Raw - November 19th, 2001

Survivor Series Aftermath and a new business partner (Woo!)

An awesome opening video package which is basically the same one that opened Survivor Series, but with clips from last night’s main event interspearced. The WWF won, and the Alliance is no more. Considering that in kayface this meant the death of both WCW and ECW, zero attention is paid to that. The WWF rules and everyone else drools, apparently. 

Earlier today, the WWF corporate jet landed at the local airport. Commissioner Mick Foley was summoned to the jet by Vince McMahon and welcomed aboard. Mick was pretty clear last week that he intended to quit after Survivor Series as he has no interest in working for Mr. McMahon again. That isn’t just a storyline either - Mick was very unhappy with the way Vince and WWF creative had been using him since original tenure as commissioner ended. On the jet, Vince smugly offers Mick fruit and offers to name the bathroom on the jet after Dude Love. Mick fires up and tells Vince he killed his love for the WWF and he quits. Vince tries to fires Mick instead but Foley cuts him off and says he doesn’t care and that either way he doesn’t work for him anymore. He ends by quoting his real life best buddy DDP with “that’s not a bad thing, it’s a good thing!” Big (but predictable and ultimately meaningless) change before we’ve even started the show! Mick’s second reign as commissioner meant nothing. 

At ringside, Jim Ross celebrates that Paul Heyman is no longer with him and says he has no idea who’ll be joining him on commentary. In the arena, Vince McMahon struts to the ring. He brags about how the WWF survived the Survivor Series and gives special thanks to one man who showed his true colours and whom they will never be able to repay. He heaps praise and demands the fans in attendance show respect for the WWF’s hero - Kurt Angle! It gets a mixed response, likely because he’d been a heel for the past month as an undercover mole in the Alliance but this is intended to be his heel turn. Being friends with Vince McMahon always makes you a bad guy. Vince crows about how WCW is dead and so the championship around The Rock’s waist is no longer the WCW Championship, it is the World Championship. Vince promises more big changes tonight and says we’ll witness someone be the first member of the Vince McMahon “Kiss my ass” club. He says he’ll allow one single member of the Alliance to come to the ring and literally kiss his ass in order to keep their job. He says all the reigning champions do indeed keep their jobs so it won’t be any of them, but someone else can take this opportunity to stay employed! Vince says that he has something special in store for the leader of the Alliance and the moment that WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin arrives tonight he will execute his plan for him. He ends by addressing the empty chair next to Jim Ross and welcomes Paul Heyman down to the ring! He’s letting Heyman keep his job, which gets a lot of boos and plenty of unhappiness from JR who thought he’d seen the last of him! Heyman goes to join the commentary and with a smile on his face screams “I got away with it!” over and over in JR’s face. Vince stops him and asks him to come up into the ring instead. The fans start chanting “kiss his ass” but it’s not Paul who’ll be taking that opportunity. Vince reminds us all of the nasty things Heyman said about him last week and delights in growling “You’re fired!” It gets a big cheer from everyone in the arena and JR but not me. I loved Heyman’s run on commentary and partnership with JR. Heyman takes off his jacket and wants to fight Vince but bails out of the ring like a coward when Vince removes his too. Paul circles the ring and actually dives at JR trying to fight him but Ross rains punches down on him on the desk until security carries him out of the arena to loud cheers. As he’s carried out, Vince brings out his replacement - Jerry “the King” Lawler!

 I’ll talk about this return more at the next PPV but here I’ll just say that personally I’m gutted to see him back. I never liked King but rewatching these shows with older, more mature eyes I hate him and his casual racism, homophobia and misogyny which was bang out of order even in the wild Attitude era. Lawler does at least remind us while he and JR are happy to see each other, they won’t argue any less than they used to. 

We get multiple shots of the parking lot awaiting the arrival of Stone Cold Steve Austin but the car that arrives doesn’t contain the WWF Champion - It's the McMahon children! Stephanie is disgusted that they had to drive themselves but Shane is more serious and says he doesn’t know why their dad invited them here tonight. From there we go to Vince already in the ring and he invites his son and daughter down to the ring to join them - no music, no fanfare. King and JR speculate that maybe it's them that’ll be joining the “Kiss my ass” club for their jobs as JR reminds us that they used all their life savings and sold all of their stocks to be able to buy WCW and ECW in the first place. Vince encourages the fans to chant “slut” at his own daughter which gets a big pop from King, who is a simple man if nothing else. Shane says that his dad won, and he lost. He lost to the better man. The fans chant “Shane’s a pussy” but that ends his part in the segment as having swallowed his pride, he gets out of the ring and leaves without saying anything else. Shane takes the loss like a man.

Stephanie takes a different route and instead uses her high, squeaky voice to tell “daddy” that she was used and manipulated by Shane! It was all his idea! She is a naive innocent baby and her dad needs to forgive her and give her job (and money) back! Shane told her to slap their own mother! Vince looks shocked as his daughter throws her big brother under the bus and tries to become daddy’s little girl again. It’s a good performance as the fans chant “bullshit” at her. Funny stuff honestly and one of her better promos. She pretends to cry, her begging performance at an end but Vince doesn’t even respond. He calls for security to get “this woman out of my ring!” She’s dragged, kicking and screaming, from the arena by security as Vince tells the fans to “say goodbye to daddy’s little girl!”

Backstage, Kurt Angle arrives with a big smile on his face. He brags to some random backstage worker about how he’s a hero who single handedly saved the WWF and his job, and asks where he can find The Rock. Kurt is very full of himself! He does find The Rock and after implying that The Rock needed him to win and the victory was all Kurt’s, Rock gets angry at him. For not telling anyone else their plan, for being best friends with Vince McMahon, for spending a month smashing him and the other WWF stars in the face with a steel chair as an undercover mole so that he could have his big moment. He agrees with Kurt that it was worth it to save the WWF, but that he would have beaten Austin by himself and offers Kurt a match tonight. Kurt says that now that he’s saved the WWF he’ll beat him up just for fun. The Rock says that Kurt might have lots of people fooled with this good guy act but he will never trust Vince McMahon and as he looks in Kurt’s eyes he knows he can never trust him and that he's “an asshole!” Vince would later confirm that this match is for The Rock’s World title. 

In his office on the phone, Vince explains to someone the idea of the “Kiss my ass” club and says he means it literally. He’s interrupted by Chris Jericho who he asked to see. Vince is angry at Y2J and demands to know why Jericho put the WWF’s fate at risk by attacking The Rock at Survivor Series! Jericho says his ego got the better of him and he gives a very insincere apology for his actions. Vince says he doesn’t like men with big egos, he likes men with massive egos. He isn’t happy with Jericho’s apology and books him one on one with Kane tonight. (see other happenings)

The Rock defends his World Championship (formally the WCW Championship) against Kurt Angle. JR and King argue about Kurt and The Rock’s viewpoints and whether the WWF should be grateful to Kurt for what he did, or unhappy with how he did it, essentially handing the WWF a tainted victory. They do a good job of getting this storyline point across honestly. My take? Kurt and Vince did something desperate and heelish and The Rock wanted to win fair and square. Kurt saved the WWF but did it by being sneaky and now has a bad attitude about it. It’s quite clever, as heel turns go. These two always work so smoothly together and the crowd is rabid for it, cheering The Rock’s ever move and drawing Kurt in “Angle sucks” chants which gets a hilarious wide eyed, confused stare from the Olympian. They trade big moves but the finish comes out of no where as The Rock counters an ankle lock into a roll up for a quick, uncharacteristic win. Kurt keeps the attack going but is drilled with a Rock Bottom. Chris Jericho rushes the ring and attacks the World Champion as King pushes “egomania” and “egomaniac” as buzzwords for Y2J who is definitely a bad guy now! Kurt and Jericho beat down The Rock two on one until an army of referees finally put a stop to it. The World Champion is punished with a long ankle lock and an even longer Walls of Jericho. 

