Guest TSMAdmin Posted October 2, 2002 Report Posted October 2, 2002 Raw from JHawk’s Beak (June 17, 2002) By Jared “JHawk” Hawkins We’re less than a week away from King of the Ring, and Vince McMahon is once again on both shows. Will the focus of tonight’s show be the actual PPV event? The absence of Steve Austin? Or will it be VTV…All Vince, all the time? Bet on the latter, but tune in to find out! This Week in Wrestling History: On June 17, 1993, Ric Flair made his in-ring WCW return, teaming with Arn Anderson to defeat World Tag Team Champions The Hollywood Blonds in two straight falls. Barry Windham’s interference in the second fall caused a disqualification that allowed the Blonds to retain the titles. I was watching Shrek today because I was bored, and I find it very sad that an animated ogre has a better move set than three of the four wrestlers in this Sunday’s double main event. My name is Stone Cold Steve Austin, and maybe I do deserve this: How is that for a turnaround? At this time last week I’m expecting to be venomous toward Ric Flair looking like he did in the last few years of WCW, but then I end up being venomous that Flair looked like he did at Starrcade 98. Of course, we now know why…Stone Cold Steve Austin flew home. I have one thing to say on that while it’s still a somewhat hot topic. Now, I won’t discuss Steve Williams’ legal issues here because I don’t know the whole story, but I will discuss his walking out on the job. See, I agree that the direction of the company sucks and something needs to be done. But it’s like working in a restaurant. Maybe you hate the general manager, and it’s OK to quit your job, but you don’t walk out at the start of the shift and force your co-workers to pick up the slack for you. I think there’s more to it than simply being unhappy with the product, and I have my theory as to why he actually walked, but it doesn’t matter why. What matters is that he did walk, and he forced everybody else to pick up the slack for him. That’s simply the wrong thing to do, and that’s the bottom line because JHawk (and most of the wrestling world) said so. Let’s get down to business, shall we? Segment 1 They’re opening with clips of Shawn Michaels laying out Booker T? Maybe they’re not going to half-ass this face turn after all. So much for “4 life”, huh? We are L-I-V-E LIVE from the Arena at Oakland in Oakland, California! Uncut! Uncooked! Uncensored! Two King of the Ring quarterfinal matches TONIGHT: Booker vs. Brock and X-Pac vs. RVD! Plus, find out the true story of why Austin left WWE since not enough of you watch Confidential! But first, it’s time for our first King of the Ring Quarterfinal Match scheduled for one fall: Rob…Van…Dam (WWE Intercontinental Champion) vs. 123-Pac The winner of this one will meet the winner of the Jericho-Valbowski match on SmackDown! X-Pac with a quick arm drag to start. Side headlock, and this crowd is HOT tonight. X-Pac goes into Larry Zbyszko stall mode, then hooks in an arm wringer. RVD out of it, kicks to the ribs, spinning back kick! Reverse monkey flip by RVD, and now we’re out to the floor. Asai moonsault by RVD. X-Pac tries to reenter the ring but gets caught with a baseball slide. There are the thumbs, and the spinning leg drop with the opponent across the guardrail. X-Pac makes his way in, but misses a sunset flip, and RVD gets 2 off of a standing moonsault. X-Pac blocks a rana with a power bomb, and a spinning leg lariat gets a count of 2. Chinlock by X-Pac to slow RVD’s offense down, and he sends RVD out of the ring…and a somersault plancha to the floor! Back in the ring they go, and X-Pac’s setting him up…but RVD avoids the bronco buster. Stepover leg lariat. X-Pac slips behind a bodyslam attempt and goes for the X-Factor, but RVD drops down with an uppercut to…um…ow! Rolling thunder gets 2. RVD up top for the Five Star, and X-Pac dropkicks RVD off the turnbuckle. Charles Robinson out to check on RVD, and here comes Booker T to lay out X-Pac with the Book End! RVD is back to the top, and there’s the Five Star Frog Splash! Charles Robinson and the crowd count the pin at 5:59 of a surprisingly good match. RVD advances to Sunday’s semifinals. Did you know Steve Austin left World Wrestling Entertainment? Read the