Raw is War

Dallas, Texas
June 3, 2002

Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero talked backstage as the June 3 episode of WWE RAW kicked off live from Dallas, Texas! Flair said he had a few things to take care of tonight, and he, Benoit and Guerrero left for the ring, accompanied by dozens of security guards. He told Anderson that when Stone Cold Steve Austin showed up, to tell Stone Cold that he would be waiting in the ring.

Moments later, Flair headed for the ring, accompanied by Benoit, Guerrero and the security guards. The guards surrounded the ring as Flair shook hands with the Wolverine and Latino Heat. The Nature Boy said he loved it when a plan came together. He said last week on RAW, his welcoming committee had grounded Stone Cold. He showed footage of last week's gang attack on the Rattlesnake, and then shook hands with Benoit and handed him the mic.

Benoit said last week, he had made a special appearance on RAW just to see Stone Cold. He said the only reason he couldn't wrestle tonight is because of Stone Cold. He said a year ago at King of the Ring, he was about to become WWE Champion, but the Rattlesnake took that away from him. An angry Benoit shook in rage. He said he'd had a whole year to sit at home with nothing but time and patience, and now he'd run out of both. He said last week was just the beginning of a very long and painful payback.

Benoit handed the mic to Guerrero, who said that last Monday night, he had his Intercontinental Championship stolen from him. He said it made him feel like less of a man. He said he felt like he was losing his "Latino-ism." But after he frog-splashed Austin, Guerrero said he felt his warm blood pumping in his body once again, and felt the fire running through his veins. He said he felt his Latino Heat!

Flair took the mic back and told Eddie he was cool. He then said he knew Stone Cold would like to wrestle tonight in his home state of Texas. But Flair said no, because Stone Cold was benched. The Nature Boy said if Austin had a problem with that, he should check in with Arn Anderson, who would tell him how to get to the ring.

Footage then came on the TitanTron of Austin holding a prone Anderson, who had clearly been beaten up. Austin then laid into Arn again and addressed Flair, who said he'd beaten the living hell out of the Enforcer. Austin said that ever since he was benched, he didn't like it. Austin said being benched sucks. He told Flair to give him Benoit or Guerrero tonight or he would do to Flair what he just did to Anderson.

The crowd chanted for Austin as Flair said he wouldn't be bullied. Flair said Guerrero already had a match tonight, and Benoit wasn't medically cleared yet. Flair also pointed out that Benoit was still property of SmackDown!

Austin asked if he had to listen to everything Flair said, and asked if Flair thought he was better than him. He said if Flair thought he was the man, then maybe tonight it should be Stone Cold vs. Ric Flair! Austin said if he won the match, he was off the bench, back to competing full-time, and if he lost, he was back on the bench.

Flair stared Austin down, and asked if Stone Cold wanted to wrestle the 16-time World Champion. The Nature Boy said OK, and said he would fight him tonight under one condition -- it would be an old-time wrestling match. Flair said it wouldn't be a bar fight -- it would be a wrestling match. And Flair said if he beat Austin, he was on the bench for the rest of his life. He told Austin to think about it hard, since he said Austin was no match in the squared circle for the Nature Boy.

Austin said he had a question -- What exactly is a Nature Boy? Does he like nature? Does he like boys? Austin laid some more kicks into Anderson, and said he'd been drinking beer all day, and nature was calling right now. He then urinated all over Anderson!

Stone Cold talked about Flair's catch phrase that "To be the man, you have to beat the man." He said that his personal philosophy was that it was better to be pissed off than pissed on!

The WWE Hardcore Title was on the line as the show returned from commercial, as Bradshaw challenged Steven Richards in a bout that saw Jacqueline as the special referee. Bradshaw used a bullrope to his advantage, cracking the cowbell over Richards' head. He slammed Richards down and hog-tied his feet. He then tossed a lasso, a saddle, and buffalo horns into the ring, but Richards caught him with a garbage can lid. Steven hit him repeatedly, but Bradshaw wouldn't go down! After one slam, Spike Dudley ran down and tried to pin Steven, but Bradshaw pulled him off.

