Correcting 02' - January 7, 2002

[Guest The Bad Guy]

WWF Raw - January 7, 2002 - New York, New York

 

The show kicked off with "No Chance in Hell" hitting and Vince McMahon making his way down to the ring. McMahon stood in front of the sold out crowd when he was in the ring and began speaking.

 

He announced that he was putting out a challenge to the one and only 16-Time heavyweight champion of the world, "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair, at The Royal Rumble, and if Flair loses then he has to give 100% control back to McMahon and leave things the way they were.

 

Flair's music hits and "The Nature Boy" makes his way out to the ring. Flair gets in the ring and stares Vince right in the eye and grabs the microphone away from him. Flair tells Vince that he's more than willing to do that if Vince will put his fifty percent of the company on the line as well. Vince pauses for a little while and swallows deeply in his throat. He says that at The Survivor Series he took a calculated risk to defeat The Alliance and so will he take a calculated risk against Ric Flair at The Royal Rumble.

 

The two men leave the ring. J.R. announces that The Undertaker is going to take on Bradshaw for the Hardcore Title coming up next.

 

Commercial Break

 

The Undertaker is making his way through the back as can be seen on the Titantron. He is mumbling to himself as Raven sneaks up from behind him and nails The Undertaker with a steel chair. He hits The Evenflow DDT on the chair and covers the Taker. Referee Earl Hebner is close behind and makes the three count proclaiming Raven the new Hardcore champion.

 

J.R. mumbles something about Undertaker Vs. Bradshaw being off the books now because of "that damned 24/7 rule". King hypes the return of Triple H, and The Beautiful Day video is show on the Titantron.

 

Commercial Break

 

Raven is seen in the back talking to Ric Flair. Raven tells Flair that since he's the hardcore champion he deserves a job with the company again. Flair says Raven is right and hands Raven a contract. Raven looks down at it and grabs a pen. He looks about ready to sign but starts crossing out things and writing over them and then signs the contract. As it's tossed down a few words can be made out, like Raven's Rules.

 

Meanwhile, Bradshaw is in Vince McMahon's office. Bradshaw asks McMahon if he saw what just happened to his hardcore title match. McMahon says he did and he's going to make things right by forcing Raven's first title defense to be against Bradshaw, later on tonight.

 

Rob Van Dam's music hits and J.R. says that Van Dam is going to take on Edge for the WWF Intercontinental Title. Van Dam is getting huge pops from the crowd as he hops over the top rope and does a few jumping kicks. Edge soon makes his way out through some mist and pyro. The fans are on their feet for him just as they were for Van Dam.

 

The match started off as a fast paced brawl with both men winding up in a karate pose. Van Dam took the advantage with some stiff looking kicks and then hit a rolling thunder for the two. Edge got back on the offensive and soon went for a spear. Van Dam did a split legged leap over it as Edge ran forward into the steel post, knocking out referee Tim White as well. Van Dam went to the floor and got a chair as Edge was stumbling to his feet. Van Dam through the chair and Edge barely caught it and was hit with a VanDaminator for his trouble. Van Dam to the top rope, Five Star Frog Splash on the chair. RVD tosses the chair to the floor and makes the cover. White is barely getting to his feet, 1....2....3. RVD is the new IC champion.

 

J.R. screams something about the chair being involved, but King says that no matter what, Van Dam is still a winner and the new champion. J.R. mentions that the next match is going to be The Dudley Boyz taking on Test and Booker T for the Tag Team titles.

 

Both teams make their way out to the ring to some nice heat. Bubba Ray starts off against Booker and is working him down pretty well. Booker escapes a reverse chinlock by getting to the ropes and a kick to the chest followed by the axe kick puts Bubba down long enough for Booker to get the tag to Test. Test comes in and is setting up for the big boot, but is too close to the ropes as D-Von grabs him. Bubba Ray runs up to go for a clothesline but Test gets out of the way and D-Von is sent to the floor. Bubba looks concerned for his brother as he looks over the ropes. Test grabs his arms into a full nelson and hits a big full nelson slam. Test climbs to the top rope and drops the big elbow. He makes the cover, 1....2....3. Test and Booker T are the new WWF Tag Team Champions.