Confidential recap elsewhere on this site if you don’t believe me. Or just tune into the next segment. ---------- COMMERCIAL BREAK ---------- What got into Sean Waltman? I haven’t seen him in that good a match in a long time! He came in motivated, put forth a hell of an effort, and the result is a match that got a hot crowd even more into the show. So let’s kill the crowd with the Austin stuff, shall we? Anyway, I think we can officially pencil Brock Lesnar to beat Booker after X-Pac’s interference, but hopefully they go with a DQ finish instead. In would protect Lesnar’s “aura”, help cement Booker T’s face turn, and actually give us the potential for a good tournament final. Segment 2 Backstage, X-Pac is pissed about Booker T’s interference, and he wants his ass now, but the rest of the nWo are going to wait, because Kevin’s got a plan. Oh God. Here comes Mr. McAsshole, and he’s sole owner again, you know. Sign in crowd: “(WWE logo) Get the Flair out.” Vince assures us that Austin is, in fact, gone, and he hopes that Austin will return, but he doesn’t know for sure. To make a long interview short, Austin needs to kiss some serious ass (he says make some apologies, same thing), but he already walked out the day after WrestleMania and claimed burnout, was brought back, but now he’s done it again. He owes an apology to the other wrestlers, the company that made him famous, and each and every one of the fans in the arena (and he probably means us watching on TV, too). Crowd starts an “Austin” chant. After numerous attempts to contact Austin, JR got through and asked Austin to discuss things like a man. JR’s plea fell on deaf ears. Austin will be held accountable, but the company has to move on. New stars, new matches, and new concepts, including the King of the Ring winner getting a WWE Title shot at SummerSlam. Austin will never be forgotten. Vince thinks Austin would wish everyone well, and on behalf of all the WWE superstars and the company Austin helped build, and all the fans he entertained… “Thank you, Stone Cold. Thank you for the memories.” Vince opens up a beer, takes a sip, and leaves it on the mat. There’s an extended close up of the beer as we go to… ---------- COMMERCIAL BREAK ---------- There’s the whole story in 10 minutes or less. Kudos to Vince McMahon for acknowledging the situation in a candid manner. Even more props to Vince for keeping everything classy and not burning his bridge with Austin. Although the one fan’s “Unemployed 3:16. What?” sign might have been a bit too much. Funny though. Isn’t interesting that we went full circle? For five years we played owner vs. rebellious employee to see it played out in real life. Segment 3 What the fuck is up with Jeff Hardy? Is that his hair dye that the black light is highlighting? One fall: Jeff Hardy vs. Raven Matt will face The Undertaker later, even though Jeff started the whole thing. This match is a rematch of Heat, where Jeff got disqualified for choking Raven with a camera cable. And no sooner than the bell rings does The Undertaker walk onto the stage. Hardy wastes no time going with the aerial offense, including busting out the running guardrail clothesline. Raven eventually tosses Jeff back out of the ring and Russian legsweeps Hardy into the guardrail. Back in the ring, and there’s a knee drive by Raven for the count of 2. Whip into the corner followed by a clothesline. Raven with a knee lift for 2. Hardy gets back into it with a jawbreaker, followed by a spinning mule kick. Jeff avoids a dropkick, and a leg drop to each hamstring for a count of 2. Lawler’s paying too much attention to Raven’s leather skirt for my liking. Jeff gets Raven set up for the Swanton Bomb, and it connects and gets the win at 3:48. Not bad. Jeff sees Taker on the stage, and he heads down the aisle. ---------- COMMERCIAL BREAK ---------- Not that bad a match, if uninspired. They tried to get a large amount of action into a short time of frame, and the result was disjointed but somewhat entertaining. I expect much more out of these two, especially Raven, but this was good for what they were given. And I like the touch of Taker watching, but not getting involved. We’re actually playing a psychological game rather than just running out and attacking. Nice