar lost because now Flair has forced his hand and now he’ll have to do something even he will regret, and with a creepy smile on his face, Vince says “you’ll see. You’ll all see”

The Rattlesnake Strikes

Backstage as Debra chats to the makeup lady she is approached by the returning Mr. Perfect. He asks her why her husband Stone Cold came back into the ring and hit him with a steel chair after he was eliminated. He says that Austin is not the toughest SOB in the WWF, he is!

The newly returned Val Venis, hot off his performance getting Stunned and almost immediately eliminated at the Royal Rumble, faces Mr. Perfect. Before the match, Val spends what feels like an ice age picking a fan out of the crowd to remove his towel from him, doing laps and moaning and grunting into the mic in a way that made me feel dirty. He eventually picks a blonde and gives her a big dip and kiss after the towel is removed to confirm that she was definitely a plant.

Mr. Perfect has control of the match but it doesn’t last long before Stone Cold Steve Austin’s music hits and he marches to the ring appearanrtly having taken some offence to how Perfect spoke to his wife earlier. The Rattlesnake grabs a steel chair and hits Perfect with a brutal shot right to the head. That was stiff. Before he can leave, Val grabs a mic and says that Perfect deserved that because he didn’t have the guts to say anything to Stone Cold’s face like he will right now. Austin patiently lets Val finish before predictably dropping him with a Stone Cold Stunner. Austin grabs the mic and says he has time to tell us a story - he winds up about the Beverly Hillbillies for a long time before saying that's NOT the story he’s telling which made King and JR lose it laughing. His story is that while he came up short last night, he is still going to Wrestlemania to kick a man’s ass and that’s the bottom line cuz Stone Cold said so. This was amazing, but slightly bitter sweet as he also mentions that he’ll be in the 2003 Royal Rumble which sadly never happened. 

Big Men Seeking Friendship

The Big Show goes to see Kane in his locker room. They had been semi-successful tag team partners lately but Kane eliminated Show from the Rumble last night. It seems like it might get physical but instead Show tells Kane how impressive it is that he lifted him over the top last night and they shake hands. Show leaves but Kane is then joined by Billy and Chuck! They say that he obviously loves wearing red, and so do they and present him with a headband that matches theirs saying “Kane”. He isn’t keen and Billy takes offence and Chuck attacks and the pair of them beat him down for not liking the headband. 

Following on from their backstage altercation earlier, Kane takes on Billy and Chuck in a handicap match. Despite the two on one odds, Billy and Chuck try to leave but are stopped by Kane’s tag team partner The Big Show. Kane goes out to meet them and the four man fight begins on the ramp. So this is now a tag team match. Kane signals his pyro before the match which is a sign he’s probably not winning and won’t be doing it after. Kane prepares to hit a flying clothesline but Show bounces off the ropes accidentally knocking him off. With a two on one advantage Billy and Chuck use a Fameasser and a double team illegal pin to cover Show and win in what could be considered an upset against two much larger main eventers.

Other Happenings

• Raw opens with a six man tag team match pitting Rob Van Dam and the WWF Tag Team Champions Tazz and Spike Dudley (with Tazz’s new Cypress Hill theme also dubbed out of this show, sad) against Booker T and The Dudley Boyz. Spike Dudley is still sporting a neck brace from the attack on Smackdown by Bubba Ray and D-Von, and Booker eliminated RVD from the Rumble match (after a Pedigree). The integration of The Alliance after the end of the Invasion was pretty seamless - including Stacy Keibler at ringside, the only person in this match who wasn’t a member of the Alliance is Spike Dudley! Think there’s a bit of a botch here as Booker signals that he’s going for the Spinarooni but then stops and tags out instead. I suspect he was moving towards the match finish and someone told him it was too early. This is a pretty awesome match for how short it is as after a flurry of finishes and counters, The Dudleyz hit a 3D on Tazz but with Bubba still on the mat in the moment after the move, Van Dam comes in with a perfectly timed Five Star Frog Splash to win it for his team.
• Edge gets a rematch for the Intercontinental Championship against new champion William Regal. Referee Nick Patrick checks around the ring looking for Regal’s now famous brass knuckles behind the ring steps and under the ring apron. Edge attacks Regal before he even gets the ring which is probably stupid - I’d have let the referee finish his search before I started the match. I’m right as deeper into the match while Edge goes to the top rope, Regal puts his knuckles on. Edge wipes him out with a spinning heel kick of the top rope and gets them himself, using them to knock out Regal. Unlike all of the times William’s used them recently, the referee catches him and Regal wins by disqualification. Edge is furious and so he uses them to knock out the referee! More referees rush down to stop him and eat a pair of Spears and another big right hand. Edge has snapped and has left Regal out cold and taken out four referees on top of it. 
• Backstage after the match and a commercial break, Edge is kicked out of the arena by security for his actions.

• In a pre-taped promo, Goldust says that his return at the Rumble was almost perfect and that as bright as his star is there is one who is even brighter and he’ll see him soon. It would seem he has a target now that he’s back. He’s also reverted to his original gimmick of throwing out movie quotes and telling us what movie and year the quote is from.

• There is an extensive recap of Maven eliminating The Undertaker from the Rumble - a huge shock - and Taker not taking it well, destroying Maven in return. Neither of them are on this show but that story is not over.
• Live at WWF New York, the APA excitedly discuss the return of their friend The Godfather. Bradshaw tells us that he has gone legit and he now has an escort business in the yellow pages. It is WILD they’re promoting this actual business on WWF TV. That leads back to the arena and The Godather and four ladies coming down to the ring. They aren’t dressed as revealingly as they used to, and he doesn’t call them hoes anymore. One of these extras must not have got the memo as they pull a disgusted face when he talks about their asses. He is interrupted by Lance Storm. No one enjoys a good time more than the super serious Lance Storm and calls his business illegitimate. Storm runs to the ring and you’d assume this is a match but Godfather just easily beats him up and dances with the women as planned. This sure was something.

Smackdown - January 24th 2002

A Lethal Dose of Poison

Smackdown opens with a recap of Flair and McMahon’s confrontation on Raw. The important plot point is that Vince, driven mad by having to share the WWF with Ric Flair, has threatened to do something so drastic “even he” will regret it. King and JR really hammered home that McMahon never regrets anything he does so whatever he’s threatening must be very drastic indeed. 

Backstage in a dark room, Vince McMahon looks at himself in the mirror, talking to himself. He’s basically psyching himself up, goading himself that he doesn’t have the guts to do what he said he’d do on Raw. He says he does have the guts and he’ll do it tonight. There are a few of these throughout the show with Vince saying that with Ric Flair in charge the WWF has terminal cancer in one and calling the whole situation a damn shame in another. He says everything has to come to an end and if he can’t have sole control of the WWF then he’ll KILL the WWF himself rather than let Ric have it. He uses the word cancer a lot, which I think is an easy way to get an emotional reaction from people. He sobs about how the WWF has cancer and he’s going to put it out of its misery.

Sharmell interviews Ric Flair, who has no idea what Vince McMahon is talking about but tells the superstars they can always come to him for guidance and leadership and sings the praises of the WWF as a whole. The biggest and best brand in the world. I mean it was 18 months ago Ric.

Smackdown ends with the pay off to these multiple cryptic Vince McMahon moments. The WWF will die because of Ric Flair. He gave the WWF cancer and it’ll slowly eat away so Vince is going to speed things up by injecting a lethal dose of poison! He spins around in his chair to reveal the back - the logo of WCW’s New World Order! Vince McMahon is bringing the nWo to the WWF. 

Marital Strife

Michael Cole and King recap the backstage interactions between Triple H and Stephanie on Raw and discuss the rumours that the married couple are not getting along at all since The Game’s return. Backstage at Smackdown as Stephanie gets some coffee, Lillian Garcia approaches and offers to be a friend if she wants to talk about any of the issues she’s having. Stephanie responds by throwing hot coffee in her face, scalding her badly and leaving Lillian screaming which puts a big smile on Steph’s face.

Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley goes to see Triple H and just like on Raw she takes a lot of credit for Triple H’s successes and is angry at him for not showing enough appreciation. She starts talking about how her family IS the business and talks about how great her father is. Triple H cuts her off and says Vince McMahon is an asshole and questions why she worships him so much after all he’s done to her, even mentioning that he told Stephanie to dump him when his leg got hurt. She says she’s proud to be a McMahon and accuses him of marrying her for her last name. He says he married her in spite of it. This is heated and Stephanie says maybe her dad was right - Triple H isn’t good enough for her. He leaves in a rage and she starts to cry. 

Backstage as Triple H quietly seeths about his marital issues, European Champion Christian checks in and says his wife has quite the temper. Triple H is on edge and snaps, beating the hell out of Christian all over the corridor.