After a commercial break, for the third time tonight Mr. McMahon is out in the ring but this time it's for the “Kiss my ass club” getting its first member. If any member of the former-Alliance literally kisses his ass, they can have a job. It seems Mr. McMahon has chosen a member to do it. It’s former Alliance Commissioner William Regal. King drives me nuts AGAIN with loud fake kissing noises but does make a good joke about “no tongue”. Regal initially seems to have misunderstood and offers to get him coffee, set up the ring etc but Vince means he wants him to literally kiss his ass. In one of the more infamous segments in WWF history, Vince then takes great pleasure in getting Regal on his knees and pulling down his pants so that Regal can plant a peck on his exposed bare ass cheek. Regal’s facials are hilarious here as the fans scream and cheer and JR and King giggle like naughty school kids. Vince even gets Regal to use chapstick first. It's either a hilarious segment or drags on too long depending on your sense of humour and how you feel about Vince McMahon both as a character and a real life person. I’ll probably talk a bit about that at the PPV too. Regal did what he had to do and now has a job in the WWF, albeit as a wrestler and no longer as commissioner.

Vince goes to see a sad, despondent Kurt Angle who is broken by no one saying thank you. Vince says he wants to show Kurt his appreciation and reveals the WWF Championship belt and invites him down to the ring to be awarded the title as thanks for last night! King and JR are very confused and after a commercial break, Vince, with the title, and Kurt walk down to the ring together. JR reminds us that Kurt is the one who took the title belt last night and actually left the arena with it in all the confusion at the end of Survivor Series. Vince calls Kurt all of our heroes and heaps praise on him, thanking him on all of our behalf. He says that he wishes Austin had shown up so he could strip him of the title in person but since he’s not, he’ll just award the title to Kurt. He says that as the sole owner of the WWF…but before he can complete his thought and make it official, the iconic Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss plays and “Nature Boy” Ric Flair struts to the ring. This Raw is in his hometown, and Vince demands to know why he’s here. 

Ric is/was one of the greatest in-ring performers of all time and was the face of WCW for decades which makes debuting the night after WCW’s death all the more confusing. He didn't get an amazing response from the WWF crowd who are part confused and part expected him as his debut had leaked online (which wasn’t as big a deal in 2001, I didn’t even get my first PC until 2003!) Ric says that when Shane and Stephanie sold all their stocks in the WWF, HE was the one who purchased them! That makes him 50% owner of the WWF and now he and Vince McMahon are partners! Flair hugs Vince who looks shocked to his core and then Stone Cold Steve Austin matches to the ring! He still has his heel, speed metal theme song and he attacks Kurt Angle, hammering him with punches and stomps. Vince McMahon gets involved and gets a beating and a Stone Cold Stunner for his troubles! The fans chant “Austin” as Ric Flair, with the WWF title belt over his shoulder, “woo”s and with McMahon and Angle scrambling to escape, Austin takes HIS WWF title belt from Ric Flair. The two stare down but the message is clear - not only is Ric Flair now a co-owner of the WWF, Stone Cold is STILL WWF Champion and as he toasts with Ric Flair and plenty of beers, is once again a babyface hero! What an eventful episode of Raw! 

What’s left of the Alliance?

In the locker room, Vince McMahon goes to see what's left of the Alliance - the WWF Hardcore and European Champions RVD and Christian, the WWF Tag Team Champions The Dudley Boyz (and their valet Stacy Kiebler) and the winner of the immunity battle royal, Test. He books RVD in a handicap table match against Bubba Ray and D-Von, who don’t want to fight their stable mate and leave with their heads hung. Christian tells Vince that he’s honoured to be European Champion and offers McMahon a handshake and is told to “get out of my sight”.

Rob Van Dam faces The Dudley Boyz (with Stacy) in a handicap table match. None of these men’s titles are on the line of course. The Dudleyz are actually still carrying their WCW tag team titles too. Jerry Lawler creeps me out again by saying that he couldn’t date Stacy because she’s not young enough for him. She was 20 years old at the time. King was 50. Disgusting. The fans loudly chant for RVD who has gone from being the most popular man in the Alliance to one of the most popular men in the WWF. RVD puts up a good fight but D-Von rolls clear of his Five Star Frog Splash attempt with the hardcore champion crashing through a table. That doesn’t count for a victory and so he’s given a 3D through another table. Kind of. The table doesn’t break so they set up and the second one does break the table. The Dudleyz win. I think this match clearly establishes for us that RVD is a good guy and The Dudleyz are still villains.

Other Happenings

• For fans of these kinds of updates, they will indeed continue. The Raw intro graphics don’t feature a single Alliance member and never did. Some of the WCW and ECW imports are in the Smackdown graphics but never made it to Raw. 
• In the opening match we have a WWF Women’s Championship match with new champion Trish Stratus defending the title against long time rival and sometimes friend Lita. Lita has Matt Hardy with her, and JR reminds us that last night at the PPV, Trish was spotted coming out of Matt’s locker room. Matt is Lita’s boyfriend so that is a *scandal*. We get highlights of Trish’s big title win last night which was well deserved as she worked so hard to get good at wrestling. King immediately makes me wish he’d never come back by screaming about puppies. The girls botch their first spot but recover quickly with a spear. This is a messy match with Trish still working on her skills but she wins clean with a backslide to retain the title. After the match, more tension is teased between Lita and Matt who apparently distracted her and cost her the match? Of note, this match still has the old style championship match graphic. The women’s title hasn’t been on TV since May so hasn’t had the upgrade yet. 
• Backstage, Regal is in a rage and shoves people who he thinks are laughing at him. He runs into Tazz who presumably kept a job with the WWF for turning on Heyman last week on Smackdown. He calls him a kiss-ass so Regal knocks him out! 
• Two team WWF members go one on one in Kane and the newly heel Chris Jericho. It was Undertaker who came out to stop Jericho’s attack on The Rock last night at Survivor Series so I’m surprised it wasn’t him in this match. A short match between two guys who know each other very well. Jericho gets himself disqualified with a steel chair and (after getting laughs by tripping while trying to apply it) puts Kane in a Walls of Jericho and holds on for a long time, just like he did to The Rock earlier. 

• Backstage Kurt Angle is still angry that no one is thanking him for his actions at the PPV. He runs into Edge, the unified Intercontinental and United States champions. He accuses Kurt of playing both sides and says winning those two titles means he saved his OWN job anyway. He calls Kurt selfish and leaves him seething.
• William Regal comes to the ring looking very angry, not dressed to compete with his shirt open for an impromptu match with Tazz. its a very short match as a focused and pissed off Regal quickly demolishes Tazz, locks him in the Regal stretch for a submission win and then refuses to release the hold, punishing him further. He’s trying to save face after kissing ass earlier.

Smackdown! - November 22nd, 2001

One Great Company, One Great Champion

The shop opens properly with the new co-owner of the WWF, Nature Boy Ric Flair! I mentioned it during Raw but it is crazy that this face of WCW who would have enriched the Invasion storyline enormously didn’t debut until the night after the angle ended. But no use crying over spilled milk I guess. He reiterates what happened on Raw - he purchased all of Shane and Stephanie’s stocks and is now 50% owner of the WWF. He says how proud he is to be involved and turns his attention to the next PPV - his first one in charge - Vengeance. The WWF has two world champions now - Stone Cold, who gets a mixed response and The Rock, who gets loud cheers. That needs to be addressed and it will be at Vengeance. A unification match “One great company, one great champion”. That brings Ric’s business partner Vince McMahon to the ring who doesn’t look happy with that announcement at all. He does shake Ric’s hand and wishes all of us a happy thanksgiving and asks the crowd to give a big thank you to Kurt Angle, which is met with boos. Vince does like the idea of unifying the titles but says The Rock will want to get his hands on Chris Jericho, and Stone Cold will want to get his hands on Kurt Angle so he proposes a sort of one night tournament where The Rock and Jericho will face each other for the World title, and Austin and Angle will face each other for the WWF title and then on the same night, the two winners will square off for the unified title! Flair loves it and its official for Vengeance. McMahon then turns his attention to Flair’s announcement on Raw and says he didn’t like how Ric did it. He accuses him of knowing that Austin was already in the building and being in cahoots with the Rattlesnake. He got beaten up by Austin and Ric did nothing about it and even had a beer with him! Vince says he’ll always have Ric’s back (an obvious lie from the villainous Mr. McMahon) and asks Flair what kind of partner he’ll be. Flair cycles through all his catchphrases, saying he’ll be a kiss stealing, wheeling and dealing, jet flying, limousine riding son of a gun and tries to get Vince to “Woo!” with him before leaving.