Spike went up top, but Bradshaw kicked him down. The Tough Texan then hit the Clothesline from Hell to win the Hardcore Title, only to be attacked by Justin Credible. Bradshaw put the garbage can on Credible's head and pounded on him. As Bradshaw was about to leave the ring, Crash ran down, but a bit too late, as Bradshaw caught him coming in. He then turned around to see Jackie behind him, and jokingly told her not to dare attack him! Bradshaw was then finally able to celebrate his Hardcore Title win with his fellow Texans.

The nWo talked backstage, and Kevin Nash told the others to shut the hell up. He said he had a big announcement to make tonight that would affect all of them. As they talked, Goldust walked in, pretending to be Coach. He interviewed Nash about his big announcement tonight, asking if the announcement was that Goldust would be in nWo. Nash said hell no. Booker said that if Goldust wanted to be in the group, he should let him. He said if Goldust could beat X-Pac tonight, then Goldust was in and X-Pac was out. Nash said OK, much to X-Pac's chagrin!

That match was up next, as Goldust met Booker T in a King of the Ring qualifying match, with the added stipulation that if Goldust could win the bout, X-Pac would be out of the nWo and Goldust would be in! Goldust held up his hand in the nWo hand signal as the match began, only to be attacked by X-Pac. X-Pac went for the Bronco Buster but Goldust moved, allowing the Golden One to gain the advantage. Goldust then gave X-Pac a Bronco Buster of his own! He went for another one, but X-Pac caught him with a low blow. X-Pac followed up with an X-Factor to win the bout, advancing in the King of the Ring tournament.

Coach interviewed Rob Van Dam, the new WWE Intercontinental Champion. RVD said last week's Ladder Match was rough, but worth it because the IC Title meant more to him than anything. He said last week was the start of the summer of RVD. Paul Heyman clapped for him, and he and Brock Lesnar approached him. RVD said Paul looked like he had lost some weight, and asked if he was on that Subway Diet. Heyman said he had made RVD, and now he was fully behind Brock. He said he wanted Brock to meet RVD, because later in the night in their tag match, Van Dam would know what it was like to come face to face with the Next Big Thing. Brock stared RVD down, and RVD said he was looking forward to it, and smiled!

Matt Hardy was walking backstage, and approached Jeff Hardy, who was playing his guitar. Jeff asked if Matt ever thought there would be more than Team Extreme, more than going somewhere and wrestling. Jeff said they weren't Team Exteme, they weren't living for the moment -- they were hypocrites. Matt asked what Jeff was talking about, and Jeff said he would show him.

Flair was working on a contract backstage, and said he wanted more stipulations added to his match with Stone Cold. Flair said if he won the match, Austin became his personal assistant, doing whatever Flair said. Flair also said that he was sick of hearing about how tough Austin was -- Flair said that if Austin threw one punch, he was disqualified. He made sure to let referee Charles Robinson know that stip. Austin then walked in, and asked for the contract. The Rattlesnake signed it, clearly not knowing the new provisions that Flair had made. Flair then signed it, with a big smile on the Nature Boy's face. Flair told his attorney to get Austin a copy of the contract. Austin asked why Flair was smiling, and Flair said Austin would find out soon enough.

The WWE Women's Championship was on the line in a Lingerie Match as Trish Stratus defended against Terri. Needless to say, both divas looked incredible in their respective outfits! Terri took advantage in the early-going, even hitting a cross-body from the top rope! The champion battled back, and soon hit the Stratus-faction for the pinfall win.

After the bout, Molly Holly ran down and went to hit Trish with the brass knucks, but Trish blocked the shot, and knocked Trish out with the title, Trish then pulled off her bottoms, revealing a thong, and she threw the bottoms onto Molly! Molly was disgusted!

Backstage, Arn Anderson was irate. He asked Benoit if he looked like an animal, saying he felt like one. Arn said there were things men didn't do to each other, and Austin had crossed that line. Anderson said that Austin would pay after he lost tonight to the Nature Boy. He said Flair had a bunch of toilets in his house, and he couldn't wait until Austin cleaned them. Benoit said the irony of it all was that Austin was about to flush his whole career down the toilet.