Number One Contender

Jonathan Coachman interviews The Rock and after accusing him of not paying attention to him, The Rock makes Coach dance the Charleston for his amusement. He does a pretty good job before kicking him off camera. That was great and got King and Cole in stitches. The Rock mentions all the unexpected things that happened at the Royal Rumble name dropping Kane picking up Big Show, Ric Flair beating up Vince McMahon and Maven eliminating The Undertaker. He calls Chris Jericho a monkey’s anus and turns his focus to tonight. You see, tonight is the start of a mini-tournament. The Rock vs. Kurt Angle and Stone Cold vs. Booker T with the two winners going one on one on Raw for the number one contendership at No Way Out. The Rock guarantees victory tonight, on Raw and at No Way Out. He says this Wrestlemania will be The Rock’s Wrestlemania. 

In the first of our qualifying matches tonight, Booker T takes on Stone Cold Steve Austin. These two have worked together a lot lately and they have good chemistry. Austin’s in ring style is if nothing else very adaptable to any opponent. It's a good match and Booker gets his best near fall off a Spinarooni and big jumping heel kick but Stone Cold kicks out and with a Stunner out of nowhere advances to the number one contenders match on Raw where he’ll meet the winner of Rock vs. Angle.

Jonathan Coachman interviews Kurt Angle about his main event match and shot at becoming number one contender later but he’s too distracted by the WHAT chants and ends the interview early. That word is ruining his life!

Before the main event, Undisputed Champion Chris Jericho heads down to the ring to get a closer look at two of the three potential men he might be facing at No Way Out. Kurt Angle and The Rock, much like Booker and Austin earlier, have great chemistry so this is very good and for a TV match gets a nice 15 minutes or so to unfold. Jericho gets involved, attacking The Rock at ringside but when he tries a second time later in the match he pays for it. The Rock plants Kurt with a spinebuster and locks in the sharpshooter but Jericho pulls the referee out of the ring so he misses the tap out. With the referee down, The Undertaker of all people comes to the ring and spikes The Rock with a big chokeslam! That’s caught everyone including Angle and Jericho by surprise. Kurt crawls into a cover and thats enough for the victory - Kurt Angle vs. Stone Cold on Raw with the winner challenging Jericho for the title at No Way Out, but why did The Undertaker attack The Rock?

After the match before the end of Smackdown, Stone Cold has a quick interview where he makes sure we all remember his words on Raw - he’s going to Wrestlemania. He’s going to beat Angle on Raw and Jericho at No Way Out. Before he can finish his promo he’s attacked by Kurt Angle and in the brawl Kurt blasts him in the head with a metal serving platter from the catering table and locks him in the ankle lock, screaming WHAT WHAT WHAT at him until referees pull him off. 

Other Happenings

• In the opening match, William Regal faces Rob Van Dam in a non-title match. RVD beats Regal super quickly with a heel kick and Five Star Frog Splash combo and then things get worse for the new Intercontinental Champion as Edge, who was asked not to be here tonight because of his actions on Raw, comes through the crowd and Spears Regal before being chased away by security. A chaotic start to Smackdown. 

• Jacqueline makes her way to the ring and much like at the Royal Rumble she’s dressed as a referee. Michael Cole explains that Jackie has applied for and been given her referee licence so this will be a regular thing now. The match she’s refereeing is between Rikishi and the Big Bossman, who’s name has changed and he is now officially known as just Boss Man. Jackie shows she’s a better referee than most by taking Boss man’s nightstick from him before the match. Rikishi wins pretty easily with a superkick and Banzai drop combo.
• Spike Dudley and Tazz defend the WWF Tag Team Championships against Scotty 2 Hotty and Albert. Spike is still fighting through an injured neck thanks to Bubba and D-Von and even though he’s a babyface, Albert and Scotty focus their attack on it. Scotty and Albert have a big advantage and almost win with a Worm on Tazz but Spike stops the three count and in what could be considered a minor miracle, Spike guts it out to take out Albert with a Dudley Dog and Tazz gets a Tazzmission on Scotty for a submission victory to retain the Tag Team titles. Their unlikely roll continues. 
• In a tag team tables match, Big Show and Kane who seem to be ok with each other despite their miscommunication on Raw take on former tag team champions The Dudley Boyz. Just like on Raw as Kane prepares for a flying clothesline, Show hits the ropes and knocks him off. Show prepares to spike D-Von through the table but Bubba moves the table to save the match. Show whips Bubba and he crashes into Kane, knocking him off the apron and through a table. The Dudley Boyz win and for the second match in a row, Big Show seemingly accidentally costs himself and Kane a match. Kane is furious and gets in Show’s face. He’s had enough of his clumsy partner but the ring fills with referees to hold them apart. Is Kane being paranoid? Is Show just clumsy? 

• Jazz gets a Royal Rumble rematch with Trish Stratus - who still has an injured hand - but this is a non-title match. You’d have to assume if Jazz wins then they will get another women’s Championship match down the line but she is extremely vicious and focuses on Trish’s hand and arm. She gets herself disqualified by refusing to break a submission hold and then lays out poor Trish with a lifting double chicken wing and a spike DDT. 

• Much like on Raw, Goldust cuts another pre taped promo about movies - memories specifically, and issues more cryptic threats and challenges to someone unnamed. 
• Backstage Billy and Chuck talk about how manly they are and how good they’d look as Tag Team Champions. They’re right too! 

Raw - January 28th 2002

Owners Ultimatum 

In Flair’s office his phone call is interrupted by Bradshaw and Faarooq. They want answers - why is Vince going to kill the company and bring in these men? The APA calls the nWo a bunch of selfish, lying, backstabbing sons of bitches and gets very heated about it - the WWF locker room are NOT happy about the potential of the nWo arriving. They are being intentionally vague about WHICH nWo members Vince might mean and JR and King discussed that and echoed the APA’s sentiments throughout the night.

Vince McMahon is shown arriving at the arena in a big long limo. He looks all business and glances around paranoid as JR speculates that there is something seriously wrong in Vince’s head tonight.

Out in the arena, Nature Boy Ric Flair heads down to the ring. He basks in the cheers but has important things to talk about, specifically McMahon’s threat to bring the nWo to the WWF. The mention of the New World Order gets a mixed response from the crowd. Ric says that he wants to remind Vince of what he’d be killing by bringing in the nWo and plays a video package he had made (and rather kindly gives a lot of praise to the video editors and behind the scenes staff responsibility). It's a nice montage all through WWF history from the 70s, 80s, 90s and beyond. In reality it played to Lonely Road of Faith but thats dubbed on this version of the show so here’s the original version;

A lot of this promo heaps praise on Vince McMahon senior which is funny as, to those of us who have seen Netflix’s 2024 documentary series about McMahon now knows, Vince worshipped his dad and still does but it very much sounds like his dad hated his guts. A very toxic father/son relationship which modern day Mr. McMahon has some rose tinted glasses about. The man himself does eventually strut to the ring with a scowl on his face to confront Ric Flair. Ric says that Vince was right and that he did build the WWF - there’s 10,000 people in the arena who want to love him for the WWF but he won’t let them. Flair actually apologises and asks what he has done that would make Vince bring in the nWo and kill the WWF just to spite him. He says Vince can hit him with a pipe, pin him and beat him if he wants as long as he changes his mind. He name drops a bunch of WWF main eventers (including Mick Foley, big pop from me) and says he can’t kill the WWF. Vince eventually snatches the mic out of Ric’s hand and simply explains that what he wants is 100% of the company back and Ric gone. He says he’ll do the right thing and give him all of his money back. The fans boo - they don’t want Flair to leave. He tells him to take a couple of days to think about it but if Flair won’t sell the rest of the WWF back to him then he WILL bring in the nWo and that poison will destroy the shows, the fan interest and the careers of everyone in the WWF. He will kill the WWF if he can’t have all of it. The way they’re portraying the nWo here - as this toxic force that kills company - is interesting and skirts the line between reality and story and I’ll talk about it a lot more at No Way Out (because - spoilers - announcing someone is coming to the company on TV means they definitely are even if you change your mind about it later)

Undisputed Respect

We get another replay of the Tough Enough Winner Maven’s shocking elimination of The Undertaker at the Royal Rumble. The Undertaker also cost The Rock a shot at the Undisputed title on Smackdown. Maven has the chance to have another big shock tonight - he was never eliminated from the Rumble match so has been given an Undisputed WWF Championship match tonight. In a backstage interview with Michael Cole, Chris Jericho says he’s the one who offered this title match. He says it's because after the PPV more people were talking about Maven than his big victory over The Rock. Jericho says tonight he’ll beat up Maven and after Stone Cold and Kurt Angle beat each other up he’ll beat up the winner at No Way Out.

Chris Jericho defends the Undisputed WWF Championship against Tough Enough’s Maven. Before he does, live at WWF New York the female winner of Tough Enough Nidia cheers on her friend from the show and says she and the fans at WWF New York believe in him. For this match Maven does at least finally have real ring gear rather than the sweat pants he had been wrestling in. It’s just a shame his theme song is dubbed on these shows with a generic production track. JR says that Jericho didn’t give Maven this match, it was Ric Flair and suggests that the champion is actually scared of Maven. Stuff like that continues to massively undermine Jericho’s run as champion. Maven takes no chances and attacks Jericho immediately - he wants to take advantage of this! The crowd explodes a couple of times during this as Maven gets near falls with roll ups but Jericho traps him in the Walls of Jericho for a tap out victory. Jericho looks shocked when The Undertaker’s music hits but that turns into a smile as he realises he’s here for Maven and so he goes to join commentary and watch the beating. Undertaker takes his time, putting on his black gloves. Maven shows guts just by not running away. He throws some punches and tries to stand up for himself and is demolished and Undertaker finishes him off with the same steel chair to the throat move he used to hospitalise Matt Hardy a few weeks ago. Poor Maven. 