Respect for the Deadman

In Mr. McMahon’s office, Kurt Angle whines that people aren’t being thankful to him for what he’s done for the WWF or for his overall greatness in general. He says he’s thankful to Vince for giving him the title match at Vengeance and continues to suck up to the co-owner. They’re interrupted by European Champion Christian who has a buffet trolley full of food to try and win Vince’s approval back. He’s then kicked out by The Undertaker who is here to put Vince in his place. He says he had his own celebration because he doesn’t fit in with Vince’s. He says been here for 11 years and still can’t get any respect. He is insulted that Vince didn’t let him in on the plan with Kurt and calls him a snake in the grass. He says he’s been Vince’s guy for 11 years and he deserves respect. Vince agrees and gives him a main event match tonight with Kurt Angle! 

Kurt Angle vs. The Undertaker was called the main event by Mr. McMahon but actually occurs about halfway through the show. It’s a main event match for sure no matter when it takes place. Much like his match with The Rock on Raw, this is another good Kurt Angle match with an opponent he’s wrestled many times by this point. Undertaker rolls through after a long ankle lock and plants him with a chokeslam but is too hurt to follow up with a cover. Undertaker actually puts Kurt in an ankle lock of his own but when Kurt gets to the ropes, he refuses to break the hold. That brings Vince out with a steel chair to save, as Undertaker called him, “his boy”. Undertaker stares down Vince and to everyone’s surprise, it doesn’t come to blows. Taker tells Vince that all he wants is a little respect and leaves as Vince smirks at having gotten away with him. Kurt is as confused as anyone else, but McMahon has a knowing smile. 

McMahon vs. Austin Part 2? 

In the McMahon office he has some food with Christian. It seems like his attempts to suck up are working. William Regal enters and Vince asks him for a favour. There’s some comedy as initially Regal thinks he’ll want his ass kissed again but Vince whispers some unheard request to him and Regal says he can do that and do a good job of it too! 

Former Commissioner William Regal makes his way down to the ring to complete whatever favour Mr. McMahon has asked of him with a sneer on his face. King and Cole discuss his induction into the Kiss My Ass club on Raw and like i said then, how much you enjoy that whole gimmick depends very much on your sense of humour. Vince famously loves toilet humour. Regal says it was an honour to kiss Mr. McMahon’s ass on Raw and says all the fans would have done the same thing. He’s probably right. Regal calls out Stone Cold Steve Austin, saying he holds him personally responsible for what happened on Raw and calls him a useless swine and a pathetic pillock. That brings the Rattlesnake to the ring with his usual swagger. His face turn won’t be complete until he changes his theme song back to his classic one. Regal tries to tell off Austin but the WWF Champion continually cuts him off barking “WHAT?” in his face and making jokes about smells and Regal needing a mint. He has seamlessly shifted back to his pre-Mania X7 babyface character, but with the WHAT chants. I hate those damn chants but they’re still really funny when Austin does them.

Regal finally loses his temper with Austin but is dropped with a Stone Cold Stunner. The Dudley Boyz, Christian and Test rush the ring and all the former Alliance members beat down their old leader four on one. They apparently blame him for the Alliance losing and given his recent actions its impossible to believe Austin has any friends left to help him. Regal recovers and joins in and the five on one assault ends with a 3D and then a Regal stretch while McMahon and Angle look on from backstage with smiles, celebrating Austin’s downfall. Regal has a bloody nose at the end of the segment. He had a bloody match after his short match on Raw too. His nose has bled very quickly and easily in I think his last 8 or 9 TV appearances in a row - the man is clearly working through a broken nose or something and needs a few weeks off to heal. 

After a commercial break in the McMahon office, it seems the former Alliance group are now McMahon’s henchmen as he hugs and thanks Regal and rewards Christian with a shot at Edge’s Intercontinental title, and The Dudleyz with a match against The Rock and Rob Van Dam. He calls them all family and hugs Regal again. I guess having crossed him previously and being so scared of vengeance makes them extra obedient and exactly the kind of men Vince McMahon likes to do business with.

The Ego of Jericho

Chris Jericho is shown leaving Mr. McMahon’s office with a big smile on his face. 

In the main event, WWF Hardcore Champion Rob Van Dam and World Champion The Rock take on the WWF Tag Team Champions The Dudley Boyz.

Before the match can begin, Mr. McMahon comes out and says he’s making a last minute change and gives Bubba and D-Von a tag team partner to make this a handicap match - Chris Jericho. Y2J has changed his look, tying back his hair and growing a goatee. Goatees are for bad guys. A story could be made here of The Rock teaming with RVD, a former Alliance member who he was at war with until recently and who he had multiple WCW and Hardcore title matches with over the past three months but they seem content to draw a line under the whole Invasion now, quickly establishing who is a good guy and who is a bad guy and moving forward. It’s only been five days since Survivor Series and Vince is already best buddies again with Regal and all the other heels. Its a chaotic match but with a three on two advantage, Jericho uses a low blow and a Rock Bottom of all things to pin The Rock for the victory! Y2J taunts the World Champion by “smelling what he’s cooking” too. The show ends with Cole and King telling us that Y2J’s ego is totally out control and continuing to push egomaniac and egomania as buzzwords. I feel like that’ll be important so I keep mentioning it. 

Other Happenings

• The Smackdown intro hasn’t been updated yet and still features Shane McMahon and Booker T prominently. It also has Rhyno, who will be gone with a neck injury until 2003. I’m sure they’ll get to it.
• Jerry Lawler is on commentary for this show too with Michael Cole which immediately upsets me as Trish is defending the women’s title in a “gravy bowl” match with Stacy Keibler later and you know he’s going to be insufferable.
• Jonathan Coachman interviews WWF Women’s Champion Trish Stratus and asks why she accepted this gravy bowl challenge tonight. He says she wants to be a fighting champion and will take on all comers. It’s a good attitude for a babyface to have but is ruined by Coach and King leering and letching at her given the match type. They are SO close to having a good women’s division and treating this title with respect but matches like this and bringing back King is just a huge step backwards. But I won’t be a stick in the mud about it.

• The winner of the immunity battle royal at Survivor Series takes on the man who’s spot in the match he stole, Scotty 2 Hotty. Test cannot be fired no matter what for one full year thanks to his victory and he wins a short match here with a big boot.
• Tazz is interviewed backstage by a new correspondent, Sharmell Sullivan. She was a former Nitro girl and is Booker T’s wife in real life. They weren’t married yet at this point but I suspect that’s what kept her a job. Tazz’s interview is ruined as after Funaki shows up and laughs at Tazz for losing on Raw, Tazz attacks him. Then Big Show shows up and stops Tazz from assaulting him further. Tazz squares up to Show and challenges him to a match tonight. Odd as i thought Tazz would be a good guy now but this made him a bad guy. He was at least brave, if deluded, in standing up to Big Show.

• Tazz vs. Big Show seems like it should be really one-sided. King makes a lot of jokes about Tazz’s height and the former ECW Champion puts up a good fight, getting Show in the Tazzmission as he stumbles around with him on his back with Show actually dropping to one knee! Show eventually stands up, throwing himself backwards and crushing Tazz which is enough to pick up the victory. 
• Trish Stratus vs. Stacy Keibler for the WWF women’s title in a “gravy bowl” match is exactly what you’d think it is so I’m not going to cover it. They’re both beautiful women but I think being older and knowing as much as I do about Vince McMahon in real life now, seeing these women being forced to do these things makes me queasy now, especially with King on commentary. I also don’t find this kind of mess and slime and seeing their hair all full of cream and gunk particularly attractive even if I wanted to get into this. Stacy submits to a kind of camel clutch? Whatever. Stacy shoves the referee into the swimming pool full of dirty water for good measure.

• In The Hardyz locker room, Matt is rewatching the replay of the finish to their tag team steel cage match at Survivor Series. Jeff could have just won by climbing down but he dove back into the cage instead. Jeff arrives and apologises but Matt won’t hear it and continues to rant about how selfish he is for not just winning the match. Lita tells Matt that he’s acting like a jerk and that he’s changed and is being a bad boyfriend. Lita storms off and Matt blames Jeff for that too. 
• WWF European Champion Christian challenges his brother Edge for the WWF Intercontinental Championship. The referee gets knocked down and Christian uses a low blow and a reverse DDT for a close near fall. Christian loses his temper and goes to get a steel chair (dumb, I guess he doesn’t want to be champion?) but before he can use it, Test also runs down and attacks Edge. The IC champ tries to fight them off with a spear to Christian but walks into a big boot by Test, who then helps Christian give him an Unprettier onto the steel chair. It makes sense that Test would want this feud to continue, and it seems like this loose affiliation between former Alliance members is going to continue. 

