In this WWF RAW 4/8/02 review, Ric Flair announces two No. 1 Contender’s matches, Trish Stratus gets her hands on Molly Holly, and much more.
Let’s jump in.
– We get a SmackDown recap of Vince McMahon naming Hulk Hogan the No. 1 contender for the Undisputed title after Ric Flair said it would be The Undertaker on RAW.
IN THE RING: Naturally, Taker is pissed and wants answers. Flair struts out and says he got a little too ambitious. However, he gets to make the championship match after Backlash, so Flair tells him to calm the hell down. Taker calls him a no-good son of a bitch, which is the opposite of calming the hell down. Taker once again refers to the beating he gave Flair at WrestleMania 18 and demands Flair make him the No. 1 contender.
Taker threatens him but here comes Steve Austin. He orchestrates the ‘What’ chants like an absolute legend and takes shots at both Flair and Taker. Austin’s watch is talking to him! Siri in 2002. Austin wants Flair to make a decision on if it’ll be him or Taker as the No. 1 contender. Flair has issues with both of them and says if anyone touches him, there will be hell to pay. He then announces two top contender matches with Taker vs. Rob Van Dam and Austin vs. Scott Hall.
Taker is once again pissed and tells Flair there’s gonna be hell to pay if he doesn’t get the title match. Taker then calls Austin “cueball” and Austin goes after Taker. I can’t say I miss the era of 20-minute promos to start a show. Even with three legends like this, it was probably longer than it needed to be.
Booker T vs. (c) Bubba Ray Dudley – WWF Hardcore Title
Before the match, Booker says the folks came to see the SPINNEROONI. He’s right! Booker does the spinnerooni and wants Bubba to do the same. Bubba then does a dance that must be seen to be believed before Booker attacks to start the match. We’ve got trash cans and trumpets as the weapons of choice, which is a unique combination.
Booker takes control and uses a stop sign and trash can on Bubba. JR pumps up Bubba as a singles competitor, then the fans want tables. WHERE’S D’VON? That’s right, he’s on SmackDown. Bubba brings out the table anyways, but Goldust hits the ring and hits a DDT on Booker. Bubba then powerbombs Goldust and pins him for the win…..I think?
BACKSTAGE: Jonathan Coachman with Trish Stratus. We see the recap of Molly Holly attacking Trish last week during the BIKINI PADDLE ON A POLE MATCH. That was real. Trish talks about Molly getting her from behind, and of course, the crowd can’t help themselves. William Regal walks in and isn’t happy about Trish flashing her BRISTLES to everyone. Regal goes to talk about Spike Dudley, and Trish makes fun of Regal losing to him. Regal rants on Spike.
BACKSTAGE: Terri finds Kane looking at the Divas swimsuit issue. Kane says just because he has a burnt face, it doesn’t mean his other parts aren’t working. VINTAGE KANE. Terri asks him about approaching life differently, and Kane says freaks kick ass. He hypes his match with X-Pac and says he sucks.
BACKSTAGE: X-Pac with Hall and Kevin Nash. X-Pac doesn’t want them coming with him to the ring.
X-Pac vs. Kane – Falls Count Anywhere Match
These two go right at each other and JR expects Hall and Nash to interfere. X-Pac and Kane fight into the crowd and they make their way backstage. Hall and Nash immediately destroy Kane with a pipe and 2×4, with X-Pac using the chair on Kane for the win. After the match, X-Pac rips Kane’s mask off but Bradshaw runs them off.
BACKSTAGE: After the break, Kane is being attended to as we transition to X-Pac wearing Kane’s mask. Flair walks in pissed, and Nash threatens him. So Flair suspends his ass. Nash wants to sue Flair but he doesn’t care.
Spike Dudley vs. (c) William Regal – European Title
Hilarious spot before the match starts with Regal dropping a pair of brass knucks. The referee picks them up to get them out of the ring, which allows Regal to place a second pair in the turnbuckle. Spike runs down and clocks Regal with the knucks before the bell, and he quickly pins Regal to win the title. This was clever.
BACKSTAGE: Coach with Spike. Tommy Dreamer and Big Show walk by and pour slurpies on Spike, with Jacqueline also congratulating him. Then it’s Bubba Ray who shakes Spike’s hand.
Rob Van Dam vs. The Undertaker – No. 1 Contender’s Match
Again, the winner goes to Backlash to face the winner of the Austin vs. Hall match. Taker comes out with a vengeance and pounds away at RVD. It’s pretty incredible to watch RVD in this era, as he was so entertaining with his unique style. Rolling Thunder to Taker in what is one of my favorite RVD moves.