After the commercial break as Undertaker leaves he's stopped by Coach for an interview and he asks him about his unprovoked attack on The Rock on Smackdown and on Maven tonight. He tells Coach that he’ll smash all his teeth out if he mentions Maven’s name in front of him again. He’ll decide when Maven has paid enough of a price, but says that his issue with The Rock is that he mentioned Undertaker being eliminated by Maven in a promo. He says The Rock thinks everything is a joke and he’ll continue to show him how serious this is until he’s decided he’s done with him. 

Number One Rattlesnake

Michael Cole interviews Kurt Angle ahead of the number one contenders main event and asks Kurt about the rumour that Stone Cold is angrier than he’s ever been and is going to take it all out on Angle tonight. Kurt says that's what he wants and he’ll either make Stone Cold tap out, or Austin will do all the hard work for him and get himself disqualified

The main event is Kurt Angle vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin with the winner challenging Chris Jericho for the Undisputed title at No Way Out. This is heated and the two trade blows in the ring. Austin weathers the German suplexes and takes the fight to the outside. It’s a classic story with Kurt trying to wrestle and Austin wanting to brawl. Kurt misses a charge in the corner and wraps his own shoulder around the ring post so Stone Cold focuses his attack on the arm. Kurt smarty throws a steel chair into the ring and goads Austin to use it - he wants to win by disqualification. Stone Cold manages to stay calm enough to resist but moments later the referee gets knocked down and Angle uses it. A shot to the face and then shot after shot to Austin’s body and legs as he flails on the mat. This is brutal. The referee recovers but the Rattlesnake kicks out! Kurt hits the Angle Slam and has the three count but Stone Cold gets his foot on the ropes. Kurt argues with the referee and it costs him - he walks into a Stone Cold Stunner! Austin wins and is going to No Way Out and a title shot. He wastes no time, calling for a beer before he’s even on his feet. Jericho runs down to the ring to attack his next challenger but the Rattlesnake sees him coming and drops him with a Stunner too without even dropping his beer! Raw ends with Stone Cold on top, celebrating with beers.

Booker T plays The Game

Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley goes to see Ric Flair and expresses her anger that Ric has booked Triple H against Booker T tonight. She screeches at the co-owner until he snaps and tells her he’s sick of listening to her and it was Vince who made that match, not him. She wonders aloud whether Vince did that for her benefit after she defended him against Triple H on Smackdown. Maybe daddy is starting to forgive Daddy’s Little Girl?

Stephanie goes to check on Triple H and it seems like they’re at least trying to be friends again. She shares the revelation that Vince made his match with Booker T, not Ric Flair. She tells her husband that he should think twice before insulting her dad again. Triple H doesn’t care and says he’ll kick Booker T’s ass. She tells him how dangerous Booker is and wants to come down to the ring to help him just like old times but he tells her no - he wants to do everything by himself since his return.

Triple H vs. Booker T. This is Triple H’s first singles match since May 20th, 2001 and that was a Chain match with Kane at Judgment Day. Triple H dominates on the outside but Christian runs to the ring and attacks him as pay back for the assault on Smackdown. With Christian interfereing, Stephanie rushes to the ring to help her husband and slaps Christian in the face! With Triple H distracted, telling off his wife for coming down to the ring even to help, Booker T rolls him up and actually pins The Game! Booker T wins! Triple H is beyond angry as Stephanie screams and pleads with him to forgive her - she was only trying to help. Backstage during the commercial break Triple H slams the locker room door in his wife’s face as she screams and screeches and then weakly whimpers “i love you”. He opens the door and hands her her bags before slamming it in her face again! This marriage is in TROUBLE.

Other Happenings

• In Raw’s opening match The Big Show faces Kane. They’ve tried to play nice over the past week or so but they keep getting in each other’s way. And Kane lifted Show to dump him out of the Royal Rumble which they have mentioned a LOT on TV since. Kane lifts Show again for a powerslam in this match and after kicking out of a chokeslam hits one of his own to win the match.

• Goldust with his third “movie quote and threat” packages. He gives us a clue this week - whoever he’s threatening competed last week, and got a big cheer from the crowd when he did. 
• On Smackdown, Rob Van Dam defeated the Intercontinental Champion William Regal in a non-title match (quickly and easily too) so he has a title match tonight. Regal looks far more reluctant to get in the ring tonight now that he knows how quickly RVD could beat him. Referee Teddy Long conducts the pre-match search for the brass knuckles and checks out Regal for them too. Regal is outmatched by Van Dam and so kicks him low right in front of the referee to get disqualified. He loses the match but keeps his title belt. Regal shoves the referee down and tries to leave with his belt but Van Dam brings him back to the ring. He’s attacked by Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley who I guess still have a friendship with Regal. The Dudleyz beat up Rob two on one until he’s rescued by Regal’s main rival, Edge who motors through them with Spears. With them distracted fighting The Dudleyz Regal slips on his brass knuckles and knocks out Edge. RVD takes a 3D and the villainous trio ends the segment on top. 

• We get our weekly advertisement for The Godfather’s now totally legit and very real escort service as he teams with Diamond Dallas Page. Next week Raw is in Las Vegas so I suspect The Godfather stuff will only get worse.(Note from my editing - I was wrong, he isn’t even on the show next week). He says DDP is one of his satisfied customers. Page has a nice genuine laugh about it and says it's not a bad thing, it’s a GOOD thing. The fans are catching on to that catchphrase. Their opponents are Lance Storm and the European Champion Christian. Pretty standard tag team match but to me the highlight is seeing Page get cheers off the hot tag. His turn to babyface is a success. It breaks down and in the chaos, Page connects with a Diamond Cutter on Storm to win the match for his team. After the bell, Page takes off into the crowd and celebrates with the people rather with Godfather and the ladies. 

• In the locker room, Jazz walks in on Billy and Chuck helping each other stretch. The big joke is that they look a bit gay while doing so.
• Jazz, Billy and Chuck are partners tonight in a six person tag against the APA and the WWF Women’s Champion Trish Stratus. The finish is quite funny as when Trish attacks Chuck Palumbo he drops her with a powerbomb but looks disgusted to have had her crotch in his face and covers her like he doesn’t want to touch her to win the match. It’s so childish and “ew girls are gross”.

Smackdown - January 31st 2002

To Sell or Not to Sell?

Ric Flair heads down to the ring to announce his decision - Vince told him he has to give up his 50% of the company or he’ll bring in the nWo to kill the WWF. Flair cries as he thanks the fans and says his goodbyes - it seems he’s decided to cave in to McMahon’s ultimatum. He’s very emotional, thanking the fans and saying he’s glad that this time he gets to say goodbye. He savours the moment and then bows out of the ring. I thought someone would come out but no, Ric says he’s selling to appease Vince and this is goodbye forever.

Vince McMahon arrives in a limo but unlike Raw he’s all smiles. He has a team of lawyers and explains to Johnathan Coachman that the papers will be signed tonight. Flair will sell up here on Smackdown. Vince says that Ric hasn’t said goodbye yet - he’ll say goodbye on Vince’s terms, when he says so. Later Vince goes through the contract with the lawlers, saying general business terms and nodding and smiling.

Ric Flair drops by to see The Rock. He shakes his hand and thanks him for all of his support. The Rock is uncharacteristically nice to him about it.

Ric’s backstage farewell tour continues as he exchanges hugs with his long time friend Arn Anderson.

At the end of Smackdown a smug, smiling Vince McMahon heads to the ring with his team of lawyers to make Ric Flair sign over his 50% stake in the company over to him in front of the world. It’s actually been a while since the main event of a Raw or Smackdown was a talking segment rather than a match so this is a change. Vince waffles for a bit, goading Flair about how he lost and he's going to show us all not to mess with Vince McMahon. He calls Flair selfish and says that in the contract it says he will own 100% of the stock (a hilarious thing to claim given that its a publicly traded company) but it also says he cannot bring in the nWo in any form. With that laid out for us, he brings out Ric Flair to “sign his life away”. Vince continues to bait and talk down to Flair as he sits down and presents him with a pen to sign the contract. Flair teases it out, looking around at the crowd who beg him not to sign. The irony of this segment is that Ric does seem happy to sign it to save the WWF but Vince is such an unlikeable, smug asshole that he’s talking Ric out of it with his attitude.