Raw - November 26th, 2001

Vengeance Main Eventers and JR’s unhappy homecoming

Before the show even begins, Ric Flair and Mr. McMahon had a meeting backstage earlier today where Flair rants at his business partner about his actions on Smackdown, specifically talking down to him, having Austin beaten up 5 on 1, and adding Jericho to the main event. Vince promises Ric that he has a surprise that he’ll really like tonight.

This episode of Raw takes place in Oklahoma City, which is Jim Ross’ hometown. Whenever the show is in JR’s hometown he tends to get embarrassed. Last time a show was in this arena, Stone Cold beat him bloody and senseless. We’ll see if that comes up later (it does)

Opening the show properly, Mr. McMahon and Kurt Angle head down to the ring. Vince reminds us that someone joined the Kiss my Ass club last week and says he likes people kissing his ass so much, someone else will join tonight. He first gives some attention to the future WWF Champion and soon to be Undisputed Champion at Vengeance, the Olympic hero Kurt Angle. It seems like Undertaker derogatorily calling him “Vince’s boy” has caught on and there’s signs about it. Kurt says he was the toughest kid on his block and talks about the sandbox and what a tough boy scout he was, and that his leader used to tell him how special he was. Vince looks like he’s trying not to laugh as Kurt lists all his dweeby sounding accomplishments including being the toughest kid in the glee club. After reminding us of all his accomplishments, he finally gets to Vengeance when he promises to beat Stone Cold for the WWF title, and then beat the winner of Rock vs. Jericho to become the first Undisputed Champion in wrestling history. Vince shows us the footage of the five on one beating Stone Cold got on Smackdown and is very pleased with himself for having arranged it. Vnce tells Stone Cold he doesn’t want to ensure Austin vs. McMahon 2 and he better fall in line. He finishes by saying that tonight in Oklahoma City, Austin will join the McMahon “Kiss my ass” club.

World Champion The Rock heads down to the ring to address his People. He talks about the importance of being the first ever Undisputed Champion and name drops Stone Cold Steve Austin whos name actually gets plenty of boos. The fans haven’t forgiven him for having been the most evil heel in wrestling for the past eight months but you’d think how funny he’s always been would help. The Rock takes issue with the match not being a straight singles match between he and Austin to unify their titles and wonders aloud why Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho are involved. The Rock shows off his Vince McMahon impression which doesn’t land with the crowd but I bet is really funny to the people who know him in real life. After a long comedy bit about a moose shoving its antler’s up Vince’s ass, he’s interrupted by Chris Jericho. Y2J hasn’t quite found his final heel look yet as he’s now clean shaven but still has his hair tied back.Jericho says that on Smackdown when he beat The Rock with his own move, he’s finally realised what his biggest weakness was and why he took so long to “win the big one”. It’s “The people”. He no longer cares about them and their reactions and he is now focused on winning and on himself. He no longer cares about entertaining the people or “the millions” and now he cares about “the one”. As he rants, JR and King use the word “ego” about 36 times so I guess that's definitely his new gimmick. He calls himself larger than life and a living legend too, both of which he’d use as infrequent nicknames over the next couple of years. The Rock promises to whoop Jericho’s ass at Vengeance and to whoop his ass tonight in the main event (which is a handicap match, Jericho and Kurt Angle vs. The Rock) and calls Y2J a “Punk bitch!” which gets a big pop.

Vince McMahon called Undertaker to his office and asks if he had a good thanksgiving? He is honest with him and says that he would have hit him with that chair on Smackdown, because he cares. Vince says that he has given him nothing but respect for 11 years. He never had to look over his shoulder and has taken Taker’s support for granted but says that's the ultimate respect. He just trusted him without asking, and says Taker owes Vince for all he’s done for him and tells him to think about really they are a lot alike. 

The Rock takes on Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle in a handicap match. Before the match begins, Ric Flair comes out to turn this match into a tag team match and brings out Kane as The Rock’s partner. This is a classic Raw main event from this era as the four men work at a break-neck pace, the fans going insane for everything. The Rock locks Jericho in a sharpshooter, its broken up by Angle, he’s taken out with a flying clothesline from Kane…its chaotic. Jericho tries a Rock Bottom again but its countered into a DDT which surprisingly is enough to end the match and give Rock and Kane the victory! It was a great looking DDT to be fair. The Rock is about to leave without incident but when he spots that Jericho is still in the ring he comes back and drills him with a big Rock Bottom! Earl Hebner does his classic, staying in the ring and getting in the way to make sure he’s prominent on camera as much as humanly possible. The Rock is about to leave again but comes back a second time, this time with a steel chair! Kurt Angle pulls Y2J out of the ring and saves him from an angry World Champion. Rock and Jericho has become a very heated, personal rivalry. 

All night long, we’ve had shots of Stone Cold’s locker room door as we await his joining of the “Kiss my ass club” tonight. On the final shot, the door is open and the room is littered with empty beer cans. I think Vince might have his hands full.

Mr. McMahon comes down to the ring and says that Stone Cold won’t be doing anything the rest of us haven’t - kiss their bosses ass. He brings out the second member of the Kiss my Ass club and sure enough, Stone Cold comes to the ring wearing his new t-shirt. Something else that has come up all night long is King and JR discussing how disgusting it would be to join this club, and reminding us that this show is in JR’s hometown. Vince tells Austin that this will end their issues forever and that he has a nice ass - he should be happy! Austin says that over the past few months he’s gotten to know Vince better and gotten a little smarter. He doesn’t want Austin vs. McMahon 2 and wants to bury the hatchet. Vince makes Austin use chapstick and mouthwash before he’ll let him near his ass. Stone Cold humours him but this whole thing feels too dragged out seeing as we ALL know he’s not actually going to do it. Vince strips and gets his ass out as Steve calls him the ugliest stripper he’s ever seen. Austin does get down on his knees and really seems like he might do it, but does rattle off some jokes about toilet paper and asks to see some tricks.

Austin nails McMahon with a low blow instead and then whips his bare ass with his leather belt! Vince screams until finally The Dudleyz, Regal, Christian, Test and Kurt Angle fill the ring and attack Austin chasing him out of the ring and brawling into the crowd, leaving only Vince in the ring, face down and ass up. Austin fights for his life and seemingly holds off all six men while he escapes, and Kurt Angle goes back to the ring to check on the co-owner of the WWF. JR laughs really hard and long which the camera focuses on, giving away that JR is about to suffer a misfortune in his hometown, as predicted. Vince calls him hillbilly boy, and screams at the crowd for laughing at him, and he and Kurt Angle go out to get JR and drag him into the ring by force. Kurt subdues Ross as Vince prepares to make JR join the Kiss my Ass club by force in his own hometown. Before he can do so, Limp Bizkit’s Rollin plays and Undertaker marches to the ring to apparently rescue JR, who crawls over to the American Badass while Kurt prepares to defend Vince. Taker lists all the big names he’s seen come and go including Hogan, Bret, Warrior and Shawn.

He says that one way or another, every one of those men kissed Vince’s ass but the saddest thing is that of everyone who’s kissed Vince’s ass no one has kissed it more than him. He’s been here 11 years putting up with Vince’s crap. He asks JR if he was going to kiss Vince’s ass? JR says hell no. Undertaker takes a moment and asks JR if he thinks he's better than him? Shock - The Undertaker punches JR out and screams at him “are you better than me?” Vince’s jaw hits the floor as Undertaker tells JR that he’s going to kiss Vince’s ass in front of his friends and family, and physically drags him, forcing his face into McMahon’s bare ass cheeks. I think they probably expected this segment to get nuclear heat and a lot of boos but it was met with what I'd call a confused, disappointed silence. JR has been humiliated in his hometown (again) and The Undertaker is now a heel. 

Alliance leftovers band together

Backstage after the McMahon and angle promo, William Regal, Test, Christian and The Dudley Boyz laugh and cheer and Regal rallies the troops to remind them that Austin won’t have forgotten what they did to him on Smackdown so they need to stick together tonight and have each other’s backs. Ric Flair walks in and says that all of them have matches tonight and if any of them interfere in each other’s matches they are suspended. Regal says that if they can’t interfere in each other’s matches then Stone Cold can’t either. Flair says he’ll agree to that but no one - not even him - can control what the Rattlesnake does to anyone backstage and an angry Rattlesnake is even more dangerous.

