Raw is War

St. Louis, Missouri
April 22, 2002

A raucous St. Louis crowd roared to life as RAW opened just one day following Hulk Hogan's win over Triple H for the Undisputed Championship!

The action started off with Brock Lesnar bringing his gargantuan frame to the ring, accompanied by Paul Heyman. Lesnar took on Matt Hardy, whose brother Jeff was pulverized by the Next Big Thing at Backlash.

Matt Hardy's entrance theme hit and Brock readied for his opponent, watching the TitanTron anxiously. But Matt dashed in from through the crowd and surprised Brock. The surprise wasn't enough, though, as Brock rammed Matt into the corner then delivered a crunching backbreaker.

Brock continued to dominate until Matt Hardy dodged a spear attempt and Brock's shoulder cracked into the steel ring post. Matt continued to roll, dropping not one but two leg drops. Matt tried to finish things off with the Twist of Fate, but Brock reversed the move into a spinning facebuster! Brock didn't let up. He picked Matt up on his shoulders, spun him around and powebombed him to the mat. The referee saw Matt laying broken on the canvas and promptly stopped the match.

Backstage, Ric Flair wandered backstage and tried to converse with some stagehands, who rebuffed him. Flair realized the men were angered that Flair had missed seeing Stone Cold's foot on the ropes and thus counting the pinfall on the Rattlesnake. Flair turned around and came face to face with the Undertaker. Taker said that Flair did the right thing last night and thanked him. Flair said he simply did not see Austin's foot on the rope. Taker said Flair could say what he wanted, but Taker owed him one. He said he was going out to the ring to publicly thank Flair, and told the RAW owner that he owed him one. 

The No. 1 contender for the Undisputed Championship showed up in the ring as promised. The Undertaker said that as the No. 1 contender, he would like to take some time to compliment Ric Flair for a job well done as referee at Backlash. He said that Flair called the match right down the middle and did the right thing. But Taker said that no matter who the ref was, Taker would have beaten Austin's ass. Taker fell silent as the crowd chanted for Austin. He continued, saying that he gets to go to Judgment Day and fight the immortal Hulk Hogan.

Taker said he knew everyone was all caught up with Hogan and his miracle comeback story. Taker told Hogan he was welcome, because without him, Hogan would never have gotten the win. But at Judgment Day, Taker said he would become judge, jury and executioner of Hulkamania! He promised to become the Federation Champion!

The camera suddenly caught Triple H walking backstage on his way to the ring. Taker protested, saying The Game was only supposed to be on SmackDown! and only the champion could appear on both shows. Triple H didn't seem to care. He slid into the ring and took down Taker and followed with a series of shots to the head! The men grappled in the ring until Triple H knocked Taker through the ropes and hit him with a flying tackle over the announce table!

The Game cleared the monitors from the table and smashed one of them into Triple H's face. He continued his assault until several referees stormed down and separated the men. But Taker got up with a bloody gash on his forehead and punched Triple H before walking away. An angry Triple H shoved down several referees and pounced on Undertaker. The men brawled to the side of the entrance ramp. 

Taker fled backstage, but The Game followed and continued to pummel the Dead Man. Taker lay bleeding on the ground, begging for Triple H to stop. But The Game produced a sledgehammer and bashed Taker with it! Before he could do any more damage, security guards rushed in and restrained him. Police officers soon showed up and slapped cuffs on Triple H and led him away, but not before The Game connected with a kick to Taker's chest!

Jim Ross and the King tried to piece together the announce table when RAW returned from break. The Game was shown being hustled out of the building in the back seat of a police car.

JR noted that "The Scorpion King," starring The Rock, had set a new April box office record. JR then introduced the Federation's own movie reviewers, Goldust and Booker T. Goldust launched into a monologue about The Rock's movie but Booker cut him off and told him to just roll the damn footage! A stunning action scene played, followed by Booker giving the movie two thumbs up. However, Booker had a problem with The Rock being the star. He said if he were the star the movie would be the biggest thing ever. Goldust said that sounded delicious. Booker T said he was right and ordered another clip shown. This showed Booker set in the movie, wielding a sword and reminding everyone that he is a five-time WCW Champion!

Goldust said one thing would have made the film an Oscar contender: Goldust. With that, he played his own clip of himself in "The Scorpion King." Booker said if Goldust were in the movie, it would have been called "The Scorpion King!" Said Goldust, "Tell me you did not just say that!"