Before Flair can sign, the glass shatters and Stone Cold Steve Austin comes to the ring! The lawyers smartly clear out of the ring as soon as he arrives. Vince looks outraged but Flair looks damn pleased to see the Rattlesnake. Austin berates Vince like a pissed off drill seargent, barking WHAT in his face. He asks the crowd to give a hell yeah if they want Ric to tear up the contract, which they do. A frustrated Vince swipes at Ric so he takes a Stone Cold Stunner, and Ric tears up the contract! Thanks to Austin, Flair keeps his 50% control and I guess now we have the impending arrival of the nWo, in whatever form Vince has planned. Smackdown ends with Austin and Flair toasting with beers over a fallen Mr. McMahon. 

Triple H’s rocky night and rockier marriage

Jim Ross sits down for a pre recorded interview with Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley. She takes issue with the claims that she is riding her husband's coattails because of her own failures. She takes credit for all of the Alliance’s successes and blames all of their failings on her brother Shane. JR shows the footage of her and Triple H’s big arguments on Raw and her screaming like a banshee. She gets emotional about it. JR asks if she’s ever cheated on The Game - a question which seems to be based mostly on Chris Jericho and The Rock making slut jokes about her all through 2000 and 2001 - which she denies. JR asks if she thinks Triple H might have ever cheated on her. She says it's ridiculous as no woman is as good looking or as good in bed as her. Jesus. JR sums things up - they seem to have grown apart as he is now popular and has come back from injury focused to win and prove himself and do things fair but she still wants to be the same cheating and scheming partnership they always were. She gets aggressive after JR asks if her screaming fits and temper tantrums are a bit childish. She says she’ll prove to JR and all the fans how much Triple H loves her and is all smiles as she leaves clearly delighted with whatever idea she’s just had. 

Lillian Garcia interviews Kurt Angle about his failure on Raw. Angle takes offence and says he is a winner and hasn’t failed at anything. She points out that he did lose the Royal Rumble. Kurt says that Triple H is a cheater who snuck up on him from behind. He refuses to forgive or forget Triple H and says he’s everything Triple H is and more. He says he’ll go Olympic on Triple H later.

Triple H and The Rock team to take on Kurt Angle and Hardcore Champion The Undertaker. They haven’t acknowledged Taker’s Hardcore title for at least a month but he does still have it in the prematch graphics so I suppose it hasn’t been retired quietly.

The Rock wants to get his hands on Undertaker after the attack last week but its Triple H who starts for his team. He’s worked over until able to tag in and The Rock hammers Kurt and sets up a People’s Elbow but runs into an Undertaker clothesline to stop it. Taker beats The Rock up on the outside, driving him into the ring post before rolling him into the ring for Kurt to pick apart. This is really good and heated with all four stars getting their shots in. Triple H lays out Kurt with a Pedigree and has the match won but Undertaker blasts him with a chair to get his team disqualified. He flattens The Game with a brutal chair shot to the head but The Rock is there to fight with him. Their brawl takes them both to the outside with the Hardcore champion winning the fight. The Rock saves himself from getting a chair to the throat and blocks another with a Rock Bottom through the announce table. In the ring, Kurt puts Triple H in the ankle lock and rips and tears trying to break his ankle as referees work to get him out of the ring. He keeps the attack going and locks him in the ankle lock on the entrance ramp - he looks like a mad man! 

New Champion, and That’s Not a Bad Thing….

Christian defends the European Championship against Diamond Dallas Page. I mentioned it on Raw but it warms my heart to see the talented DDP get a nice positive reaction from the fans now. He was always better than how they treated him as a creepy pervert during the Invasion. This is a good but short match. Cjhristian blocks the Diamond Cutter by holding the ropes and then almost steals a pin with his feet on the ropes, and then again by turning it into a reverse DDT. Page kicks out of both and the third Diamond Cutter connects and DDP wins the European title! I love Christian but he hasn’t done much with the European title for months now so this isn’t a bad thing, it’s a good thing! Much like last week, DDP goes into the crowd to celebrate with the people as Christian throws a violent temper tantrum in the ring, flailing around and slapping the mat.

Other Happenings

• Smackdown opens with a champion vs. Champion match. Jacquline referees WWF Tag Team Champion Tazz standing up for Tough Enough winner Maven against Undisputed Champion Chris Jericho. We’ll just ignore that Maven’s first few matches were being bullied by Tazz. Tazz puts up a good fight and locks in the Tazzmission forcing Jericho to shove the referee and use a low blow to win it. After the match, Jackie reluctantly raises Jericho’s hand which leads to a shoving match so Jericho puts her in the Walls of Jericho! He must have taken a stiff shot from Tazz as he’s bleeding from the nose after the match.

• The APA has some drinks with Chris Klein (from American Pie), LL Cool J (from being LL Cool J) and Rebecca Romijn (Mystique from X-Men). I have no idea what movie they’re promoting but I’m sure it was a good pay day for the WWF having them here. There’s a couple of these throughout the show. Booker T interrupts and gets aggressive with LL Cool J and wants to know why he wasn’t at the movie premiere? Cool J makes a joke about Booker T getting beaten up in a grocery store so he challenges the APA to a tag team match later and goes to find a partner.

• Goldust has another cryptic threat for someone but this one ends with him promising to reveal himself and who he’s been talking about on the next episode of Raw. 
• Intercontinental Champion William Regal heads down to the ring in a suit to watch the next match. The referees pat him down for brass knuckles even as a bystander. The match is Rob Van Dam and Edge vs. The Dudley Boyz, with William Regal on commentary. RVD and Edge rush Regal and attack him at ringside before the match. Bubba and D-Von retrieve their opponents to start the actual match. During the match, Stacy Keibler goes to say hello to Regal and sits on his lap. He reaches into the back of her skirt but he isn’t just being dirty - she had his brass knuckles tucked away for him! There’s a flurry of finishes but despite Regal’s best efforts Edge and RVD pick up the win.

• As Booker T paces backstage, Test offers to be his tag team partner against the APA. They are former WCW and WWF Tag Team Champions. Test has Booker’s back…but only to impress Rebecca Romijn.
• Test and Booker T vs. The APA is kind of a nothing match. Bradshaw pins Test with a clothesline from hell and they celebrate with the celebrities in the ring as King is needlessly pervy about Rebecca Romijn. 

Raw - February 4th 2002

nWo 4lyf

Raw opens with a brief backstage interview between Michael Cole and Ric Flair. They ask the important question - will Vince now follow through on his threat to bring in the nWo? Flair says that if he does it’ll be bad for everyone in the WWF.

Vince McMahon struts down to the ring in no doubt a foul mood. He calls Ric Flair a two faced liar and after replaying the events of Smackdown, demands his business partner come to the ring and explain himself right now. Flair has a big smile on his face when he comes out. Ric looks like he’s braced for a fight. He calls him a liar, says he lies to himself and says the reason he wouldn’t sell is because he’s selfish and needs to strut around being Ric Flair. Ric says its not that, nor is it that he just listened to Stone Cold. Vince asks Flair to explain himself - he says he stayed for the fans. The fans didn’t want him to go and he’s proven right by the crowd giving him a loud, long lasting cheer. Vince says that no one can stop it, and points at the titantron to confirm that the nWo is on its way - Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash will be at No Way Out! Well he heavily hints at that but doesn’t expressly say it so we have to pretend we’re not sure when they’ll show up as JR pretends to be dumb all night, wondering aloud what Vince meant. The fans cheer. Thats the original trio that formed the group in WCW and say what you want about Hulk Hogan, he is one of if not the biggest star in wrestling history and that shot on the titantron marks his first appearance on WWF television since 1993. JR and King discuss the revelation on and off for the rest of the show but the reality is, this announcement should have been a much bigger deal. I think it’s a testament to how loaded the company was with big stars already in 2002 that these three coming in - the infamous nWo coming, as well as the return of Hulk Hogan to the WWF - is big news, but not the biggest. 

Life Changing Announcements

In the arena the Royal Rumble winner Triple H heads down to the ring. He’s already dressed to compete - no messing around this week. He calls out Kurt Angle who tried to break his ankle on Smackdown. He wants a fight. It’s not Kurt Angle who comes out, it’s Booker T who calls The Game a loser and shows no fear walking down to the ring for a fight of his own. They’re joined by a referee and we have an impromptu match. Booker did beat Triple H last week but it was hardly a fair victory. Booker puts up a good fight but after being planted with a Pedigree it looks like it's over. The cover is broken up by Kurt Angle who sprints to the ring and attacks Triple H, laying him out with an Angle Slam. 

After the attack earlier, Triple H rampages around backstage looking for Kurt Angle. He’s told that he is in Mr. McMahon’s office but when Triple H gets there the door is guarded by armed security. Kurt smugly comes to the door and lets Triple H know that they’re having a match at No Way Out. Triple H is happy about it until Kurt breaks the news that Vince has put Triple H’s Wrestlemania title shot on the line in that match too. JR and King speculate that this is because Triple H called him an asshole last week, which it might be. Vince is still estranged from Stephanie of course. 

In the McMahon-Helmsley locker room Triple H paces on the stop ranting about how unfair it is that his title match is on the line at No Way Out but Stephanie has a big grin on her face. She seems unbothered by her husband’s plight. She says she has a big surprise to announce later which will change his life.

Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley heads down to the ring to make her big announcement, which she promised will change Triple H’s life. Before she can say anything, Triple H comes down to the ring looking confused and/or worried about what this is going to be. Her announcement is that next week on Raw they’re going to publicly renew their wedding vows! The Game looks underwhelmed. This Raw is in Las Vegas and that's where they got married so this is the perfect place to announce it. He calls it the stupidest thing he’s ever heard and asks her why all the McMahon’s insist on doing everything on live TV and why they can’t just have these conversations in private. She says all the people think she’s a failure at life, in her career and as a wife and she needs to prove that he still loves her. She begs him to do it for her. He sticks to his guns and says no and asks WHY he has to do it for her. He loses his temper and screams at her that everything in their lives is about her and basically calls her a spoiled brat. Before he leaves the ring, she shouts that she’s pregnant!

That stops The Game in his tracks. She says her recent bad moods have been because of that. The fans are a step ahead of us here and chant “bullshit”. Triple H’s mood totally changes and he lifts her into the air with a big smile, embracing his wife! Triple H is overjoyed at becoming a father and gives her a big kiss. This well-timed pregnancy seems to have mended the fences between the McMahon-Helmsleys. A little later they’re shown leaving the arena together and Triple H has a big smile, carrying all of the bags for his wife.

No Way Out Main Events

Michael Cole asks The Undertaker for his reaction to being Rock Bottomed through an announce table on Smackdown. Undertaker says he feels disrespected and tonight in the main event he’ll teach The Rock what respect means, and he’ll do the same to Stone Cold Steve Austin. He’s interrupted by his tag team partner, Chris Jericho who tells Taker how much respect he has for him and says he’ll be right there to have his back and make sure THEY teach Austin and Rock about respect. 

Jonathan Coachman interviews The Rock who on a night of big announcements he has one of his own - Undertaker cost him a shot at the Undisputed title so now at No Way Out The Undertaker will go one on one with the Great One. He makes some more jokes but that’s the important bit. Not his best promo.

As has become the norm for this era, the main event is an all star tag team match of feuding main eventers. Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock team to take on their respective PPV opponents, Undisputed WWF Champion Chris Jericho and Hardcore Champion The Undertaker. During Jericho’s entrance a fan jumps the barrier and tries to attack him. He’s quickly tackled by security and the Champion makes sure to get in some shots to the guy’s head as he’s dragged off too.

Taker and Jericho actually look quite friendly at ringside having a little chat before the match which entertained me. Rock and Austin get sick of waiting and so head out to attack their PPV opponents on the floor to start the match. Jericho and Undertaker isolate Stone Cold and work him over for a long period as he struggles to make the tag to The Rock. When he eventually does the crowd explodes and the match becomes a wild brawl. Jericho gets The Rock in a Walls of Jericho but Stone Cold is there to drop him with a Stunner. Undertaker breaks up the cover and with them fighting on the outside The Rock plants Jericho with a Rock Bottom but there’s no referee to count. Undertaker retrieves a metal pipe from the innards of his motorbike and knocks The Rock out cold with it. With him keeping Stone Cold busy, Jericho crawls into a cover and steals the victory, escaping before Stone Cold can get back to him. Jericho and Undertaker win and The Rock is knocked unconscious to end a very chaotic Raw with a LOT of big stories developing.

Other Happenings

• Billy and Chuck burst into the women’s locker room to interrupt an argument about lipstick between Stacy Keibler and Torrie Wilson to show off their new calendar. It’s full of pictures of the two of them posing and flexing their oiled bodies. Stacy and Torrie say they can do the poses even better and so a challenge to a pose-down is thrown out for Smackdown. 

• Accompanied by D-Von and Stacy Keibler, Bubba Ray Dudley goes one on one with Rob Van Dam. D-Von and Stacy are quickly ejected and RVD finishes off Bubba with a Five Star Frog Splash to win the match. He doesn’t get to celebrate as Goldust appears on the titantron. The rising star that he has been talking about for the past two weeks is Rob Van Dam. With him watching the titantron, Goldust comes from under the ring to attack RVD from behind and gives him a wicked beating, finishing him off with Shattered Dreams in the corner - a big punt kick to the undercarriage - followed by a neckbreaker he calls the Curtain Call. 

• Tazz and Spike Dudley defend the WWF Tag Team Championships in a three team elimination match against Billy and Chuck and The APA. Satisfyingly the editors missed this episode of Raw and Tazz’s new Cypress Hill theme is intact here. The APA went out first with a Fameasser to Bradshaw. Sore losers, they trip Billy from the outside allowing Spike to hit a Dudley Dog and retain the tag team titles. 
• William Regal defends the Intercontinental Championship against Rikishi. Much to my personal delight, this match marks the return of the awesome version of William Regal’s theme song!

• Regal is in trouble but avoids the Banzai drop and grabs his brass knuckles. That brings out Edge who Spears Regal, ending the match by disqualification. Rikishi doesn’t seem to mind and gives Regal a Stinkface as referees drag Edge away from the ring. 
• Trish Stratus defends the WWF Women’s Championship against Jazz. Based on the number of defences and time held, Trish is already the best women’s champion in about three decades. I mentioned it at the Royal Rumble but they have finally updated the prematch graphics for the women’s title which I’m happy to see. Jazz isn’t playing around and brutalises Trish with strikes and submission holds and after countering a Stratusfaction attempt into a back suplex, spikes Trish with a fisherman brainbuster to win the match and the WWF Women’s Championship. I’d call Trish’s first title reign a success, certainty by the standards of women’s wrestling in this era.

• Live at WWF New York, the new European Champion Diamond Dallas Page celebrates with some of New York’s finest. 

Smackdown - February 7th 2002

The Oncoming Storm

There’s a cool and somewhat spooky video package promoting the arrival of Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash at No Way Out. They’re making it look like the end of the world! There’s a few of these throughout the show making liberal use of WCW footage with the nWo destroying everyone and everything in their path, winning the World title along the way too.

Everybody is a Comedian

Earlier today Triple H and Stephanie had a meeting with her doctor about the pregnancy which was announced on Raw. Their (British) doctor has good news and tells them how promising her pregnancy is so far and gives Triple H the sonogram. He’s beyond happy and this baby seems to have completely fixed their marriage and allowed Steph to blame all of their recent arguments on her mood swings and hormones. All's well that ends well. Right?

Kurt Angle heads down to the ring pushing a baby stroller (or pram if you’re not American) and says that he’s going to Wrestlemania! He explains that he told Vince how unfair his elimination at the Royal Rumble was and Mr. McMahon agreed which is why he’s now facing Triple H at No Way Out with his Wrestlemania title shot on the line. He calls the fans losers, Triple H a cheater and says he is guaranteed to win the match and the title at Wrestlemania. He says that match should have been the big news on Raw but the pregnancy stole his thunder. He pities the baby - Stephanie will be a great mom but Triple H will be a terrible father! The foetus is already smarter than him and gets the baby out of the pram - it’s a stuffed gorilla with a big plastic fake nose. He starts feeding it bananas and mocking Triple H (while being nice about Stephanie of course, they have history) until eventually The Game comes out.

No theme music, no song and dance, he just walks to the ring with taped fists. He smirks at Kurt and seems unbothered by what he’s saying but drops him with a right hand and smashes the babystroller across his back! He beats Kurt out of the ring who backs off licking his wounds. Immediately after this segment there’s a moving video invite to Triple H and Stephanie’s vows renewal ceremony on Raw. Which is funny because they never actually said the vows the first time! 

Undisputed WWF Champion Chris Jericho comes down to the ring and talks about how after beating The Rock he thought he’d get some respect but once again everyone is acting like he’s the underdog and assuming that Stone Cold will easily defeat him at No Way Out. He’s sick of the disrespect and challenges Austin to come down and fight him tonight. He even calls him a dumbass and a coward. He doesn’t have to ask twice! The glass shatters….but it’s not Stone Cold Steve Austin. It’s a fat bald guy dressed as Stone Cold. It’s Will Sasso from Mad TV which means nothing to me but he’s a comedy actor basically.

Jericho threatens and berates him as Austin says WHAT and WHO and HOW. The fans don’t join in with the WHATs and don’t seem that amused by this. Sasso does a decent Austin impression telling Jericho he’s the better man. That brings out the real Stone Cold who looks remarkably angry. Jericho bails out of the ring and leaves the imposter to face the music. Austin barks at them both with plenty of WHATs from the crowd and is as entertaining as ever. Jericho tries to jump him and is quickly beat up and sent packing. He asks Will if he wants to drink a beer with Stone Cold. He’s into it! He must not have seen the show before. Stone Cold gets some beers and after a quick toast, he’s dropped with a Stone Cold Stunner. Austin is obsessed with winning the WWF title again and nothing is going to stop him. 

Backstage, Jericho bumps into Ric Flair who says since Jericho wants to wrestle tonight he can face Triple H in a non-title match. That seems kind of wild, basically the Wrestlemania main event on Smackdown.