Regal asks his former Alliance buddies to go with him to the bathroom for back up and protection because he’s afraid Stone Cold will strike. After a commercial, they’re all lined up at the urinals and Regal gets a chance to show off some of his comedy facials. D-Von Dudley bursts in and with them all distracted, Regal turns around and pees all over Big Show’s leg at the next urinal. The “pee” is bright green and looks extremely fake but the point is made. Regal pee’d on Show’s leg and the 500 pounder is furious as Regal and the gang run away.

King brings back his old telestrator gimmick where he can draw on the screen to show us the replay and Big Show, with a big smile on his face, comes out of Ric Flair’s office moments later with a match with Regal made for later.

Backstage, Kurt Angle asks Vince which cheek he’s going to make Austin kiss tonight and says he hates ass kissers. William Regal walks in and asks if he can get this match with Big Show cancelled. Vince can’t but whispers in Regal’s ear and actually appears to surreptitiously hand him something we can’t see. That match is next and William Regal would seem to be horribly overmatched by the angry, 500 lbs former WWF Champion. Show dominates but Booker T comes through the crowd. He distracts Show and the referee and that allows Regal to use a pair of brass knucks (or knuckle duster if you’re British) to knock out Show and win the match. Did Vince hand him the weapon? Did he arrange for Booker T’s interference? He’s chased out the arena as he is “unemployed”.

Other Happenings

• Christian defends the European Championship against Jeff Hardy, with Lita. He’s still sore from the huge bump he took off a steel cage eight days ago, and mentally has to be shaken up by his ongoing issues with his brother Matt. The one positive of King being back is getting to see him react to everything that happened and changed while he was gone. He’s a big fan of Christian’s AT LAST, operatic entrance. Who isn’t? Matt does eventually come out to cheer on his brother. Jeff hits a Twist of Fate and might have the match won. Matt begs him to just go for the cover but Jeff goes to the top rope for a Swanton Bomb instead. Christian rolls to the outside and as Matt tries to talk his brother out of taking a big risk, he’s shoved into the ring post which knocks Jeff off the top and gives Christian the victory. Matt and Jeff continue to argue about their way of doing things. After the match in the trainers office they two continue to argue. Matt told Jeff not to even wrestle tonight, and that he should have won with the Twist of Fate without diving off the top rope. Jeff gets angry about Matt telling him what to do and says he has his whole life. Matt snaps at Lita and tells her to shut up. Lita tells Matt that he’s selfish and leaves. I’m not sure who asked for this Hardyz breakup but its sad seeing the end of a hugely popular team. 
• RVD defends the Hardcore Championship against D-Von Dudley. D-Von starts us right away by blasting the champion with a stop sign as soon as he enters the ring, and Rob gets the first near fall with a standing moonsault off the apron to the floor. Something I say a lot about RVD - a very fun hardcore match. RVD shoves D-Von off the top rope onto a steel chair and follows up with a five star frog splash for the victory. It’s funny hearing King react to RVD’s offence and frog splash in awe and shock. He’s basically at the point we all were when RVD first showed up in July. 

• At WWF New York, former ECW performer Lance Storm is there. JR asks him what he’s doing now that he’s unemployed. Lance says he’s biding his time and is too good of an athlete and wrestler to be denied. The camera fans out to show him dressed as a janitor and a woman hands him a mop. So he’s not unemployed, he’s working as a cleaner at WWF New York! 

• Trish Stratus defends the Women’s Championship against Stacy Keibler in a bra and panties match. Trish strips Stacy to her underwear but the referee clearly didn’t get the memo on what ends the match as Trish boots her in the chest and pins her for good measure. Difficult to enjoy seeing these women in their underwear with Jerry Lawler acting like a wild dog at ringside but it is what it is.
• Edge defends the Intercontinental Champion against Test. A short but good match. Test gets frustrated and attacks the referee, costing himself the match by disqualification. Test gets a steel chair and tries to continue his attack on Edge but his former tag team partner Albert, plus his new tag team partner Scotty 2 Hotty run down to the ring and make the safe, chasing Test way. Given Scotty’s last couple of interactions with Test this makes more sense than it appears on the surface.

Smackdown - November 29th, 2001

Strap match main event

Stone Cold Steve Austin opened the show properly and continues to get a mixed response. I think he’s pretty obviously a good guy now but he’s got eight months worth of heel antics to reverse so it’ll take time. I love Austin’s promos as he talks about his lunch and encourages the crowd to chant “what” along with him, and says he’d never kiss Vince’s ass because he’s not as stupid as William Regal. He turns his attention to Vengeance and agrees with The Rock - it should be the two biggest names going one on one for the Undisputed title without either Jericho or Angle being involved but they are involved. He then agrees with Ric Flair - to be the man, you have to beat the man. He knows he’ll beat Kurt Angle and he hopes Rock beats Jericho so they can have an even bigger match than their Wrestlemania match. He’s about to wrap up his promo with “that's the bottom line” but is cut off by Kurt Angle. Kurt is goaded by the What chants which just encourages them more, and says he’s going to make Austin tap out at Vengeance. He does it more entertainingly than I’ve made it sound of course. They have a final “oh hell yeah” battle and Austin ends it and has a beer.

A strap carrying William regal and Kurt Angle walk together laughing about their plans for Stone Cold tonight and come across Kurt’s opponent later, Intercontinental Champion Edge. Edge laughs at Regal for the whole ass kissing thing and so they attack him and Regal whips Edge with the strap. 

Kurt Angle faces the now beaten up Edge in a non-title match. This is a competitive match and as Edge might have the match won with his big impaler DDT, William Regal comes down and puts his foot on the ropes to break the pin. Regal punches Edge in the lower back with the same brass knuckles he used on Big Show on Raw and that allows Kurt to steal an easy pin over the Intercontinental Champion.

In the main event, a non-title match. WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. William Regal in a strap match. Regal was carrying the strap earlier when he attacked Edge with it and still has it now. The whole ass-kissing thing two weeks ago aside, Regal has been a lot nastier and meaner for a while now especially during his feud with Tajiri. Regal lashes the strap at Austin, not allowing him to get in the ring and the fans break out into a loud “Austin” chant and seem to have finally accepted he’s back to his old badass Rattlesnake babyface ways. Regal toys with Austin a bit until he loses his temper and attacks with punches and stomps and beats Regal out of the ring, around the announce desk and into the crowd.

It looked like he was trying to get the strap on but the loop for his wrist is knotted or something so he gave up on trying to untie it. Earl Hebner continues to drive me mental as instead of just getting out of the way and letting them work (because wrestling isn’t real) he gets obsessed with putting the strap on Austin and gets in the way over and over and over again. Austin has a beer and tries to piledrive Regal on the announce desk but is counted with a backdrop and with him on the ground, Hebner finally puts the strap on Stone Cold as Regal whips him with it. This strap match has the old school “touching the four corners to win” stipulation which I always thought was kind of lame. The crowd does get into it and counts along with Austin as he hits the four corners to win, dropping Regal with a Stunner between the 3rd and 4th. Kurt Angle runs down to attack and the two pummel him two on one as the crowd chant for “Rocky” because I assume they aren’t paying attention to the show. Edge runs down to make the save and the Intercontinental Champion takes out Regal with a spear allowing Austin to fight off Angle and the two singles champions stand tall in the ring. A big moment for Edge, closing the show in a segment like this with Stone Cold!

The Rock to the rescue

Much like Raw, the show opens with a backstage discussion between Ric Flair and Vince McMahon but this time it’s Vince’s turn to be angry accusing Ric of being in cahoots with Stone Cold, making no attempts to rescue him on Raw from the whipping he received and he doesn’t like that his “good friend William Regal” has been put in a strap match with Stone Cold. Flair fires back and says he doesn’t like that Vince wants everyone to kiss his ass and that he doesn’t like the direction he’s trying to take the WWF. Vince laughs and says that tonight, a third person will join the Kiss my Ass club and he’ll never guess who it is. 