touch. Segment 4 Backstage, Booker is getting ready, but out of comes “Dukedust” looking for a spot on King Booker’s royal court. Goldust reminds Booker that he was right about HBK, but Booker says he will, in fact, upstage the nWo. Goldust says outside interference should get Brock disqualified, and Booker’s first proclamation is that Brock will get his ass kicked by a five-time WCW Champion. Coach reminds us about Pure and Wholesome Molly Holly’s ass, and he walks in on her working on a Thighmaster. Molly admits she was offended, but she offended Trish with a win last week, much like she will tonight and Sunday at King of the Ring. Coach makes an ass joke and Molly slaps him. The Big Show is laughing at Molly slapping Coach, but in walks Paul Heyman with Brock Lesnar. There’s a title shot on the line at King of the Ring, so Heyman asks that the nWo stays out of Brock’s match. X-Pac thinks it’s a threat, so Paul goes from asking them to stay out of it to telling them to stay out of it. Shawn stares Brock down, but realizes he’s too small and calls in Nash to continue the staredown. ---------- COMMERCIAL BREAK ---------- And the King of the Ring plot thickens. Funny to see Lesnar and Nash looking eye-to-chin and trying not to smile, but now they’ve actually put the finish in doubt. Could they get Lesnar disqualified? Could they interfere without getting caught and cost Booker T the match? And what will be the repercussions if Brock is beat tonight? We could get Brock vs. some nWo guy at KOR out of this one. Segment 5 Let’s go to a Raw debut! One fall: Christopher Nowinski (w/William Regal) vs. Spike Dudley I’m begging I can start calling this kid “No Win ski”. Spike Dudley gets an early jump on both Regal and Nowinski, but Nowinski side steps Spike and sends him to the floor. Hard whip to the steps, and let’s give Spike credit for bumping for this guy. In the ring, backbreaker with a throw added for good measure for 2. Choke against the ropes as the crowd starts a “Harvard sucks” chant. Spike goes for a rolling cradle, but it’s blocked, and DAMN what a clothesline. He's no Kawada, but those aren't bad. That’s good for a couple of 2 counts. Hard whip into the corner, and the ensuing cover gets 2. Chris goes for a superplex, but Spike throws him off and comes down on him with a double stomp. Spike sets up the Dudley Dawg, but there’s Regal with the distraction, and here comes Chris with the Big Boot and a full nelson bomb (that is either really weak looking or was blown) for the pin in 3:18. There’s the double team, and here’s Bradshaw for the save. Chris lets Regal take the beating as he runs to the back. What is next for Ric Flair? Find out NEXT! ---------- COMMERCIAL BREAK ---------- So Spike Dudley can beat William Regal in 2 seconds for the European Title and loses to Chris Harvard from Tough Enough 1? All to set up a tag team match that shouldn’t go any higher than Heat but will probably be third from the top at KOR, if I know my booking committee? Chris looked OK here (mostly due to Spike‘s bumping), but still quite green. I can guarantee there are other guys in the developmental territories who deserved the call up before this guy. Segment 6 We’re in Oakland, so there are several Oakland Raiders in attendance. There’s something about California sports teams getting robbed in key playoff games. Please welcome The Man (WHOO!), who up to last week was part-owner of WWE until Stone Cold forced a complete overhaul of the product. People think Flair lost everything last week. There was his biggest star walking out. There was losing ownership of Raw thanks to Brock Lesnar. So Flair looked at himself in the mirror, and he’s found the real Ric Flair. So he’ll win matches now? He let ownership go to his head, but his life isn’t over. He didn’t go home like Austin did. He came back. He took a look at Hulk Hogan and how he came all the way back to win the WWE Title. And Flair’s last match is a loss to Vince McMahon? “I don’t think so.” Flair might have lost half a step, but he’s still about two steps faster than just about everybody else in the locker room, so Flair is officially contracted to wrestle for Raw, and he’ll prove he has one last good run left in him. Now to Brock Lesnar. They used to say