Raw is War

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
January 31, 2000

With the capacity crowd on its feet, RAW IS WAR kicked off live from Pittsburgh. The action started immediately, as the New Age Outlaws defended their Tag Team Championship against the team of Al Snow and Steve Blackman. Prior to the match, Al Snow unsuccessfully attempted to give the duo a team name - both Snow Storm and Snow Balls were rejected by Blackman.

Also before the match, Chris Benoit, Perry Saturn, Eddy Guerrero and Dean Malenko were spotted sitting in the front row of the arena. Jim Ross quickly questioned what the four athletes were doing there, as they are not under contract with the World Wrestling Federation.

Before a decisive winner could be named, Road Dogg took it upon himself to attack the four radicals in the front row. In a matter of minutes, Benoit, Saturn, Guerrero and Malenko destroyed the Tag Team Champions in the middle of the ring. After the assault, the four free agents walked up the ramp towards the backstage area. It was later learned that Cactus Jack invited them to the show.

After the break, Pittsburgh's own Kurt Angle, in Rock fashion, announced that he had finally returned to his hometown. Needless to say, Angle did not get the response in which he was looking for. After berating the crowd, the Olympian announced that he would later be taking on the People's Champ.

Backstage, the New Age Outlaws were seen arguing with Triple H and Stephanie about what had just happened in regards to the beating they had received. Triple H and Stephanie both agreed that the Outlaws were on their own on this one.

D-Von Dudley then took on Christian. The pace was both fast and furious. It came to an end when, behind the official's back, Edge delivered a devastating kick to the back of D-Von's head. The impact proved to be enough, as Christian rolled D-Von up for the pin. After the match, the Dudleys attempted to dismember Edge and Christian, but Matt and Jeff Hardy hit the ring and absolutely destroyed the unexpecting Dudleys - highlighted by a Jeff Hardy centon bomb onto Buh-Buh Ray Dudley, as he sat motionless on a table.

Federation cameras then caught up with the four guests of Cactus Jack as they did a number on the Mean Street Posse.

Next up, the dancing duo - Too Cool - took on the new look Big Show. Despite his mammoth size, Big Show had some trouble with the talented tandem in the early going. It appeared as though Too Cool would be able to score the victory when Show turned it up a notch, and choke slammed his way to a win. After the match, The Rock appeared on the TitanTron. In typical Rock fashion, the Great One verbally abused both Big Show and Kurt Angle, while the sell-out crowd waited on every word.

Kurt Angle entered the ringside area to a deafening round of boos. The jeers quickly turned to cheers, as The Rock's music hit the arena and the most electrifying man in sports entertainment made his way to the ring. The Rock wasted no time in attacking the supposed undefeated superstar. The tide shifted back and forth several times before the match finally came to an end. When it was all said and done, it was The Rock scoring the victory via pinfall after Tazz threw a runaway Angle back into the ring.

After the commercial break, Chris Jericho, who was accompanied by Chyna, battled X-Pac, who was seconded by his new love affair, Tori, in a non-title bout. As expected, the pace was lightning quick, and the momentum of the match swayed in the favor of both superstars a number of times. After nearly 15 minutes of action, X-Pac was able to score the victory over Y2J - give the assist to Tori, as she clobbered the champ with the Intercontinental Championship belt.

Next up, The Kat defended the Women's Championship against Intercourse, PA, native, Hervina, in the first-ever Lumber Jill Snow Bunny Match. With the exception of her manly appearance, not much was know about Hervina going into the match. The match, and The Kat's title reign, came to an end when Hervina was able to keep The Kat down for the 1-2-3. After the match, it was revealed that Hervina was in fact Harvey Wippleman.

Before the next match got under way, Cactus Jack was seen backstage asking Triple H and Stephanie if they would be interested in signing Benoit, Saturn, Guerrero and Malenko. Both Triple H and Stephanie said they would think about it.

The Holly cousins then took on Viscera in a two on one encounter. The one-man advantage proved to be too much for Big Vis, as the Hollys were able to defeat the big man via pinfall.

After that, highlights were shown from Halftime Heat's live interview with Stone Cold Steve Austin. The interview could be seen in its entirety on StoneCold.com.

Reporting from the World Wrestling Federation's site based entertainment complex - WWF New York - Lilian Garcia broke the news that later in the week, the Federation will hold a press conference from the complex concerning football. Specifics were limited. WWF.com will keep you posted as this situation develops.

Matt Hardy then took on Buh-Buh Ray Dudley. Buh-Buh Ray was accompanied to the ring by the APA - the Acolytes Protection Agency. Earlier in the evening, the Acolytes were hired by the Dudleys to make sure they were protected. Buh-Buh was awarded the match after Matt was disqualified for using a chair. After the match, the APA and the Dudleys outnumbered the Hardys. Christain quickly ran to ringside in an attempt to help the Hardys. His effort was all for not, as the Dudleys powerbombed Jeff onto Matt onto three tables.

Backstage, Triple H and Stephanie informed Benoit, Saturn, Guerrero and Malenko that their services were not wanted by the World Wrestling Federation. The quartet was then asked to exit the building.

In the final match of the evening, Federation Champion Triple H defended the title against Kane. Still hurting from his Street Fight with Cactus Jack at the Royal Rumble, a heavily bandaged Triple H waited in the middle of the ring while Kane's music blared throughout the arena. However, Kane was nowhere to be found. The Champion gave Kane 10 seconds to come to the ring. Again, Kane was nowhere to be found - but Cactus Jack wasn't. As Triple H completed the 10 count, Cactus emerged from backstage to confront the McMahon\Helmsley Era. After offering Triple H his opinion of him, Cactus attacked. Soon thereafter, so did Chris Benoit, Perry Saturn, Eddy Guerrero and Dean Malenko. When it was all said and done, the five competitors absolutely decimated Triple H, leaving him helpless in the middle of the ring.