In tag action, Brock Lesnar -- accompanied by Paul Heyman -- teamed with Eddie Guerrero against WWE Intercontinental Champion Rob Van Dam and Bubba Ray Dudley. Eddie told Brock to start the match against RVD, and Van Dam chose to let Bubba start the match against Brock. Brock and Eddie double-teamed Bubba, and Eddie gained control. Brock soon came in and before long was dominating Bubba Ray. Bubba fought back, tagging in the IC Champion and letting Van Dam get in his licks.

RVD kicked away at Lesnar, but Brock didn't go down. Brock caught RVD in mid-air and slammed him down with force. Bubba tagged in and gained control, even downing Brock with a huge belly-to-back suplex. He then told himself to get the table, but Brock stopped him from bringing it into the ring, and Guerrero dropkicked it into Bubba's face, even allowing Heyman to score a cheap shot.

Guerrero took advantage of a weakened Bubba, but Bubba wouldn't stay down. Brock slugged away at Bubba, but Bubba soon downed him with a Bubba Bomb and finally tagged in RVD! Van Dam was a house afire, taking it to Latino Heat, downing him with a monkey flip and a split-legged moonsault. RVD knocked Lesnar from the apron and nailed Rolling Thunder on Guerrero for two. All four men were soon in the ring, and Guerrero climbed on Bubba's shoulders, only to be dropped. Brock suplexed Bubba to the outside. RVD went for a kick on Brock, but Brock caught him and floored him.

RVD nailed a spinning heel kick and was about to go for the Five-Star Frog Splash, but Heyman pushed him off the top. Lesnar hit his finisher, but Bubba tackled Brock before he could go for the pin. Guerrero took advantage, however, hitting the frog splash and pinning RVD for the win!

Coach interviewed William Regal, first asking about Molly getting her butt kicked tonight. Regal said it was a shame. Coach said Regal's focus had to be his King of the Ring qualifier against Booker T. Regal said no one would better represent royalty than him. Booker approached Regal and said if anyone would be King, it would be the Bookerman. Regal said he didn't think Booker could even spell King. Booker said that George Washington couldn't spell King either, because he was too busy kicking English ass in the Revolutionary War. Regal began to correct Booker, but Booker simply went back to him and screamed, "Sucka!"

That bout was up next, as Booker T took on WWE European Champion William Regal in the night's second King of the Ring qualifying match. Booker almost scored the win off a scissors kick, but Regal kicked out. Booker then missed a kick, and Regal brought the European Championship and a steel chair into the ring. As the ref struggled to get the chair away from Regal, Booker nailed Regal with the European Title and pinned him to win the bout! Booker then grabbed a mic and said he was here to give the people what they wanted to see. The Bookerman then did the spinerooni!

Backstage, Tommy Dreamer was approached by Coach. Coach asked if Tommy was OK. Dreamer said that since he'd found out about his match with Undertaker, he hadn't been able to keep any food down. He showed Coach a bucket filled with regurgitated food! Coach said if Dreamer was sick about that, he should see what Taker had done to Triple H last week on SmackDown! He showed Dreamer the footage, and Tommy then threw up again!

Next up, Undertaker -- the WWE Undisputed Champion -- took on Tommy Dreamer in a non-title match. Dreamer brought his bucket of puke with him to ringside, and threw up as he was walking to the ring! As the match began, Tommy took a handful of puke and gave it a taste, wiping it all over his face! Tommy took it to the champion as the bout began, but Taker gained the advantage with a powerslam on the outside. Back in the ring, Big Evil mounted his offensive attack, flooring Dreamer with a chokeslam and dropping consecutive elbows. He went for the pin, but picked Dreamer up at two.

Taker drove his forearm into Dreamer's neck, and locked on a Dragon Sleeper. It didn't take long for Tommy to tap out -- something Dreamer had never done in ECW. After the bout, Taker grabbed Dreamer's pail of puke and poured it all over Tommy!