Triple H goes to see Vince McMahon. He explains that he hates Vince’s guts. He blew out his quad and Vince didn’t care and called him a piece of meat and treated him like he was nothing. Hurtful to any wrestling I’m sure but he is Vince’s son in law (kayfabe). He gets very passionate about how hard it was to come back from injury only to have Vince make him defend his Wrestlemania shot against Kurt Angle. But, that's not why he’s here. He’s here because Stephanie has a soft spot for him and since she’s pregnant she wants her dad to walk her down the aisle on Monday. Triple H tells him that if he doesn’t do it he’ll never get to see his grandchild. Vince doesn’t like to be threatened so he adds to the match Ric Flair made earlier and says tonight’s main event is now him vs. Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle in a handicap match.

In the main event, Kurt Angle and Undisputed WWF Champion Chris Jericho take on father to be, The Game Triple H. Jericho and Angle work to break down Triple H and soften him up for Kurt’s No Way Out match with him. Triple H has that “i’m a babyface now” superpower and fights them off single handedly. Jericho misses a missile dropkick and hits Kurt. Triple H tries to pedigree both but the two on one odds are too much and with an Angle Slam onto a steel chair, Angle pins Triple H to win it for his team. As they celebrate, Stephanie comes down to check on her injured husband which gets the attention of Kurt and Chris. Surely they won’t attack a “pregnant” lady? Jericho backs Steph into the corner and looks like he might but Triple H awakens and with a steel chair, blasts Kurt in the spine and Jericho in the head to clear them out of the ring and protect his wife and unborn child. As they hug, Kurt hits Triple H from behind and they fall with him landing heavy on Stephanie! Smackdown ends with a distressed Triple H asking if she’s ok and deeply concerned about the well being of their child. 

The Rock gets Disrespected

Smackdown opens with The Rock who marches to the ring already dressed to wrestle. He must have taken notes of when Triple H did it on Raw to call out Kurt Angle. That didn’t work out for The Game. The Rock is furious that The Undertaker just above caved his skull in with what the commentators are now calling a lead pipe during the main event of Raw. The Rock says he’ll show how much respect he has right now and that Taker’s match later with Maven will have to wait because he wants a fight now. It’s not Undertaker who comes out, it’s Booker T. He did the exact same to Triple H on Raw which Michael Cole does thankfully acknowledge. It worked out for Booker then - he beat Triple H.

Booker says he wants to make an example of The Rock, Rocky tells him to just bring it and Booker to his credit shows no fear and rushes the ring for an impromptu match. They’re joined by a referee and have a decent exchange - they worked together a lot in the early days of the Invasion but there’s zero mention of their history or the fact that they main evented Summerslam. Booker looks strong here, just as he did against Triple H. He obviously has fans in the office. A scissors kick and Spinarooni is his downfall as he walks into a spinebuster and People’s Elbow. The Rock wins.

In the locker room Al Snow gives Maven a pep talk - he’s challenged Undertaker to a Hardcore title match tonight. Snow says he believes in him and knows he can do it but just in case he also has the car running ready to rush him to the hospital. 

The main thing that pleases me about this Hardcore title match and shot for Maven is that it means the Hardcore title hasn’t been forgotten about. It's fitting that Al Snow is at ringside with Maven - he's probably my favourite Hardcore Champion. Al does his best and hands Maven weapons and pulls him out of the way of disaster a few times but he pays for it as Undertaker throws him over the security wall and gets beat up himself.

Back in the ring, Undertaker spikes a bloody Maven with a chokeslam and has the match won but he lifts him voluntarily to keep the match going. He locks Maven in his new submission finisher, choking Maven out but as he does The Rock runs to the ring and blasts him with a chair followed by a Rock Bottom! The crowd goes nuts for The Rock and cheers on Maven to get to the cover, which he slowly does. Maven beats The Undertaker for the Hardcore Championship! (thanks to The Rock)

As The Rock prepares to leave the arena, Jonathan Coachman catches him and asks if they are now even. The Rock says they aren’t even and might never be because The Undertaker cost him a shot at the Undisputed title. As he speaks The Undertaker attacks him and is furious, chokeslamming The Rock onto the hood of his car and then drilling him with a tombstone piledriver on the roof! 

Other Happenings

• Rob Van Dam, Rikishi and Edge take on IC Champion William Regal and The Dudley Boyz in a six man tag team match. Stacy Keibler isn’t with The Dudleyz as she has a pose-down with Billy and Chuck later to get ready for. During Edge’s entrance they showed Rob Zombie in the crowd, who did Edge’s theme song. He also did the theme song for No Way Out which has been edited off all of these shows because of copyright but I will find out what song it was and link to it at the PPV itself as always! This is an energetic match which breaks down into the normal flurry of finishing moves with Edge dropping Regal with a Spear and Bubba Dudley getting a Stinkface from Rikishi. Rikishi enjoys it a bit too much and walks into a 3D and The Dudleys win it for their team. Edge continues the attack on Regal on the ramp but he’s rescued by Bubba and D-Von who hold him in place for a brass knuckles shot to the ribs followed by a Regal Stretch on the ramp as Edge bleeds from the mouth. 

• Jerry Lawler gets into the ring to host the Pose-down between Billy and Chuck, who are doing their own calendar, and Torrie Wilson and Stacy Keibler who are apparently happy to put their feud and heel/face divide on hold to defend womankind. Or something. All four come out in robes - Billy and Chuck look best in their matching comically short white ones. This segment is what you’d expect - the crowd boo for Billy and Chuck’s poses because homophobia was very much the order of the day in 2002, and they all loudly cheer and flip out for Torrie and Stacy because female wrestling fans are a myth. Like all of these segments from this era, its near impossible to enjoy any of this with Jerry Lawler hopping around and squealing like a sex offender who’s had too much sugar. Torrie and Stacy are declared the winners but Stacy seems to take issue with King raising Torrie’s arm in victory and attacks her as King struggles to hold them apart.

Raw - February 11th 2002 

Breaking Vows

Raw opens with a video invite to the wedding vows renewal of the century tonight. Triple H and a “pregnant” Stephanie. What could go wrong?

Vince McMahon arrives backstage at the arena and is all smiles for once. Michael Cole asks him why he’s here tonight. He jokes about loving Swine and Hogs (the show is in Arkansas) but says the real reason he’s here is to see the WWF one last time before the nWo debuts at No Way Out. Cole asks if he’s here to walk his daughter down the aisle later after all. “Perhaps”

In the McMahon-Helmsley locker room, Stephanie convinces a tuxedo wearing Triple H not to go after Kurt Angle. The baby is fine and so is she, he has no reason to! He promises he won’t fight him tonight, but leaves to take care of some other business. Later as he’s walking backstage Arn Anderson stops him and hands him a package which was delivered to Ric Flair in order to pass along to The Game.

Triple H returns to he and Stephanie’s locker room and after chasing off the girls helping her presents her with a gift - it's a new, much larger wedding ring with a giant diamond. Everything is going so well, but what is in that mysterious package Triple H received?

Later in the show, Stephanie prepares to go and get ready for the wedding ceremony, sad that her dad apparently won’t be walking her down the aisle after all. Triple H tells her it's not about her dad, it’s about them and their family and plants a BIG wet kiss on her. That’s how you know they were dating in real life y’see? 

With Triple H sitting alone sipping champagne, Arn Anderson comes in to tell him that Linda McMahon has been calling Ric’s office relentlessly looking for him. He returns her call and after a brief “sorry you couldn’t be here” exchange she asks if he’s watched the video tape she sent him. She doesn’t know who sent it to her (a mystery which I don’t think was ever answered) but he puts the tape in and it confirms that the “doctor” he and Stephanie had the meeting with on Smackdown was in fact an actor. The tape shows a commercial for Thompsons holidays. Stephanie isn’t pregnant and never was. The Game looks shaken to his core, and Linda passes along her apologies. And then he looks very angry.

Elsewhere backstage Stephanie is oblivious to the revelation and is joined by her father, Vince McMahon. He reminds her of the terrible things she said to him during the Invasion but….she’s his little girl and he forgives her! There’s hugs and big smiles. Howard Finkle bursts in presumably to warn them that Triple H knows the truth but Vince tells him to get out - he’s finally reconciled with his little girl and he will not be interrupted! 

Those revelations lead us into the main event of Raw. The ring is set up for a wedding and The Game makes his entrance, all smiles with his full theme song - a fantasy for generations of wrestling fans at their own weddings. The ceremony begins nicely enough with Vince leading Stephanie to the ring. The Priest starts to read the preamble and vows as the crowd WHAT him. It looks like it might be bothering Triple H and Vince actually gets the mic and barks at the crowd to show some respect! I do wonder if Stephanie, Triple H and Vince - for real - were bothered by Austin’s enormously popular catchphrase stealing their moment a little. Much like at Stephanie and Test’s wedding (which Triple H ruined, one of my all time favourite Raw segments) some wedding singers sing “Together” which was the song at Macho Man and Elizabeth’s wedding at Summerslam 1991. It’s the same singers as November 1999 and they are not great (in my opinion). The fans boo the song. I assume it's because we’re all waiting for Triple H to blow up about the fake pregnancy. They sing the whole damn song with King doing fake crying on commentary, and Stephanie and Triple H gazing lovingly at each other.

