November 18th, 2002
Bridgeport, Connecticut
OPENING VIDEO PACK
New World Heavyweight Champion Shawn Michaels is here and on the way to the ring in his khaki’s. Shawn teases surrendering the title because he may be past his prime, but then instead ops to not do the sensible thing because he never has and he is here to stay as World Champ. RVD comes out and tries to issue a friendly challenge, but before he can accept. Eric Bischoff crashes the party and says RVD has to earn it and makes RVD/Booker/Jericho in a Triple Threat No DQ #1 Contender's Match for later. Shawn wishes RVD luck and then asks Triple H how it feels to now be the one in a hospital bed watching HIM on Raw flaunting the World Title.
1) The Dudleys (Bubba Ray, D-Von, & Spike) vs. 3 Minute Warning (Jamal, Rosey, & Rico)
I guess D-Von is really back on Raw for good! And that means all three of the Dudley's are back together and the crowd loves it and so do I! This is quick and simple, but a lot of fun bc the mf Dudley's are back duh. And they win and start the show off on a positive note!
Match rating - **
Stacy Keibler talks to Test on the phone and lets him know she has some shirt ideas for him that she's gonna take to the ring and get feedback from the "testicles" on.
Bischoff gets word that Triple H is on the way to the arena so he heads out back, but instead he gets who he was expecting earlier - SCOTT STEINERRRR. Bischoff says he will give him anything he wants and they will run roughshod over this place "like the old days" but only if he signs on the dotted line and becomes Raw exclusive. Steiner walks off and heads into the arena.
Stacy is out in the ring with the shirt designs and they're all obviously absurd and a play on the term "testicles". She starts shooting the shirts out of a cannon into the audience and out comes that weirdo Steven Richards. He starts being creepy like last week and says Stacy is "all alone" tonight and he can get "some revenge" so Stacy shoots him in the balls with the shirt cannon LMAO. But out runs Victoria, the new Women's Champion, and she beats the hell out of Stacy and locks her in a submission which also involves biting her fingers and subsequently biting her nails off and spitting one of them in the air.. to top it off, she helps Steven Richards up afterwards.
Eric goes to check on Stacy and puts her in a match against Victoria for the Women's Title later.. as if that's what she wanted.
2) Jeff Hardy & Tommy Dreamer vs. William Regal & Lance Storm
Regal & Storm ambush Hardy on the ramp, Dreamer runs down and this is over before we know it. They isolate Dreamer in the ring, Hardy never even makes it onto the apron. Regal & Storm win.
Match rating - *1/2
SCOTT STEINER IS HERE. He doesn’t reveal who he’s signing with but says Raw and Smackdown are both full of wannabe stars and the greatest of all time is him - the genetic freak and he isn’t here to make friends. Jericho comes out and runs down Steiner as a “jive talking” idiot and teases a brawl, only to leave. Steiner says Jericho is exactly the type of he was talking about and that he might stick around for his match later on and see if he’s as good as he think he is.
3) Victoria (c) vs. Stacy Keibler - Women’s Title Match
Poor Stacy :/// she gets annihilated here aside from one flurry. Vic wins in like 2 minutes or so. She assaults Stacy more after the match but TRISH STRATUS MAKES THE SAVE. Steven Richards shows up to pull Stratus off Victoria and ends up hitting Stratus with a DDT. Gross.
Hurricane Shane Helms explains the story of the sound bite at the beginning of his theme song and when he recorded it.
4) Christopher Nowinski vs. Al Snow - Hardcore Match
“He’s bleeding and he’s suffering...” -Jim Ross on Chris Nowinski
Vintage plunder match that felt more accurate to something Snow would be involved in than anything he's done in recent weeks/months. Nowinski gets his mouth busted open then Snow eats shit on a spot through some chairs. Nowinski wins.
Match rating - **
Backstage, Eric Bischoff has hired Val Venis to be his... assistant or something, idk. They weren’t clear. Venis says he’s a new man with a new job.
5) Ric Flair vs. Kane
Kane is smiling like hell under his mask tonight, boys. Flair is in his suit so I don’t think we are getting a match. Flair says he was joking earlier about not sweating Kane, but that if he lays a hand on him Triple H will kick his ass when he gets back. Kane chases Ric when BATISTA NAILS KANE WITH A CLOTHESLINE OUT OF NOWHERE. Here we go boys. No real pop for this bc Batista is a relative unknown but knowing this is the seeds for Evolution being planted before my eyes has me stoked.
Backstage, Jericho tries to convince Christian to come ringside for his match tonight. Christian is still pissed about the chairshot last week and is upset Jericho would ask him for help after doing that. Christian storms off.
6) Chris Jericho vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Booker T - #1 Contender’s Match
Ok so earlier Jericho went back to his old theme.. now.. he’s using that god damn Saliva song again. Two songs... same night. What in the hell lmao. Anyway this turns out to be the most enjoyable match of the night. They hit each other’s finishers on each other which felt kinda random in just a raw main event or maybe I’m just being annoying. Yeah, fun shit then run-ins happen. Scott Steiner and Christian etc. RVD wins with the frog splash.
Match rating - ***
After the match, World Heavyweight Champ Shawn Michaels comes down to shake hands with the man who will challenge him next week. Cool little stare down with the belt between Michaels and Van Dam to close the show.
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