Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Ruthless Aggression Era Project: WWE Monday Night Raw Review - September 2nd, 2002

WWE Raw 
September 2nd, 2002
Milawaukee, Wisconsin


TONIGHT: Chris Jericho vs. Rob Van Dam + an interview with Shawn Michaels

Eric Bischoff is here and I am so sick of his ass. He has a briefcase in hand. He says Brock couldn't handle the competition on Raw so he went to Smackdown. Eric says Raw deserves a champion, however and he brings out Triple H. Bischoff presents H with the WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP. Ric Flair comes out and says H may have held it once, but he's held it 16 times and every time he earned it by busting his ass in the ring -- it wasn't gifted. This leads to Eric making Flair vs. H for the newly christened title later tonight. H cheap shots Flair on his way out of the ring, after refusing to shake his hand.

Backstage, H passes Bubba Ray and asks him if he's jealous and says there's no need to be because he'll get his shot if he just stands in line like everyone else. Bubba fires back with a great promo and says one day he will become world champion and slap the smug look off his face. This makes me wonder why they never pushed Bubba to a singles run, especially considering what he'd go on to do about 10 years later as a singles competitor. He didn't sound out of place in a verbal exchange with Triple H. 

1) Bubba Ray Dudley & Trish Stratus vs. Chris Nowinski & Molly Holly - Tables Match

These series of matches are just... so repetitive. But this is the fIrSt eVeR iNtErGeNdEr taBleS match and it's pretty funny bc Nowinski puts his own dumbass self through a table as he misses a frog splash on Trish then Bubba put Molly through one. 

Match rating - **1/4

2) Booker T vs. William Regal 
So short, but sweet. Booker hits the scissor kick for the win and does his weekly spinarooni. He’s so over, they need to do something while it’s hot.

Match rating - *3/4

Shawn Michaels is live for an interview from San Antonio. Shawn is in a wheel chair thanks to Triple H’s attack with the sledgehammer after their match at SummerSlam. Shawn reveals a hammer of his own and vows to get him back.

3) Triple H (c) vs. Ric Flair - World Heavyweight Championship Match

I really fucked with this. Wish it would’ve went longer bc it ruled. But for a TV match, I was still satisfied. They worked slow early with mat work and wearing each other down. H went after the leg and they never really touched on it further as the finish sorta came out of nowhere with a low blow followed by a pedigree for H to retain.

Match rating - ***

Post match, Chris Jericho runs down and locks Flair in the walls. ROB VAN DAM down for the save and the crowd is fired up. H comes back in and Van Dam fires shot at the world champ and the crowd explodes. This was sick.

Big Show wants to be #1 contender. Bischoff says to prove it against Tommy Dreamer tonight. Meanwhile, someone is leaving Raw for Smackdown tonight to “see family” . . .

4) Kane vs. Christian & Lance Storm - Handicap Match

Kane’s first match back. Miscommunication allows Kane to defy the odds and nail Lance with a choke slam for the win.

Match rating - **

Test attacks Kane and tries to burn the flag. Bradshaw ?? runs down for the save. He & Kane clear house. Kane’s pyro hits and Bradshaw's music plays. Interesting dynamic.

5) The Big Show vs. Tommy Dreamer

Poor Tommy gets no reaction.. until he destroys Big Show with a chair after getting beaten up for a few minutes. DQ win for Show but Tommy looked good and an ECW chant broke out.

Triple H wants Van Dam’s ass tonight. Jericho argues this bc of their title match. Bischoff makes a good ol tag team match. H/Jericho vs RVD/Flair later.

Jeff Hardy is supposed to face Crash. Bischoff storms out and orders an attack on Jeff bc he thinks he’s the one leaving Raw for Smackdown bc of family shit. They beat him up then Crash gets on the mic and announces that HE is the one leaving, not Jeff. Lord.

6) Stacy Keibler vs. Terri - Lingerie Match

Won’t even lie. I skipped this. I can’t watch a Jerry Lawler refereed Lingerie Match in 2020, I’m sorry.

7) Triple H & Chris Jericho vs. Rob Van Dam & Ric Flair

Jericho and RVD start out and we get a taste of what their singles match would be like. Lots of fancy shit. Flair gets tagged in and things break down for a minute. RVD gets back in and gets rolling hitting all his stuff. Jericho cuts that off with a chair shot behind the ref’s back. They isolate Van Dam from there. Crowd is hot for RVD so the control segment rules as Flair works it well from the apron and comes in to throw a chop to break up the walls of Jericho. Flair and Jericho end up going at it on the floor. H tries to hit RVD with the belt, but RVD fights back and hits the five star frog splash from across the ring for the win. VAN DAM POSES WITH THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT AND IC TITLES TO CLOSE THE SHOW.

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