 

King mentions that three titles have already changed hands tonight and up-next The Hardcore belt may change hands for the second time in one evening. Raven is going to take on Bradshaw.

 

The Triple H Beautiful Day video hits again leading us into yet another commercial break.

 

Bradshaw is out in the ring when we return. Raven's music hits and he makes his way out to the ring with The Hardcore title belt on his shoulder. The match quickly begins and the two are locked up. Bradshaw goes for The Clothesline from hell immediately following an irish whip but Raven ducks. Raven with a kick to the gut looking for an evenflow but Bradshaw throws him back into the ropes and nails The Clothesline from hell as The Undertaker runs out to the ring. Taker and Bradshaw look each other eye to eye and both get in a wild brawl. Raven grabs the ring bell as the two men brawl. He nails Taker in the back of the head with it knocking him to the mat and hits Bradshaw in the gut with the bell before evenflowing him atop it. He goes for the pin, 1....2.....3. Still Hardcore Champion, RAVEN!

 

J.R. says that the next match is going to be a World Wrestling Federation Undisputed Championship match between Chris Jericho and The Rock.

 

Commercial Break

 

The show returns and The Rock is walking down the aisle. He goes into the ring and climbs up onto the turnbuckles to deliver his signature pose. He is ready to climb up onto another corner as Jericho's music hits. Jericho begins making his way down the aisle. He goes into the ring and the two begin a fast paced brawl.

 

The match begins with The Rock pummeling away on a defenseless looking Jericho. Jericho eventually gets slammed to the mat and rolls out to the floor. He is grabbing his back as he does so. Jericho climbs back in and attacks The Rock and slows the pace of the match down a bit. He is using some nice technical wrestling to work down the People's Champ. The fans are chanting "Rocky, Rocky, Rocky!" as he is in a reverse chinlock. The Rock battles out and then is going for a clothesline on the champ but Jericho throws the referee in the way knocking the wind out of The Rock and knocking out Earl Hebner.

 

Jericho went to the floor and grabbed a steel chair. He reeled back and blasted The Rock across the face with the chair. The Rock was cut open horribly with the shot and blood was gushing everywhere. The seat of the chair was now a crimson in color after being soaked in "The People's Blood". Jericho tossed the chair to the floor and locked on The Walls of Jericho. The Rock was struggling to get out of the hold as he was heavily bleeding. J.R. made sure to mention that The Rock surely couldn't continue going on in a match losing his much blood. The blood seemed to be seeping into his eyes as he strained more and more to reach the ropes. The Rock was nearly at the ropes but Jericho was able to pull him back into the middle of the ring. Earl Hebner was now back on his feet and checking on The Rock to see what has happened. The Rock was straining and the mat as well as The Rock's entire face were covered in blood. The Rock reached out with one final surge of energy but couldn't quite get to the ropes. He collapsed and Hebner kept checking on him until he realized that The Rock was definitely unconscious. Hebner rang the bell and Jericho released the hold. He was climbing up onto the ropes to raise his belts in the air and flex. Suddenly "It's All About The Game" hits.

 

Triple H made his way down the aisle and had a microphone in hand. He climbed into the ring and stared Jericho in the face. Triple H said that Jericho put him out of action for eight long months with The Walls of Jericho, it tore his quad, but he came back. Now he was looking for a little bit of payback. He challenged Jericho to a match at The Royal Rumble and Jericho smiled and accepted. Jericho started trash talking Triple H. Soon enough Triple H hit Jericho across the side of the head then kicked him in the gut and delivered a pedigree. He did his pose over Jericho and grabbed the two title belts. He climbed up onto the turnbuckles and with a belt in each hand again did his pose as the crowd went absolutely crazy, nearly blowing the roof off. J.R. said "The Game has triumphantly returned!" as the show went off the air.