Flair’s the dirtiest player in the game, and he’ll prove it to Brock. Cue Austin’s music (WHAT?), but then cue “Latino Heat” for Eddy Guerrero to make an appearance. Lawler loves how the “swerve” confused JR. Well, they got me too, what can I say? Anyway, Eddy wants people to listen because that’s the last time these fans will ever hear that music. Eddy was supposed to get Austin mano a mano at King of the Ring, but now there’s no Austin. Do you realize how much Eddy worked for that opportunity? Asshole crowd starts chanting “What” as if Austin will magically show up. Eddy questions how Flair can brag about being back when Austin left on Flair’s watch. Eddy places all the blame on Flair, and calls Flair a worthless piece of crap. Cue Chris BeNOIT’s music. Benoit asks Eddy who he thinks he’s talking to. This is Ric Flair: 30 year pro and the best in the business. Up go four fingers to a huge pop. Flair is a 16-time World Champion who gave his whole life to this business. But so did Eddy’s entire family. And in Eddy’s mind, Flair’s a loser. Eddy promises Flair’s last run will be worse than his run as owner. Flair says he’ll take Austin’s spot at King of the Ring. Eddy says he’ll do to Flair three times what he was going to do to Austin, then says something insulting in Spanish. Something about his mother. Benoit cuts him off, then says Flair took away his opportunity to get revenge on Austin for his broken neck. Fuck, you knew this was coming. Flair’s heard enough and takes Benoit down, but Eddy dropkicks Flair’s knee, and here’s the double team. And to disrespect Flair, there’s Eddy with the figure-four leglock on Flair. Can somebody make a save? Anybody? Today? Hello, Arn? Eddy finally releases the hold, and sure, now the referees come out. Backstage, McMahon hopes Guerrero and Flair beat the hell out of each other, but in comes Christopher Nowinski. He brags to Vince about his accomplishments. They’re interrupted by a call from Tony Garea, who is apparently his lookout at the airport, and “he” is on his way. Vince assumes it’s Austin… ---------- COMMERCIAL BREAK ---------- Well, for a guy who lost his job and almost got thrown in jail, Austin’s sure getting a lot of air time, isn’t he? Anyway, if you’ve been reading these reports the last couple of weeks, you’re probably thinking I’m highly pissed off about the Flair segment, but I’m not. For two reasons. One, it’s actually a logical storyline that essentially writes itself, although I’d have rather seen Benoit and Guerrero take credit for Austin leaving. But the second and more important reason is that no matter who wins the Flair-Guerrero match at King of the Ring, Eddy is going to be that much more credible in the eyes of casual fans. Flair said it best. He’s lost something, but he’s better than a lot of guys. Segment 7 During the break, Vince called in security, and he’s going to allow Austin access to the arena and some freedom to do what he wants. If he wants to apologize, he wants everyone to hear it, and if he’s not, he wants it documented. Mixed Tag Team Match scheduled for one fall: Trish Stratus (WWE Women’s Champion) & D’Lo Brown vs. Crash & Pure and Wholesome Molly Holly D’Lo Brown? On RAW? This stems from D’Lo beating Crash in under two minutes on Heat last night. Don’t you feel stupid that you missed the show now? Can we stop with the ass jokes though? Note to Vince: WE LIKE MOLLY’S ASS! Men vs. men and women vs. women only here. D’Lo hits the Shaky Shaky Legdrop early on. Here come the women, and down goes Molly with Trish’s flying clothesline. Molly begins using the heel tactics as Lawler suggests a chant for Molly. It involves her ass. If it catches on, you all die. Molly goes for the Molly Go Round, but Trish gets out of the way. The men are legal again, and there’s D’Lo’s new finisher, but Molly makes the save. Out of the ring go the women, and Crash goes for the win, but D’Lo hits the Sky High on Crash for the win at 2:44. Postmatch, Molly sends Trish face-first into the broadcast table, and D’Lo tells Molly to “back that ass up”. Watch King of the Ring live at the World. Please? And Nancy Drew is live at the World, and she’s worried about Matt’s match with The Undertaker. It appears she wants him to rethink the match. It’s