Raw is War

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
January 24, 2000

Off the heels of one of the most spectacular Royal Rumble’s in World Wrestling Federation history, RAW IS WAR was live from Philadelphia. With stitches in his head and calf, WWF Champion Triple H and his wife, Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, made their way to the ring to gloat over the previous nights victory. As sweet as it was though, Triple H couldn’t help but look ahead – to his showdown with The Rock at WrestleMania 2000.

Just as Triple H was getting into it, the Big Show interrupted the proceedings to claim he was robbed in the Royal Rumble. After explaining that The Rock’s two feet hit the floor first, Big Show asked the first family of the WWF for a favor. Grant him a match with The Rock for the right to face Triple H at WrestleMania 2000 if he can produce physical proof that he in fact was the rightful winner of the Royal Rumble.

Triple H couldn’t even respond before The Rock’s music hit and tens of thousands of fans were sent into a screaming frenzy. The People’s Champ informed both of the "candy asses" in the ring that it didn’t matter who’s feet touched the floor the first, the fact of the matter was the WWF isn’t the NFL, there’s no instant replay and The Rock was heading to WrestleMania 2000! Commenting that they had a common enemy, Triple H suggested to the Big Show that they team up later in the night to take on The Great One and the partner of his choice. The only problem was whether or not The Rock could convince one of the "jabroni’s" backstage to help him out.

Before the break, Hardcore Holly invaded the women’s dressing room looking for Chyna. The two superstars had a heated exchange, which ended with Holly nailing the former Intercontinental Champion in the head. Out of nowhere, Chris Jericho came to Chyna’s rescue and decimated the Alabama native and challenged him to a match.

After Al Snow and Steve Blackman had some discussion about some possible team names (Head Cheese, Head Games), the duo had to hit the ring to take on Edge and Christian. The possible Head Cheeses showed impressive team chemistry as they matched up well against the young brothers. When they hit with a tandem move, Edge was rendered unconscious and the match was ruled a no decision. His future brother-in-law, Val Venis immediately hit the ring as well.

Next up was the Intercontinental Championship match between Y2J and Hardcore Holly. Jericho entered the ring to a thunderous ovation and with more aggression than we’ve seen from him in some time. The Ninth Wonder of the World decided she needed a better seat, so she came ringside. It didn’t take long for Hardcore to get outside and start with Chyna. Again, this drove Jericho into a frenzy! Back inside the ring, Holly was able to dropkick Y2J into the ropes in such a way that his arms got caught between the top and middle ones. As the referee attempted to free him up Chyna hit the ring. The Ninth Wonder of the World hit Hardcore with a Pedigree on a steel chair! Once Jericho was free, he connected with an Asai moonsault and scored the win.

Michael Cole was backstage with the Hardys who said that they were ready to defy the odds once again and take the Tag Team Titles from the New Age Outlaws. The Dudleys joined the party and offered their hands to Matt and Jeff as a show of respect. But Buh-Buh Ray and D-Von wanted something else – the promise of the first title shot if the Hardys were victorious later in the night.

Too Cool danced their way down the ramp to take on Crash Holly and Big Vis. Crash Holly pretty much took care of himself while Scotty 2 Hotty and Grand Master Sexay used their surperior teamwork to try and topple Viscera. Not even Scotty’s "Worm" could keep him down though, as Big Vis’ size proved to be too much in the end.

The Coach was live at his new "home away from home" WWF New York. The Times Square entertainment complex was jumping once again, as the fans were in the house to watch RAW!

Next up was the speed of X-Pac vs. the power of Kane. Tori watched from the outside until the two combatants found their way out there as well. The blonde beauty looked for safety inside the ring, but X-Pac soon joined her. The D-Generate grabbed her and planted a big kiss right on her mouth! Tori shrieked in disgust and Kane scooped her up and tried to bring her to the back, but X-Pac wasn’t done. He brought the Big Red Machine to his knees by slamming a steel chair across his back.

The Tag Team Championship was on the line when the Road Dogg and Mr. Ass put the gold up against the Hardy Boys. Matt and Jeff were obviously still feeling the affets of last night, as the older Hardy had his ribs heavily taped. It didn’t take long for the Dudleys to come to the ring. Buh Buh Ray and D-Von immediately set up a table – to sit on. With their superior team work the champs were able to isolate Matt for quite some time, not allowing him to tag. When he was finally able to tag in his brother it seemed an upset might be in the works, but not as long as the Dudleys were around! Even though they swore they were giving the Hardys their respect, the extreme brothers stopped the three count and decimated Matt and Jeff. Hitting with the 3-D on both of them, Buh Buh Ray and D-Von knocked the North Carolina natives out. Matt and Jeff’s only hope was Terri, but what happened to hear was unbelievable. Buh Buh Ray powerbombed her from the top rope through a table. She wasn’t moving when medical personnel hit the ring.

As Terri was being carted off on a stretcher, Kurt Angle hit the ring to put all his fans fears to rest; he was still technically undefeated. He wasn’t through calling Tazz a "street thug" when the Brooklyn native appeared! He wasn’t interested in debating Angle, he immediately put him back in his version of the choke-out sleeper and rendered the Olympic stud unconscious for the second night in a row.

D’Lo doesn’t seem to care if bein’ a playa is easy, he sure has been enjoyin’ it lately! D’Lo and the Godfather teamed up to take on the Acolytes. Even though D’Lo and the Godfather hung tough, Bradshaw seemed to take out all of his aggression with one "Clothesline from Hell" on D’Lo and got the pinfall.

What was supposed to be the official crowning of Mae Young as Miss Royal Rumble 2000 turned into a "puppy brawl!" All of the competitors except for Terri got into a violent disagreement about whose were real and whose weren’t. After the ring was cleared, Mae tried to give the crowd what they wanted, but Sexual Chocolate came in for the save.

Hardcore Champion, Test, took on the superstar who most recently held that title, the Big Boss Man. After a few minutes of action, Stevie Richards returned dressed up as Test, interfering on his behalf. This resulted in a Boss Man victory via DQ. Test then destroyed Stevie.

The main event of the night saw Rikishi come out and join The Rock against Triple H and Big Show. Both The People's Champ and Rikishi more then held their own and within minutes the back-up plan was on the way -- that being the rest of DX. But The Rock and Rikishi had back-up as well, in the form of Cactus Jack! Together, the three superstars cleared the ring of Big Show and DX!