Backstage, Flair ran into William Regal, who congratulated his boss for an excellent referee job. Flair said it was an honest mistake, an accident. Regal congratulated him on his "accident."

Back at the ring, new Intercontinental Champion Eddie Guerrero joined the King and JR at the announce table. Guerrero said that he had been celebrating his new title. Mr. Perfect then came out to take on Rob Van Dam. RVD came over to have a few words with Guerrero, but Perfect jumped him from behind and threw him into the ring. RVD came out more aggressive than ever, hitting Mr. Perfect with several acrobatic maneuvers. RVD nearly got Perfect pinned after a Rolling Thunder, but Mr. Perfect kicked out. 

But RVD's high-risk attack nearly doomed him. Perfect reversed one of RVD's innovative moves into a sunset flip, but the referee caught Perfect putting his feet on the ropes for leverage. Soon after, RVD finished Mr. Perfect with a Five Star Frog Splash. RVD had no time to celebrate though as Eddie Guerrero promptly attacked him. Eddie launched his own Frog Splash but RVD blocked the move and hurled Guerrero from the ring!

Trish Stratus joined with Jacqueline against Molly Holly and Women's Champion Jazz next. Trish was fired up and ticked off after losing to Jazz the night before at Backlash. The match turned into a fast-paced brawl. Jazz slung Trish hard into the steel steps, then hit Jackie with the title before Molly leveled Jackie with a clothesline and took the win! After the match, though, Trish let loose on both Molly and Jazz, making sure to get her the last shot in.

In his office, Ric Flair tried to convince his friend Arn Anderson that he didn't count Austin out on purpose. Anderson said he believed him, but there were many employees who didn't and therefore there were probably some fans who didn't believe it either. Arn told Flair to go out and address the fans with this issue. Flair said he would do just that.

The Nature Boy came to the ring to address the fans next. Flair said he came out to set the record straight. He said he did a lousy job as the guest referee and that he blew the final call. That was something he would have to live with for a long time. He said he was put in a position that he wasn't ready for, with the nWo walking down to ringside and millions of fans watching adding to the pressure of calling the match. He said he understood why Stone Cold was so upset. He showed the footage of the pinfall. Flair then played the footage of a camera from his point of view, which clearly showed that he could not have seen Austin's foot on the rope.

Flair said he respects Austin and wouldn't do anything to hurt him. He said that Austin is the man and he loves him. He said the two are friends and he apologized to the Rattlesnake. Glass suddenly broke and Stone Cold Steve Austin sauntered down to face the Nature Boy!

Austin said that Flair had made the single biggest mistake of his life. He didn't care what Flair had done in the past or what he would do in the future. Flair cut Austin off and told him he had 16 championships. He apologized for his mistake and tried to set the record straight. He said that he was not Vince McMahon. Austin agreed, and said he would rather deal with Vince because he would look him in the eye and say he was going to screw him. But Austin said Flair would shake his hand and act like his friend then turn around and screw him. 

Austin continued by saying that since they were in the "show me state" of Missouri. He had some footage to show Flair. So he stuck his middle finger right into the RAW Owner's face! Flair said that he could do something to make things right. He promised to make sure that the nwo never screwed with him again. He said that Bradshaw would team with Austin for a match against the nWo!

Next up, Bubba Ray Dudley teamed with half brother Spike against Goldust and Booker T in tag action. Spike immediately launched himself over the top rope onto Booker T and Goldust before the match even began. Spike continued to be a factor later on as he nearly scored a pinfall on Goldust. But once outside the ring, Booker T dropped Spike onto the ring barrier to siphon away Spike's momentum. 

Spike continued to fight valiantly and was able to tag in Bubba Ray. Bubba smashed Booker T with a sidewalk slam and several punches. Bubba busted into a dance and then dropped an elbow onto Booker. He then tagged in Spike who leapt at Booker from the top rope. Goldust broke up the pinfall, but Bubba and Spike cleared the ring and faced each other. Bubba ran outside the ring to get a table but was jumped by Goldust. Meanwhile, Booker T nailed Spike with a scissors kick and celebrated his ensuing pinfall on Spike with a spineroonie!