NEXT! ---------- COMMERCIAL BREAK ---------- Well, if Austin isn’t showing up, there are going to be a lot of pissed off people in the Arena at Oakland. Anyway, I think we’ve used up all the usefulness out of the mixed tag team match. The match was OK, not great, but when the size of somebody’s ass is the focal point of the match there’s a problem. Especially when it’s not that fat and is actually quite nice, particularly on somebody with Molly’s body type. By the way, you don’t realize how nice Molly looks until you see Lita 30 seconds later. Segment 8 Watch King of the Ring on WWE.com. Only $24.95 for a bad card to cut out on you every 30 seconds. Backstage, Vince reminds the camera crew to document Austin, and in comes Tough Enough 2’s Jackie, and she hadn’t actually signed with SmackDown, so she flirts with Vince to try to gain a spot on Raw. Vince asks Jackie to join the Divas lingerie competition, and if she agrees she’ll give a preview from Cleveland next Monday, which is only about an hour from home for her. Non-title match scheduled for one fall: The Undertaker (WWE Undisputed Champion) vs. Matt Hardy (w/o Nancy Drew) Taker will defend the title against Triple H in an intense slobber knocker this week, bah gawd! Matt tries to get a jump on Taker and gets caught by the throat, but gets some separation with a low blow. Taker wastes no time regaining the advantage and dominates. Last Ride attempt is countered, and Matt actually gets a 2 count off of a DDT. Matt gets caught with a choke slam, and Taker covers, but Jeff pulls Charles Robinson out of the ring. This leads to double teaming. Twist of Fate, and Jeff goes for a Swanton, but Raven runs out and shoves Jeff off the turnbuckle. Matt goes for the Twist of Fate, but Taker counters and quickly connects with the Last Ride for the pin in 2:12. Postmatch, Raven pull handcuffs out of his tights and handcuffs Jeff to the top rope. This allows Taker to assault Jeff while Raven keeps Matt from getting involved. I’m not getting the connection, but I like it a twisted sort of way. Matt is begging for the beating of Jeff to stop, and Taker obliges, but not before showing off the belt to the crowd. ---------- COMMERCIAL BREAK ---------- Well, the match sucked, but the match was supposed to suck if Taker’s supposed to be a credible champion going into King of the Ring. I’m curious as to whether the writing team knows if the Raven-Taker connection is long term or not, and if it is, I’m interested in hearing what the connection is. Segment 9 Terri catches Undertaker backstage, who hopes Jeff Hardy learned a lesson and Triple H was watching. Go ahead and break the equipment Hunter, because unlike the equipment, Taker will fight back. Vince gets another call from Tony Garea, but gets cut off before he can confirm if it’s Austin or not. Paul Heyman tells Earl Hebner that he is authorizing nobody to interfere, so he wants to make sure Booker’s disqualified if anybody does interfere. Earl tells him not to tell him how to do his job, and an angry Heyman turns around…right into Booker T, who says don’t worry about a DQ. Booker’s gonna beat him outright. That match is NEXT! ---------- COMMERCIAL BREAK ---------- It’s not Austin, we know it’s not Austin, stop telling us it’s Austin. Anyway, we’ve moved onto the King of the Ring tournament again, and they’ve built a hell of a back story leading up to this match. Brock getting disqualified is the best way to go if we want to have quality matches at the PPV and still protect everybody involved, but I won’t hold my breath. Segment 10 King of the Ring Quarterfinal scheduled for one fall: Brock Lesnar (w/Your God and Mine Paul E. Heyman) vs. Booker T Booker isn’t even at the ring yet, and heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere’s the New World Older. The distraction allows Brock to jump Booker before the bell, and Nash joins HBK at the commentary booth as Heyman yells at the nWo for even being out there. Lesnar works over Booker in and out of the ring. Trademark shoulder blocks into the corner, and Goldust makes HIS way to the ring. Heyman yells at Goldust while Booker hits a leg lariat, but Brock comes right back with a powerslam for 2. Goldust is distracting to Lesnar, and Booker takes advantage. Kick