Trish Stratus defends the WWF Women’s Championship against Jaqueline. Amazingly this being Trish’s third title defence makes her arguably the most fighting women’s champion already. Before Jackie’s entrance, Mr. McMahon comes out. King and Cole speculate that he’s out here to make Trish the 3rd person in the Kiss my Ass club. Of course Vince and Trish have quite the history from earlier this year which Vince talks about and for the fourth show in a row we get to hear Vince talk about how nice his own ass is. He creeps out Trish, sniffing her hair and getting very intimate. I’ve commented on this before but Vince as an evil power hungry billionaire was a great character but sometime in mid 2000 he decided that being a deeply creepy pervert and sexual deviant was how he wanted to get heat and I just hate it. Vince reminds Trish that she turned on him at Wrestlemania and he hasn’t forgotten and doesn’t forgive. He’s going to make HER join the kiss my ass club and makes everyone uncomfortable telling her to get on her knees. He threatens to strip her of the women’s title if she doesn’t do it. For what feels like the 20th time in 2001, Vince McMahon physically turns my stomach during an in ring segment with Trish Stratus. I rather hoped we were past all this. After Vince drops his pants, the World Champion The Rock’s music hits and he rushes to the ring, allowing Trish to escape. The Rock makes Vince leave his pants down around his ankles while he addresses him. Thank God for The Rock. He dares Vince to try and make HIM kiss his ass.

He tells Vince that if he shuffles to the middle of the ring, he’ll explain why he wanted him to leave his pants down and so Vince, with some difficulty and no dignity, walks to the middle of the ring and gets a big laugh. He says he wanted him to keep his pants down because it would make it easier to take an object, turn it sideways and shove it straight up his candy ass! He teases Vince and makes him feel what its like to be humiliated and on behalf of the next Undisputed Champion, Jim Ross, Trish Stratus and the millions and millions…drops him with a Rock Bottom and follows up with a People’s Elbow, Vince’s trousers around his ankles the whole time! Chris Jericho runs down with a steel chair but The Rock sees him coming and fights him off. A groggy Vince recovers enough to give The Rock a low blow and Jericho flattens him with a brutal steel chair shot to the face and finishes with a People’s Elbow of his own, a steel chair laid on The Rock’s chest. The evolution of Jericho’s heel look continues as he’s now dyed his ponytail bright red. Jericho actually hugs Vince and helps him out of the ring too.

The Undertaker goes Hardcore

Elsewhere backstage, Vince McMahon wishes RVD luck in his title defence against Bubba Ray Dudley and then wishes him luck at Vengeance. RVD is confused as he didn’t know he had a PPV match - he’s facing The Undertaker! Vince seems really happy with himself but RVD just shrugs it off and says it's cool, he’ll just beat him again. Vince is angry that RVD isn’t as scared as he wants him to be and screams at him to get out of his office. RVD is still being punished for daring to be the only former Alliance member who isn’t sucking up to him. 

Much like on Raw, RVD defends his title against one half of the WWF Tag Team Champions. Bubba Ray has Stacy Keibler with him. RVD wins a short match with a martial arts kick, driving a steel chair into Bubba’s face. As he lays on the mat trying to recover, The Undertaker rides his motorbike to the ring and attacks Van Dam, throwing him into the corner and hammering him with punches and elbows. Michael Cole speculates that this is because RVD didn’t show enough respect and wasn’t suitably afraid of a match with him. Taker ends the assault with an awesome looking Last Ride through a trash can. He gets down on the mat with a mic and tells RVD that he has a lot to learn and he will learn to respect him. This was lesson one, and he’ll graduate at Vengeance. 

Jonathan Coachman interviews co-owner of the WWF Ric Flair and asks him for his thoughts on what the Undertaker just did. He says he’s sure that Undertaker will get the respect he deserves but tonight he wants someone to step up and volunteer to wrestle him tonight and make a name for themselves. That challenge is accepted by Tazz who is more than happy to fight The Undertaker tonight. More fool him.

Tazz enters first for his open challenge to the now respect-obsessed Undertaker. Taker dominates but when he goes for old school he gets too distracted arguing with fans allowing Tazz to whip him off the top rope and lock in the Tazzmission! He flails and falls out of the ring but Tazz holds onto the choke as they move around the ring until finally Taker drives his head into the security wall to break the hold. A chokeslam back in the ring wins it for him as he moves towards Vengeance and what is now confirmed to be a Hardcore Championship match with RVD. Taker shows us how hardcore he can be after the match as he brings the ring steps into the ring and just crushes Tazz’s shoulder in the middle of the ring. That looked brutal! 

Other Happenings

• They must have read my coverage of last week’s show as the Smackdown intro has been updated to remove all the Alliance members! 
• Test comes out to join commentary for the next match which is Christian defending the European Championship against Scotty 2 Hotty (with Albert). A distraction from Test as he brawls with Albert on the outside allows Christian to pick up the win with an Unprettier. Test flattens Scotty with a Big Boot for good measure and the two blonde Canadians leave together with Scotty and Albert laid out flat in the ring. 

• In the locker room, Jeff Hardy and Lita discuss Matt and what's going on with him lately. They express genuine concern and are worried something is bothering him. She shows concern for Jeff who’s still battling his injuries when Matt arrives and with tons of false sincerity tells Jeff that they have a number 1 contenders match tonight for a tag team title match at Vengeance…against Big Show and Kane! 

• Matt and Jeff Hardy, with Lita take on the makeshift team of Kane and The Big Show with the winners getting a match with The Dudley Boyz at Vengeance for the Tag Team titles. During Kane’s entrance Michael Cole says that while people have tried to get Kane to talk about Undertaker’s recent change in attitude, he’s refusing to get involved or talk about it. That’s smart, to keep them separate. The big men dominate The Hardyz. Lita tries to get involved but Kane catches her. Jeff Hardy dropkicks Kane, knocking Lita out of the ring and with Matt more concerned about her well being, Jeff runs right into a big boot and Kane pins him to win the match and secure a Tag Team title match for he and Big Show at Vengeance. They are united but The Hardyz are not - Matt blames Jeff for causing Lita to get hurt with more high risk manoeuvres and Jeff snaps and yells at Matt, challenging him to a match at Vengeance! Lita looks like she’s not taking sides/thinks they’re both in the wrong.

Raw - December 3rd, 2001

A lot of Kissing for a Wrestling Show

Raw opens with one of the four men who is in the running to be “the first Undisputed champion in wrestling history” Chris Jericho coming down to the ring and after calling The Rock and Stone Cold jackasses, takes great offense at how everyone has assumed it’ll be those two in the final match and not himself and/or Kurt Angle. He promises to beat the hell out of Stone Cold (seeing as he’s already beaten The Rock) and says he’s the biggest star in WWF history and a living legend, while JR and King talk about his ego, and egomania. He is interrupted by an actual living legend, one of the co-owners of the WWF Ric Flair. I’ll talk about Ric properly at Vengeance but winding back the clock 20 years, I was a BIG Ric Flair fan. This era of wrestling is littered with people who I’ve liked less and less over the years as I learned more about who they are in real life sadly so I try not to dwell on that part. In 2001? I love Ric Flair. Woo! Ric tells Jericho that he isn’t impressed by him and tells him off for disrespecting Stone Cold Steve Austin. To be the man, you have to beat the man and being WWF Champion makes Stone Cold THE Man. Jericho vs. Austin tonight is made official.

Kurt Angle goes to see Vince and says he’s disgusted by the way The Rock treated him on Smackdown and says he has a plan to help him get even tonight.

Backstage, Women’s Champion Trish Stratus is walking around and stops to ask Crash Holly if he knows where The Rock is. This is unimportant but Crash wishes her luck in her match with Jackie at the PPV which is an important announcement. Trish does find The Rock and goes into his locker room to thank him for saving her from Vince McMahon and the Kiss my Ass club on Smackdown. She gives him a kiss on the cheek and he returns the favour by just straight up making out with her. The crowd screamed and cheered but I found this very cringe. I’d like to see Trish get some storylines that aren’t about how attractive she is, and a main eventer like The Rock does not need to be getting involved in romance storylines. The fans did chant “Rocky” for him during it and he finished with a people’s eyebrow to the camera.

Chris Jericho in a non-title match with WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin takes place mid-way through the show. This is a big moment as Stone Cold has returned to his classic glass breaking theme song! Big pop (from the crowd and from me). These two work great together and trade big moves and bump their asses off for each other.