Suddenly, Jeff Hardy ran to the ring and dropkicked Undertaker right into Tommy's vomit! Taker was beyond irate!

Matt Hardy was on his phone backstage moments later when Taker entered the locker room, looking for Jeff. Matt said Jeff was gone, and Taker told Matt to give Jeff a message -- and Taker beat the living hell out of Matt!

nWo leader Kevin Nash headed for the ring, preparing to make his huge announcement. Nash said a lot of times in this business, the deliverer of a hyped situation never lives up to the billing. But Nash said he'd promised a huge announcement, something that would rock WWE's foundation. Nash said there was a new member to the nWo, and he introduced him -- Shawn Michaels!

HBK came out to the stage wearing the nWo colors, dancing it up for the capacity crowd. Nash smiled at his former Tag Team Championship partner. The fans in Dallas loved it! After playing to the crowd a bit, Michaels and Nash saluted with the nWo hand signal, and Michaels high-fived and hugged his longtime friend!

As Stone Cold prepared for his match backstage, Debra was reading his contract and laughing. Austin asked if it was funny that if he lost, that he would have to become Flair's personal assistant. Debra said no -- that the attorney must have been in quite a hurry, because the contract actually said that the loser would have to become the winner's assistant, not just that Austin might have to be Flair's!

The main event on RAW pitted Stone Cold Steve Austin against Ric Flair in a straight-up wrestling match with a boatload of stipulations. As the match began, Flair invited Austin to punch him -- which would be an automatic disqualification. Austin resisted the urge as the two traded holds and counterholds. With Flair down, Austin was about to throw a punch, but held himself back. Flair responded by giving Austin a "Woo!," and Austin responded with a middle finger for the RAW owner!

Austin dropped Flair with a toehold and locked on a half Boston Crab. The Nature Boy got to the ropes, and referee Charles Robinson broke up the hold. Austin chopped away at Flair, but the Nature Boy responded with chops of his own. The men traded chops, and Austin backdropped Flair for a two-count.

Flair raked Austin's eyes, but Austin caught Flair with a Lou Thesz Press. He went for a punch but held back and instead choked Flair. He again wanted to punch Flair but stopped himself. A clothesline on Flair scored a two-count for Austin.

As the match continued, Chris Benoit walked down to ringside. The ref went to tell him to leave, as Austin hit a Stunner on Flair and appeared to have the match won! As Austin checked out Benoit and the ref, Guerrero ran out through the crowd and hit a low blow on Austin, following up with a frog splash before running away through the crowd.

Benoit returned to the locker room as the ref went back to the ring. After a commercial break, Austin was in control, although J.R. informed viewers that Flair had been in control during the commercial break. The two battled on the outside, trading chops. Austin suplexed Flair back into the ring, and continued chopping away at the Nature Boy. He went to punch Flair, but Robinson held him back. Flair then hit Austin with a fist of his own, but the ref didn't see it!

Flair went to work on Austin's knee, obviously softening the Rattlesnake up for the figure-four. Stone Cold tried to fight back, but Flair used every trick in the book to take control. Flair then locked on the figure four, as Austin screamed in pain! Flair used the ropes to gain leverage as Austin tried to escape the maneuver.

The Rattlesnake was finally able to reverse the hold, but Flair rolled out of the painful counterhold. Flair and Austin went back and forth, and a double shoulderblock knocked both men down. Flair went up top, but Austin caught him and tossed him from the top. Stone Cold kicked away at Flair, but Flair rebounded with a thumb to the eye. Flair rolled up Austin with an inside cradle for two.

Austin hit a backslide on Flair for two, and Flair soon hit another thumb to the eye. But Austin kicked Flair and nailed the Stone Cold Stunner, pinning Flair to win the bout. Austin is now off the bench -- and Ric Flair must now become Austin's personal assistant! After the bout, Austin celebrated by punching Flair and nailing another Stunner. Austin downed a couple of beers as RAW went off the air!