to the midsection, and there’s the scissors kick. SPINNAROONIE! X-Pac on the apron, and Booker knocks him down. Show on the apron, and Heyman tries to stop him, but it was enough of a distraction for Lesnar to hit the F-Five and get the (somewhat) clean win at 3:22. Post match, the nWo does its damage to both Booker T and Goldust. It consists of mostly choke slams from Big Show. Wolfpac salutes all around. Brock is in the semis against the winner of Test vs. Hardcore Holly. Backstage, Sgt. Slaughter tells Vince that Tony Garea has arrived, so Vince asks Slaughter to tell Austin to go to the ring…but it’s not Austin… ---------- COMMERCIAL BREAK ---------- They didn’t just book that. TELL ME they didn’t just book that. You know, if the tourney winner’s supposed to get a title shot at SummerSlam, you might want to have at least a couple of people that the fans might see as credible champions making the final four. Official prediction: If Jericho is in the semifinals, the winner of the RVD-Jericho match gets the shot. If that’s wrong then SummerSlam might not be worth the hype they give a house show in Kalamazoo Segment 11 Mr. McAsshole is in the ring, and he thinks he’s going to confront Austin. McMahon asks for a beer, and he says it’s for somebody else. Not who he’s thinking, I don’t think. Vince asks Austin to come out, the crowd chants for Austin, but they get Tony Garea, and he tells Vince it’s not Austin. “IF YOU SMELLLLLLLLLLL…” that the split…is pointless. It’s the 3rd SmackDown person of the evening to show up at Raw tonight, The Rock. Eh, better than what I was expecting, anyway. Finally The Rock has come back to Oakland, and since it’s not really that far from Hollywood, why should we be surprised? Did Vince really think Austin would show up? It doesn’t matter! The Rock came to address the people, so he gives Vince 15 seconds to leave the ring, and he’s halfway down the aisle by 12. Rocky throws the beer at Vince, who leaves angrily. The Rock knows he’s not supposed to be back for a month, but after last week, he had to show up. When he got there five years ago, he wanted to be the best the industry has ever seen. He sees the same fire every time he goes in the locker room. Everybody on both shows is there because they want to be there. And if anybody in the back doesn’t want to be in the company, then just like the slogan says, they can get the F out. The Rock wants to move up his July 11 return date to Sunday at the King of the Ring. The Rock goes back in history with the WWE, and 50 years from now he’ll still be saying “Just bring it!” WWE is in his blood, from his grandfather Peter Maivia, who started his career in the Bay Area, to “Soulman” Rocky Johnson, and now The Rock. Austin can take his ball and go home, but as far as Rocky is concerned, “This is home.” ---------- END OF SHOW ---------- Rocky’s back, and he wasn’t supposed to be for three more weeks. Wow, that was worth hyping Austin. In all honesty, I’ll give quite a bit of credit to The Rock here. He saw the company was in a tight situation, and he’s rearranging things for the company. He remembers his roots. If not for the former World Wrestling Federation, The Rock would not exist, and neither would opportunities like The Scorpion King or any of his other acting projects. But is Rocky here for the long haul, or is he gone again after SummerSlam like the original plan calls for? Time will tell. Overall, a surprisingly good effort this week. The matches were effective for the most part and everybody seemed energetic and motivated. But even with that, this show felt more like The Steve Austin Hour than it did hype for one of the five major pay-per-view events of the year, which is amazing since he's off the active roster and all. I’m not happy with Brock’s win (not with the title shot at stake in the tourney), but I can’t find too much fault with this show. Remember, Sunday night The Dames will be here with his King of the Ring report, and I will be in Columbus for King of the Ring and will provide an on-site account Monday sometime before Raw. Until then, remember. Never fry bacon when you’re naked, because that grease can be really really painful. Send feedback to JHawk
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