Austin is in classic form here especially with the crowd going nuts for his every move. Stone Cold avoids a Lionsault attempt, Jericho lands on his feet but walks right into a Stunner and Stone Cold wins, clean as a whistle and has all the momentum heading into Vengeance! He calls for beers and toasts the crowd and with the beer splashing and the old theme song playing, the fans going nuts? All felt right with the world. He continues to celebrate until on the titantron we get a live shot of the parking lot. Booker T has hotwired Stone Cold’s pickup truck and stolen it! The WWF Champion looks furious and runs off after him. It’s not super cool to portray Booker as someone who can hotwire cares, but less cool is King and JR discussing it like “oh of COURSE he does”. Feels a bit racial? Austin stole a car of his own and took off after Booker during the commercial break.

Vince McMahon and Kurt Angle head down to the ring together, all smiles to presumably unveil their plan for taking out The Rock tonight. There has been very little of JR being forced to join the Kiss my Ass club last week and I assume that's because the angle went down like a lead balloon. Kurt calls Rocky an ungrateful SOB both to him for saving his job and to Vince McMahon for all he has done. He says no one in the WWF would have fame or fortune without Vince McMahon (apart from himself, since he won a gold medal). He gets into a protracted verbal battle with the crowd who are screaming “WHAT?” at him between every other word. Looking back from 2025, I HATE what chants but my God in 2001 when Stone Cold was doing it? Hilarious. Kurt shows us footage from Smackdown of Vince trying to make Trish kiss his ass before being stopped by The Rock before being humiliated and beaten up. Kurt demands an apology for both himself and for Mr. McMahon. The Rock does come out onto the stage but it seems unlikely he’s going to apologise. He tells them both to come up and kiss “the people’s ass”. Vince tries to talk but is drowned out by “asshole” chants. Classic. Vince says he and Kurt knew he wouldn’t apologise but by the end of tonight he’ll wish he had. He has his ways of making people apologise - The Rock cuts him off and tells him that he’ll come to the ring and slap the toupee off his head if he doesn’t hurry up and get to the point. He says that tonight’s main event will be The Rock vs. Kurt Angle and Vince McMahon. But it won’t be a handicap match. The Rock’s partner will be Trish Stratus. And if The Rock’s team loses, he will be forced to join the McMahon Kiss my Ass club on Smackdown and if he doesn’t he’ll be stripped of his World Championship and won’t be at Vengeance at all! That brings out Vince’s business partner Ric Flair to put an end to this. He adds his own stipulation - if Vince and Kurt lose, Vince will have to kiss The Rock’s ass on Smackdown and if he refuses then Kurt is out of Vengeance! 

A very odd tag team match is the main event with the focus, as it has been for the past several weeks, on the hindquarters of Mr. McMahon. Vince taunts Trish, doing a “sexy” dance to her theme music. The Rock debuted his “sssssiiick freak” catchphrase on Smackdown and its fitting he used it on Vince. He’s called him a sick freak twice tonight too. He’s not wrong. The Rock wrestles this match solo but after absorbing a lot of punishment, he gets Vince down and tags in Trish who beats the co-owner of the WWF up as the crowd cheers her on. Kick his ass Trish!

Kurt Angle clubs her from behind like a big coward and gets a lot of boos as he tags in and prepares to hurt her. He spends too long taunting The Rock and gets a low blow for his trouble! Honestly the worst thing about all of this is Jerry Lawler’s odious commentary talking about how women are scum and can’t be trusted and she deserves what she gets….I get that he’s playing a role but this is definitely his actual opinions. The Rock dominates Kurt but the referee is knocked down and Jericho slips in and gives his rival a Lionsault, but The Rock kicks out. Vince, his nose bloody from Trish’s attack on his face, leaves the apron and chases Trish away from the ring. He follows her up the ramp but walks right into Stone Cold Steve Austin! The Rattlesnake attacks Vince and beats the hell out of him at ringside before hanging Kurt up on the ropes sending him spinning into a Rock Bottom! The Rock wins as Austin watches on with a big smile. On Smackdown, Vince McMahon has to kiss The Rock’s ass - literally - or Kurt Angle loses his shot at the WWF title at Vengeance. 

Lita in the middle

Matt and Jeff Hardy (with Lita) take on the team of Tajiri and Spike Dudley (with Torrie Wilson). Matt and Jeff are scheduled to go one on one at Vengeance and are still having issues. Tajiri is still the WCW Cruiserweight champion but doesn’t have the title belt with him. WCW is dead but the WWF’s light heavyweight champion X-Pac is out injured indefinitely. We’ll see the title again (once it’s had a WWF makeover). Matt requested this match as they were unable to beat the WWF’s biggest team on Smackdown so they’re trying their luck against the smallest team tonight. They do work well as a team despite their upcoming match against each other at the PPV. The Hardyz win but despite that, Matt takes issue with Jeff tagging himself in to “steal” his victory and so they argue after the match as Lita tries to keep them apart. When they get backstage the argument continues - Jeff thinks Matt is being controlling, Matt thinks Jeff is selfish and puts himself ahead of the team. Lita refuses to take sides so her boyfriend Matt tells her that she should be the special referee for their match at Vengeance where she’ll have to pick a side! 

Other Happenings

• Vengeance’s theme song is Sinner by Drowning Pool - another banger from this era and pleasingly hasn’t been dubbed on these versions of the show! 
• In the opening match, Kane takes on Bubba Dudley (with Stacey and D-Von) Kane and Big Show are officially the number one contenders for the WWF Tag Team titles at Vengeance but Kane’s makeshift partner isn’t with him. It doesn’t matter as he has no issues dominating Bubba in the early going and despite interference from D-Von and Stacy, Kane wins with a chokeslam. Post match, the tag champs flatten him with a 3D which brings Kane’s partner Big Show running to the ring. He spikes D-Von with a huge chokeslam as Kane sits up and the PPV challengers stand tall together in the ring.
• Backstage, Vince McMahon takes a call from the Undertaker where he tells him it's fine that he isn’t here tonight as long as he shows up at Vengeance to teach RVD a lesson. 
• Scotty 2 Hotty joins commentary to watch his tag team partner Albert go one on one with Test. Scotty calls test horse face and pushes Albert’s new nickname - the hip hop hippo. Big men who dance usually gets over in this era so we’ll see. This is a decent big man vs. big man match. Test tries to cheat with a steel chair but Scotty stops him and blasts Test with it instead allowing Albert to pick up the win!
• Michael Cole tries to interview Hardcore Champion Rob Van Dam who says he doesn’t know why The Undertaker is so worked up but is interrupted by the European Champion Christian who tells him off for his laid back attitude and says he should respect The Undertaker like he does. RVD offers him a Hardcore title match tonight and they have a funny back and forth about Europe, but Christian declines to put his title on the line in the same match.

• William Regal walks past the APA’s office and they mock him for being an ass-kisser, laughing like jackals and blaming him for having to see Vince’s ass on TV every week. Regal loses his temper and accepts Bradshaw’s challenge to a match tonight.
• Christian tries to become a double champion against Hardcore champion Rob Van Dam. This match was great fun and after a creative back and forth with a pair of steel chairs and an attempted one man conchairto, RVD finishes off Christian with a Van Daminator spin kick driving a chair into Christian’s head and follows with a Five Star Frog Splash to retain his Hardcore title.
• William Regal vs. Bradshaw of the APA. Due to their interactions the past couple of shows, Regal will challenge Edge for the Intercontinental title at Vengeance which is made official here. Edge isn’t in the arena, he’s at WWF New York. Regal, the whole ass-kissing debacle aside, has been on a roll lately showing a lot more toughness and defeating Big Show (with help from brass knuckles) and having a really good competitive main event with Stone Cold. This match is short and sweet as Regal uses his brass knuckles without the referee seeing him to knock Bradshaw out cold. As he leaves, Tazz appears on the titantron and wonders aloud if Regal will be that lucky at Vengeance. He came to WWF New York to hang out with Edge but he can’t find him. Where the hell is Edge? With Regal distracted, Edge appears from the side of the stage and Spears him, hammering punches down on his PPV challenger. 

Smackdown - December 6th, 2001

Undisputed Destiny

Out in the parking lot, Kurt Angle is anxiously awaiting the arrival of Mr. McMahon. If Vince doesn’t kiss The Rock’s ass tonight then he loses his title match at the PPV. Vince arrives in a limo but has a big smile on his face. It seems he has a plan to avoid having to kiss The Rock’s ass without losing Kurt’s title shot. Vince also has a plan to get payback on Stone Cold for what he did on Raw. Tonight’s main event is a huge tag team match with The Rock and Stone Cold facing Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle.