 Following the match, Stephen Richard raced down and smashed Bubba with a trash can lid and tried to pin him for the Hardcore Championship! But Bubba kicked out. Spike tried to hit Stephen with the Dudley Dawg, but Stephen countered the move and went outside the ring to set up a table. Bubba Ray pounced on Richards and ended up powerbombing him through the table! Bubba celebrated with a dance then helped his brother to his feet.

Footage rolled of the man from Planet Stasiak talking to himself in the backroom when Tommy Dreamer walked in. Stasiak said that hearing and doing wacky things was just another day on Planet Stasiak. William Regal rolled in and told Stasiak to get with reality. Stasiak challenged Regal to a match and Regal accepted just to knock some sense into him.

Stasiak came out to face Regal next. He psyched himself up then jumped right into the ring where he met with a brass knuckle laced punch from Regal! Not even seconds after the match started, it ended with Stasiak flat on his back and being pinned.

Backstage, Arn Anderson and Ric Flair raced down the hall to find an unconscious Bradshaw, obviously the victim of an assault. Flair said he thought he knew who did it and went to find the culprit.

Flair found the nWo in their locker room. X-Pac and Scott Hall expressed surprise that Bradshaw had suffered a beating. They assumed that meant they would be in a handicap match that night. But Flair said he would find another partner for Austin. Flair turned to leave and Kevin Nash appeared after Flair walked out. But Flair suddenly reappeared and reminded Nash that he was suspended. He ordered Nash out of the building then announced that X-Pac and Hall would face Stone Cold and the Big Show!

The new Undisputed Champion, Hollywood Hulk Hogan, came to the ring. Hogan took the microphone and said that Hulkamania was still runnin' wild. He said that Triple H deserves a rematch because if it weren't for the Undertaker, Hogan may or may not be the new champ. But he knew that 18 years ago Hulkamania was born and last night it was reborn! 

Hogan said that on the last SmackDown! that Vince McMahon asked what he would do when reality came crashing down. Hogan said he was holding reality right in his hand because he is the Federation Champion. He said if his run ends this week or next week or if he were to die tomorrow, he would be a happy man still because Hulkamania is running wild once again. He cited all the Hulkamaniacs for helping him to the top of the mountain. He told Undertaker that he better believe in the power of the Hulkamaniacs. Hogan tore his shirt and asked Undertaker what he was going to do at Judgment Day when Hulkamania ran wild on him!

The night's main event featuring the nWo's X-Pac and Scott Hall taking on the Big Show and Stone Cold Steve Austin came up next. X-Pac wore Kane's mask down to the ring in a continued mocking gesture toward the injured Big Red Machine.

The match began with Big Show and X-Pac facing off. X-Pac tried to lock up with the mammoth Big Show but he was simply tossed off like a piece of paper. Scott Hall tagged in and locked up with Big Show but he too was just thrown down with ease.

Scott Hall pointed at Austin and challenged the Rattlesnake to tag in. Stone Cold did just that and Austin got busy attacking both Scott Hall and X-Pac. He clobbered Hall to the mat and began stomping him repeatedly in the corner.

Austin then whipped X-Pac into the corner against Scott Hall and began kicking a mudhole in both of them. Austin choked X-Pac against the ring rope and tried to run onto Scott Hall, but Hall moved and Austin landed awkwardly on the rope. That allowed the nWo to take over.

Hall and X-Pac took turns attacking Austin. X-Pac connected with a stiff kick that knocked Austin for a loop. But the Rattlesnake rebounded and took down Scott Hall, nearly getting a pinfall before X-Pac broke up the count.

Hall put Austin in an abdominal stretch, holding on to X-Pac for some additional leverage. The ref eventually saw this tomfoolery and kicked X-Pac's hand away. A lateral press soon after got a two-count against Austin, but he kicked out. 

The nWo continued to take turns beating Austin around. Big Show begged for a tag, but Austin was kept away from his friendly corner by Hall. Soon, Hall put Austin in a sleeper hold, but Austin managed to reverse the move into a Stone Cold Stunner!

Austin staggered to his corner and made the tag to Big Show! Show stepped over the ropes and faced Scott Hall, but suddenly turned back and grabbed Stone Cold by the throat!

Big Show delivered a huge chokeslam and celebrated with his arms raised in alliance with Scott Hall and X-Pac as RAW closed!