Taker essentially loses it and grabs a chair, but RVD quickly hits a Van Daminator. Then RVD goes up top and sees Eddie Guerrero out of the corner of his eye on the outside. So he flies onto him, but once RVD hops back in, he gets a chokeslam for a near fall. Taker goes for the Last Ride, but RVD reverses and hits a missile dropkick.
Five Star Frog Splash onto Taker, and in a great spot, Eddie hits RVD from behind with the IC title as the referee checks on Taker. Eddie then fakes an injury as the ref turns around. Taker goes for the pin, and RVD kicks out at two and a half. But Taker finally hits a huge Last Tide and gets the pin for the victory. The interference finish (which was a theme in this era) won’t be for everyone, but I really enjoyed this match. (Recommended)
RINGSIDE: Jazz joins commentary, and boy does she have a black eye. Brutal.
BACKSTAGE: Terri with Molly Holly. Molly explains why she attacked Trish and says she’s one of the best women’s wrestlers in the world. Terri thinks she’s jealous of the hot divas, and Molly says she’s pure and wholesome.
Trish Stratus vs. Molly Holly
JR continues to ask Jazz questions, but she’s no-selling everything. Good stuff. I like the character change for Molly. She did have a claim for being the best wrestler, so why not embrace it? Trish comes out aggressive, and that’s a little thing that’s important since she should be angry about Molly attacking her.
Lawler keeps trying to get Jazz to speak, and she’s not having it. Eventually, Trish confronts Jazz, and with an assist from Molly, Jazz nails Trish with the title while the referee is down. Molly then does a modified pin to steal the win.
RINGSIDE: JR and Lawler hype Triple H vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan at Backlash.
BACKSTAGE: Brock Lesnar is pacing around the room and Paul Heyman tries to calm him down by taunting Phoenix.
IN THE RING: Heyman announces he’s officially Lesnar’s agent, and he hypes Lesnar as “the next big thing.” He uses more superlatives but really pushes that line, which we know would stick. Even two decades later, it’s easy to why Lesnar would become such a huge star. He has “it.” The Hardy Boyz come in to attack Lesnar, and he throws them out. Then they come back in with chairs and hit Lesnar with two BRUTAL chair shots to the head. I cringe every time I see those in this era.
Mr. Perfect vs. The Big Show
Before the match, they show the huge dent in one of the chairs from the attack on Lesnar. If you’ve read any of my other reviews, you know that Perfect is one of my favorites. It was fun seeing him back in WWE during this short run. Perfect actually hits the Perfect Plex on Show (I am not joking), but Show kicks out at one and chokeslams Perfect for the quick victory.
BACKSTAGE: Austin enters Flair’s office and sits in his chair with his feet on the desk.
VIDEO: Hype for the WWF Divas Tropical Pleasure VHS tape. That probably got a few buys.
BACKSTAGE: Austin is still waiting for Flair, and in he comes. Austin is confused by Taker being the No. 1 contender, and Flair explains they’ll wrestle at Backlash. I thought that was already made clear, but I could be wrong.
Scott Hall (w/X-Pac) vs. Steve Austin – No. 1 Contender’s Match
X-Pac walks out with Kane’s mask to continue that storyline. Austin runs wild to start the match, which includes choking Hall with his jacket. This match is a full-on brawl between these two, with X-Pac getting involved on the outside. Hall takes control for a bit, but Austin fights back and we get a double clothesline.
Lou Thesz Press from Austin swings the momentum, but it’s another ref bump. Austin takes out Hall and X-Pac, then Taker runs in and hits a chokeslam on Austin. Bradshaw hits the ring and brawls with Taker through the crowd. Hall goes for the pin, but Austin kicks out.
Yet another ref bump, and X-Pac is back in for the 2-on-1 attack. Flair hits the ring and clocks X-Pac, then Austin hits the Stunner on X-Pac and Hall and pins Hall for the victory. Austin then hits the Stunner on Flair. A little too much happening in that finish for my liking, but the crowd was into it.
BLAKE’S TAKE ON WWF RAW 4/8/02
- Overall Rating: 5.0/10
- RAW vs. SmackDown Standings (based on my show ratings, updated after 4/4 SmackDown): SmackDown leads 1-0
- Thoughts: As usual, most of the matches were more about furthering storylines than anything else. Upon rewatching this show it was clear they were trying a lot of different things, though none of it was all that appealing. I enjoyed Taker vs. RVD more than most probably, but the rest of the stuff was just kind of there. The numerous ref bumps and interference finishes were also a glaring issue with this episode.
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