In McMahon’s office, Kurt and Vince talk strategy. Kurt asks if Vince is feeling ok as he seems ill. He actually has had a hoarse voice on the last few shows. I’m not really sure what the point of this one was apart from making sure Vince appears as many times as possible on every show.

World Champion The Rock heads down to the ring to, presumably, make Vince McMahon kiss his ass. He seems in a very good mood and ready to humiliate McMahon which I think we’d all enjoy. The Rock tells Vince to come out and face his fate, which he does with a big smile of his own, seemingly confident that he can get out of this stipulation. He snatches the microphone out of The Rock’s hand but is drowned out by “asshole” chants. As Vince continues to waffle and make vague threats he is cut off by a familiar shout of “what?” from somewhere off camera. Stone Cold is on the titantron backstage. He continues to shout What with every human being in the arena responding back twice as loud. It’s deafening. He asks Vince a series of rhetorical questions to allow the Whats to continue which amount to him telling Vince that while his plan might have been for Kurt Angle to come down and save him, he has beaten the holy hell out of the Olympian backstage! The Rattlesnake has struck. He is here tonight to make sure Vince kisses somebody’s ass and tells him that if he leaves the arena he’ll be waiting backstage to beat his ass too! If you wanna see Vince McMahon kiss somebody’s ass give me a hell yeah? It gets the response you’d imagine. Next it's Vince’s co-owner Ric Flair who comes out to intervene. Ric says that Kurt Angle was Plan A but just in case there’s a Plan B, if anyone comes out to help Vince they are suspended. And then he just leaves! Vince seems reluctant to get on his knees and Rocky gets a big laugh from me barking “The Rock said on your knees!” and Vince is startled and does as he's told.

The Rock stops him and says his lips aren’t good enough for The Rock’s ass but maybe he’s good enough to kiss someone else’s and brings out Jim Ross! JR looks overjoyed to make Vince kiss his ass but The Rock stops him and sends JR to ringside to watch from commentary. JR is disappointed. The Rock brings out Trish Stratus but Vince looks very happy with this deal and is more than happy to kiss Trish’s ass (obviously). Vince excitedly puts on chapstick and charges forward but The Rock stops him and calls him a ssssssick freak! No The Rock has the perfect ass for Vince to kiss - it's the return of Rikishi!

He hasn’t been around since May when after returning from an injury and immediately reverting back to his classic babyface persona got injured again in his first match back. He’s all healed up now and it would seem he and The Rock have buried the hatchet and are friends again. Vince tries to back out of it so The Rock spikes him with a Rock Bottom and takes great pleasure in shoving Vince’s face straight into Rikishi’s ass! King almost ruins it by making loud comedy fart noises. The Rock declares the Vince McMahon Kiss my Ass club officially closed and JR screams in victory as Vince wretches in the ring. A happy ending after three weeks of Vince being at his absolute worst. A very fun 20 minute segment. 

Chris Jericho is interviewed backstage where, much like Kurt Angle did on Raw, he takes issue with being treated like an underdog by this assumption that the final match for the Undisputed title will be Rock vs. Austin. He doesn’t care about anyone else’s opinions and says he’ll be the Undisputed champion at Vengeance and will take care of Rock and Austin tonight too.

With Jericho and Angle already in the ring they jump The Rock the moment he gets in the ring but seconds later the glass breaks and Stone Cold motors to the ring to save the say. He drops Kurt with a Stunner almost instantly! But Jericho breaks up the pin and tags himself in to start the match properly. King talked a lot about whether Rock and Austin would be able to co-exist but they tag in and out and work together with no drama or teases. I guess they’re just focused on their rivals and respect each other enough by this point. This is a fun main event which breaks down with everyone hitting their moves. Austin is in trouble but The Rock saves him, and Jericho almost wins with a Rock Bottom but Austin saves him from that. The Rock finally wins by, for the second time in as many weeks, beating Jericho with a move that isn’t his finisher tapping him out to the sharpshooter (he pinned him with a DDT previously). After the match, a frustrated Angle gives Jericho an Olympic Slam and leaves in a rage as Stone Cold and The Rock share a beer and toast each other’s title belts which the crowd loves. 

Two Big PPV Matches

Jeff Hardy goes to see his brother Matt. It seems that despite their falling out and scheduled PPV match they are still being civil with each other. Jeff asks Matt why he’s challenging for the Hardcore title tonight after all the unwanted advice he’s given Jeff. Matt says it's his warm up match. Jeff tells him he hopes that he wins the title so that at Vengeance he can beat him and win the Hardcore title.

Rob Van Dam defends the Hardcore title against Matt Hardy. Between the promo between Jeff and Matt about the title before and them being slightly unclear about whether RVD’s match with Undertaker is for the title or not at Vengeance it seems entirely possible that Matt would win the title here. RVD retains the title with a Van Daminator at the top of the ramp but before he can celebrate he’s attacked from behind by The Undertaker sporting new short hair! He lays out the Hardcore champion with a ladder to the head and taunts him with his own finger pointing taunt.

The Undertaker walks past the APA who both stop their conversation, causing him to stop and ask what their problem is. Bradshaw says he thinks he and Faarooq are owed an explanation for his change in attitude. He says they watched his back when he was feuding with Austin and when he was on the Darkside. Faarooq says he’s slapped everyone who was loyal to him in the face. Undertaker says they’re disrespecting him and that he gave JR what he deserved. He says he’ll beat respect out of them too and that leads us, after a commercial break, to Bradshaw in his street clothes vs. the short haired Undertaker. Bradshaw gets lots of offence in and looks strong against the Deadman - I assume he was very giving because these two are good friends in real life. With both men down, Faarooq comes out and sits on Undertaker’s motorbike and actually steals it driving up the ramp and away. It distracts Undertaker briefly but he quickly recovers and beats Bradshaw with a chokeslam before taking off in a hurry to get his bike back which has been abandoned at the top of the ramp. It was a trap and RVD repays the attack from earlier with a surprise steel chair to the head!

Other Happenings

• In Smackdown’s opening match, Intercontinental Champion Edge teams with the number one contenders to the Tag Team titles Big Show and Kane to take on the number one contender to the Intercontinental title William Regal and the WWF Tag Team Champions The Dudley Boyz. Two big Vengeance title matches represented her. As Regal enters the ring the referee stops him to pat him down for the brass knuckles he’s been using so effectively for the past couple of weeks. It's a chaotic match and after a 3D to Kane and a massive chokeslam to Bubba, Regal knocks out Show with his brass knuckles but walks right into a Spear by Edge and a big Impaler DDT to D-Von later, Edge, Kane and Big Show win.

• Scotty 2 Hotty and Albert take on the tag team of Test and European Champion Christian. A heated match with four men who’ve interacted pretty much non-stop since Survivor Series. During the match Test grabs the ropes to stop himself from being rolled up so Earl Hebner kicks his arms to stop it. I hate that spot and it's just more Hebner getting involved where he shouldn’t! Cole and King actually discuss him and how he's “the best referee”. Test wins with a Big Boot on Albert and then immediately gives Earl Hebner a Big Boot too, instantly making himself my favourite wrestler! The storyline is that having won the Immunity Battle Royal, Test can’t be fired so he’s starting to throw his weight around and push the limits of what he can get away with.

• Crash Holly goes one on one with Jacqueline. These to have wrestled and feuded before so I think they just liked working together. This one started because Jackie took issue with Crash wishing her PPV opponent Trish luck and then was misogynistic about women’s matches. So I hope Jackie smashes him basically but Crash wins quickly with a roll up, grabbing the tights. 
• Booker T arrives at the arena and is looking for Vince McMahon. He finds Ric Flair instead who tells Booker that Vince is gone. Booker says he needs to talk to Vince about getting his job back since they have something in common - they both hate Stone Cold Steve Austin’s guts. Surely Booker should blame Kurt Angle for costing him his job, not Stone Cold. Flair says he saw Booker steal Austin’s truck on Raw and Booker laughs about how proud he is. He says he returned it, he was just messing with him. Flair says he’s not interested in looking at Booker’s application tonight and tells him to leave.