The song actually lasts so long that JR and King start talking about it like its over but then the singers start up again! Finally it ends and Stephanie reads her own personal vows for Hunter (getting WHAT’d the whole time, obviously) and now it’s Triple H’s turn which gets a big cheer from the crowd - everyone knows what’s coming. He builds up to it talking about their just over two year marriage, telling her that he sees her for what she truly us - a no-good lying BITCH! He screams at her - how could she do this to him? To use how much he wants to be a father against him? She hired an actor, she showed him a fake sonogram! He says he has done some terrible, awful things - he’s an asshole - but even he wouldn’t go as low as she has gone just to trick him into staying with her. He ends his speech with “it's OVER!” Stephanie sobs and when Vince tries to stand up for his little girl Triple H drops him with a right hand and destroys the wedding set! He smashes up everything and finishes by planting Vince with a Pedigree! Vince botches it and tries to bump too early but fortunately JR is quick and explains it as him trying to escape and Triple H recovers it. He shoves Stephanie on her ass and removes his wedding ring, throwing it at her. This was an awesome segment. Raw ends with a distraught Stephanie screaming at her now ex-partner like an evil banshee. 

Jericho takes a Cheap Shot

In the arena the show starts properly with The Undertaker. His titantron has finally been updated and is now all footage of him with his short hair brutalising mostly The Hardy Boyz and Lita. My copy of this show has some weird audio issues and the crowd and music are so loud I can barely hear a word either King or JR are saying. Probably for the best. He actually acknowledges how loudly the crowd cheered for him but then turns them by asking if they appreciated him shutting up The Rock on Smackdown. He replays footage of Rock costing him the Hardcore title to Maven and then the tombstone he delivered in return onto the roof of a limo. He promises the beatings will continue until The Rock sings Aretha Franklin’s Respect to him. Ric Flair surprisingly interrupts and tells Undertaker that he is the most respected wrestler of all time in both the ring and backstage. This is a nice moment - Flair was and is a legit huge Undertaker fan. He says that on Smackdown he lost everyone’s respect but giving The Rock a concussion and a neck injury - he could have ended his career. Undertaker says that as soon as Vince gives the word he’s going to burst Flair up. Ric gives Undertaker two pieces of bad news. The Rock is fine and will see him at No Way out, and tonight he has to go one on one with Stone Cold Steve Austin! 

In the opening match, Undisputed WWF Champion Chris Jericho takes on Edge in a non-title match. Edge has heavily taped ribs thanks to William Regal punching him in the gut with his brass knuckles on Smackdown. Jericho focuses his attack on Edge’s ribs and despite having the advantage goes to get the WWF title belt to use as a weapon. It backfires as he walks into a Spear but kicks out and a shot to the sore ribs with the title belt later, finishes Edge with the Breakdown facebuster to win the match.

Johnathan Coachman interviews Stone Cold Steve Austin. He is jacked up. WHAT. He is pumped. WHAT. But also nervous. WHAT. Scared. WHAT. Because Raw tonight is in a dry county. He breaks, laughing at Coach’s reaction to it. He is electric and after leading a long WHAT exchange says tonight he’s going to enjoy disrespecting The Undertaker and at No Way Out he is taking the WWF Championship from Chris Jericho.

The Undertaker vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin is a match we’ve seen lots of times now. It’s main evented four PPVs - double that if you include triple threats and tag team matches. Austin enters second but before he gets too far down the ramp he’s attacked from behind by Undisputed Champion Chris Jericho. He’s like a wild animal, frantically hammering him with kicks and punches until referees manage to separate them and send Jericho to the back. Undertaker goes out to pick at the bones and beats Austin down to the ring to start the match. Taker dominates but, as he does, Stone Cold comes back with a Stunner out of nowhere. He has this match won but Chris Jericho returns to attack his No Way Out challenger again to cause a disqualification. With Austin down and hurt, Jericho lays him out with a WWF title belt shot and then steals his beer cooler, drinking the Rattlesnake’s beer and even hitting him with the cans. Jericho finishes by blasting Austin in the face with the cooler itself sending ice and beer cans flying everywhere. That looked cool! Jericho stands tall over Stone Cold pouring beer out all over him. He’s going to pay for wasting all that beer I’m sure. During the commercial break, Jericho left the arena in a hurry - he didn’t even get changed before jumping in his car.

New World Order

Much like on the previous Smackdown this show is full of short videos promoting the arrival of Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash - the New World Order - at No Way Out. I realise I’m just repeating myself but it's a big deal so I’m trying to make it feel like one!

Shattered Dreams

Goldust still hasn’t explained why he’s targeting Rob Van Dam but he gave him a big Shattered Dreams last week. His opponent tonight is Rikishi but the match is interrupted by Rob Van Dam who wants to make Goldust pay for what he did last week. He wipes him out with a diving kick from the top rope to cause a disqualification and thanks to a superkick from Rikishi Goldust is forced to bail out and run off. 

RVD goes one on one with former European Champion Christian. Christian wastes no time with his normal entrance and rushes to start the match. JR and King discuss his recent slump and how Christian has been a lot more frustrated and throwing temper tantrums because he’s losing so often. We haven’t actually seen that on TV more than once - when he lost the European title to DDP - but I’ll take their word for it. Christian has a hard time beating RVD and after he kicks out of a reverse DDT Christian loses it, flailing around and slapping the mat throwing a temper tantrum like a toddler. It costs him as he does so, RVD comes flying off the top rope and catches him with a Five Star Frog Splash to pick up the victory. As Van Dam leaves, Goldust appears on the titantron and tells him that he stole his thunder and that's why he’s targeting him. He challenges him to a match at No Way Out. RVD obviously accepts. 

Other Happenings

• The Godfather goes one on one with Kurt Angle. They’ve removed all the “hoes” and “pimps” soundbites from Godfather’s theme song because now that he owns a legit escort business you can’t be making those kinds of jokes. Weirdly JR and King talk about his escort business failing and how it’s apparently not as successful as he’d have liked. What an odd thing to admit. King points out that this is Godfather-lite as the girls don’t dress as slutty as they used to. This is a weird burial of him. That continues as Kurt pretty quickly and easily beats him down and makes him submit to the ankle lock which he refuses to release even after the bell. Kurt grabs the mic and says that tonight is Triple H’s special night but Stephanie can do better. He makes his own vow - he takes the match at No Way Out to kick his butt, make him submit, break his ankle and take his Wrestlemania title shot. Oh it’s true, it’s true! 
• Booker T takes on one half of the WWF Tag Team Champions Tazz. This has a little history as last night on Sunday Night Heat, Test defeated Tazz’s tag team partner Spike Dudley and so they’re both at ringside for this match to support their partners. JR has no time for Booker’s Spinarooni, proving that he doesn’t know anything. Tazz locks Booker in a Tazzmission. Test tries to get involved so Spike does too. The referee only stops Spike allowing Test to drop Tazz with a big boot and Booker to steal an easy win. Spke won’t take it lying down and so runs in and tries to attack Test and Booker but it doesn’t go very well and he’s dropped with a Big Boot too.
• Somewhere backstage, Mr. Perfect plays chess with an 18 year old chess genius. Perfect distracts the kid so that he can cheat and he wins. Mr. Perfect remains Perfect and screams at the kid that he ALWAYS wins because he’s perfect. I enjoyed this. Of course the original Mr. Perfect wouldn’t have had to cheat to win but this is 10+ years later.

• Live at WWF New York, Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley are in the house. JR asks them for their thoughts on tonight’s bikini match between Torrie Wilson and Stacy Keibler. It’s quite disrespectful to ask them about something so silly. D-Von says that Stacy will embarrass Torrie. Bubba says that its a disgrace they haven’t had a rematch for the WWF Tag Team titles and tells Tazz and Spike not to worry too much about Test and Booker because they are still coming for them.
• Torrie Wilson vs. Stacy Keibler in a Bikini match is what it sounds like. Something else I’m probably repeating too much but it's hard to enjoy this kind of stuff no matter how attractive these two women are specifically because of Jerry Lawler. I will add that in recent years with everything that's come out about Vince McMahon and the way women were treated in this era it’s hard not to think about how these two women probably didn’t enjoy doing this kind of stuff but needed to keep a job. Anyway, I won’t be a buzzkill. They’re both gorgeous, they roll around and Stacy wins with a rollup in the corner. 

Smackdown - February 14th 2002

Happy Valentine’s Day

Smackdown opens with Mr. McMahon and his reunited daughter, Stephanie. I am thankful that she and Triple H have broken up on TV because Stephanie McMahon is so much easier to type than Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley. Being in Arkansas, King makes sure to get in LOTS of jokes about Bill and Hilary Clinton being liars when Vince talks about Stephanie’s lie. Vince promises to stand by his daughter who did nothing seriously wrong. She takes over and is no longer sad - she’s angry. Triple H made her lie because he didn’t respect her enough. She sounds unhinged as she screeches about having destroyed all of his video tapes and photos of his early career and family. She even destroyed all the nice scrapbooks that his parents made for him and burned them to ashes. Even Vince looks taken aback by his daughter’s demented rant. He books tonight’s main event - a tag team match of Kurt Angle and The Undertaker vs. Maven and Triple H. That seems unfair to Triple H but it is somewhat of a burial of Maven to have King and Cole act like that is basically a handicap match. Stephanie ends the segment by promising a special Valentine’s day surprise for The Game before the night is over. 

Backstage in the McMahon dressing room, Vince is on the phone to The Hulkster, which feels so jarring to have it be mentioned so casually like that. He even mentions Stephanie’s Valentine’s surprise for Triple H - if it was the real Hogan on the phone (it's not) I can’t imagine him caring in the least. The very idea that he’s sat at home watching Smackdown. The Undertaker walks in and takes joy in how quiet the arena is with no Rock around making noise. Kurt Angle joins the group and he talks about how he and Undertaker are going to break his body, mind and soul tonight and Stephanie claps and gleefully screams. She tells them both to rip him apart limb from limb! Undertaker asks what body part she wants and they’ll bring it back to her. She screams that since it’s Valentine’s day she wants his heart! Vince actually looks a little afraid of his daughter’s demeanor. 

The main event tag team match begins quickly as Undertaker jumps Maven while Triple H makes his entrance allowing Kurt to rush up and attack The Game. Maven makes a good showing of himself with a pair of dropkicks and a German suplex giving him a near fall on Kurt Angle. Him being in control of the match doesn’t last long. Maven is dominated and controlled until avoiding an Angle moonsault and tagging out. Undertaker takes Maven out of the match permanently with a Last Ride through the announce table!

Triple H fights off Kurt and Undertaker but Angle, frustrated with how much of a fight The Game is putting up, blasts him with a steel chair and hammers him in the ribs with it. Undertaker drills him with a massive chokeslam and Kurt continues the beating while Undertaker keeps the referees at bay. The beating is about to get nasty so Ric Flair runs down to put a stop to it. Undertaker drills him with a big boot and prepares to give him a Last Ride but Vince McMahon comes out to stop it. He doesn’t want him to give Flair the Last Ride because he wants Ric to make it to No Way Out so he can see the damage the nWo is going to cause and it's all Ric Flair’s fault! He throws Flair out of the ring and with Triple H on the ground Stephanie delivers her Valentine’s day gift - at No Way Out in his match with Kurt Angle with the Wrestlemania title shot on the line she will be the special guest referee! Kurt blasts him with one more chair shot and Smackdown ends with Triple H out cold and his wife and Angle screaming abuse into his face. 

Stone Cold Mind Games

Ric Flair meets Chris Jericho backstage and marches him to his office for a private meeting. He gets the Undisputed Champion to watch a video package of his attack on Stone Cold on Raw and tells Jericho to leave the arena - when Stone Cold arrives he’s going to tear the building apart looking for Jericho and he doesn’t need it! Jericho refuses - he’s not afraid of Stone Cold Steve Austin and will stand his ground! He says Flair is afraid though and laughs about him cowering in fear from The Undertaker on Raw. Jericho changes his mind and says he’ll take any chance to leave Arkansas but since he’s insulted Ric he doesn’t get the night off, he’ll face Kane in a non-title match. Jericho doesn’t like that - what if Stone Cold shows up? I thought you weren’t scared of him Chris?

Stone Cold Steve Austin is here and marches to the ring ready for a fight. He speaks slowly, somberly about how many people he’s stunned and flipped off and says that he is a drug addict - the drug he is addicted to is the WWF Championship. He will do whatever he has to do, he cannot live without the WWF Championship. He certainly proved that last year when he turned heel. This Sunday he will do anything to himself, to Chris Jericho or whoever because he cannot live without those belts. He guarantees that at No Way Out he is going to kick Chris Jericho’s ass and become the WWF Champion once again. He describes the Stunner he’s going to give Jericho - not a regular Stunner but because he’s the biggest piece of trash he’s ever seen he’s going to put some stink on it and make sure he turns his lights out. A more serious promo from Stone Cold ahead of No Way Out.

Chris Jericho arrives in his private locker room to find a stack of beer waiting for him. He has terror in his eyes as he hears a beer being opened behind him. It’s Stone Cold. He gets quiet and intense. He barks at Jericho to pick up a beer and tells the Champion that any time he wants - WHAM - its over. He is going to take his titles because he can and Jericho can’t stop him. He smashes the beer out of Jericho’s hand. He doesn’t shout, he doesn’t yell, he just calmly and intensely explains what's going to happen at No Way Out. Later as Jericho makes his way to the ring for his match with Kane, Stone Cold considers the mind games, watching nearby and sarcastically wishing him luck.

In a non-title match, Chris Jericho vs. Kane. Jericho continues to anxiously look over his shoulder all through his entrance assuming that Stone Cold will attack him at any moment. He gives up on the match pretty quickly, getting himself disqualified by hitting Kane with the title belt. He tries to leave but runs into Stone Cold who is sick of the mind games and charges him, fighting him back to the ring, dropping him with a Stunner and pouring beer on his downed body. He knocked out Jericho “just like that” just like he promised he could. 

Tag Team Division

Test and Booker T in their locker room have a laugh about Booker having to face Spike Dudley tonight, pretending to be afraid. During this they mention that they’ll challenge Tazz and Spike for the Tag Team titles at No Way Out. Booker says he’ll make sure there’s nothing left of Spike tonight. That match is next and Tazz isn’t here tonight as he’s off promoting Tough Enough 2. Booker does at least send Test to the back because he doesn’t need any help. Booker dominates Spike but after a superplex he holds on to a small package and sneaks a victory. What an upset - Spike Dudley pins Booker T! 

Billy and Chuck exchange Valentine’s gifts in their locker room, casually mentioning that they showered together last night. The gifts are boxes of chocolates. “I really care about you…as a tag team partner” and they hug. They’re just good friends. Elsewhere backstage Bradshaw and Faarooq were watching on a monitor and are disgusted by the idea that Billy and Chuck might be - gasp - homosexuals. I can already tell I’m going to hate this feud.

The APA takes on my favourite Tag Team, Billy and Chuck. This Smackdown marks the debut of their incredible boyband style theme song. I LOVE this song.

Bradshaw and Faarooq, powered by homophobia, attack Billy and Chuck before the match. The good guys (to me anyway) win as Chuck uses one of their boxes of chocolates as a weapon - it had a weight hidden inside it! Faarooq is knocked out cold and Billy picks up the win.

The Dudley Boyz go to see Ric Flair and are furious at Test and Booker T being given a Tag Team title match at the PPV. They want a title shot and they want it NOW. Christian and Lance Storm come in too and says that he’s the ultimate tag team specialist and throws a little temper tantrum demanding a title match for him and Lance as well. Ric asks them all to calm down and announces that at No Way Out there will be a Tag Team Turmoil with the winners going to Wrestlemania for a Tag Team title match. These two teams, Scotty and Albert, The APA, Billy and Chuck and the return of The Hardy Boyz! 

Other Happenings

• Val Venis repeats the gimmick from a couple of shows ago where he picks a woman (plant) out of the crowd to help him. He removes his own towel to reveal he has a big heart on the front of his trunks and hands it to her, as well as his towel. Also like a couple of shows ago this lasts way, way too long and mostly features him grunting and moaning into the microphone. She takes her own top off and hands it to Val before they make out. I cannot stress how unhappy I am that Val Venis is back and has made his original gimmick even seedier.

• His opponent is Intercontinental Champion William Regal. Standard pre-match pat down and Regal is clean but I suspect he has those brass knuckles hidden somewhere nearby. During this match Michael Cole mentions that Edge and William Regal will square off in a Brass Knuckles on a Pole match for the IC title at No Way Out. Regal wins this match with the brass knuckles - I didn’t even see where he got them from, he’s like a magician! As Regal leaves, he shoves away Johnathan Coachman not wanting to give him an interview but walks blind into a Spear from Edge! He’s quickly dragged away by referees before the fight can continue. 
• There’s a commercial for The Godfather’s special Buy One, Get One Free sale on escorts for Valentine’s day. Jesus. 

• Goldust takes on WWF Cruiserweight Champion Tajiri. My boy Tajiri hasn’t been on TV a lot lately which is a huge shame. His title is featured about as much as the Light Heavyweight title was which is a huge shame with the big influx of new cruiserweight talents from WCW and how well the title was treated during the Invasion (relatively to how it was treated before, I mean). Goldust beats Tajiri with the Curtain Call neckbreaker and turns his attention to Torrie Wilson, Tajiri’s girlfriend. She’s rescued by Rob Van Dam who lays out his No Way Out opponent with a spinning heel kick and follows with a Five Star Frog Splash.