Raw is War

The FleetCenter, Boston, Massachusetts
April 9, 2001

Linda McMahon was at the Fleet Center in Boston with a huge announcement for her husband, Vince as RAW kicked off live on TNN!

In footage shot earlier in the day, Mr. McMahon saw Jim Ross as he arrived at the arena with a black eye. Vince told J.R. that he may not be in the right frame of mind to work, and he asked J.R. to come to his office to talk things over. As J.R. walked away, Vince said he'd see him in his office.

Paul Heyman introduced the show as he sat alone at the announce table, and Olympic Hero Kurt Angle came down to the ring. Angle said he felt a little bit naked, because he hasn't held a Federation Championship of any sort in quite some time. So he issued a challenge for any Federation champion in the back to come down and give him a title shot! Immediately, Kane's music began playing and the Hardcore Champion walked down to the ring!

As the match began, Kane had his ankle tied up in the ropes, and Kurt used the pause in the action to grab a few hardcore "tools" from under the ring. Kane finally freed himself and began assaulting Angle with anything he could find. The two combatants eventually made their way into the ring, where Kane slammed Angle to the mat. As Kane went to go for the chokeslam, the Big Show ran to the ring and flattened Kane!

Soon, Angle and Show started double-teaming Kane, but not for long, because Undertaker ran to the ring to help his brother! After the Dead Man took out Angle, both Kane and Taker flattened Big Show with a chokeslam, allowing Kane to make the cover for the win!

Vince had J.R. sat down in his office and said that he brought J.R. to his office to make sure J.R. was in the right frame of mind to work. Vince then brought in Stone Cold Steve Austin! Mr. McMahon said that he and Stone Cold were there to entertain him and that they'd show him some movies a little bit later!

As Big Show walked through the back, Kevin Kelly asked him for his thoughts. Show replied by saying he wanted the Undertaker in the ring later, so he could show him whose yard it really was!

In Vince's office, the Chairman and Stone Cold began showing J.R. some footage of last week on SmackDown!, where J.R. was left lying bloodied in the ring by Stone Cold Steve Austin. After watching the footage, Stone Cold told J.R. never to look at him again, and Vince sent J.R. out to work. Before J.R. left, he told Mr. McMahon that he talked to his lawyer and he said he had a hell of a lawsuit, but he wouldn't do that! J.R. also said that maybe he could quit, and if he did that, he was going to go work for Shane McMahon at WCW! J.R. then left the room so he could go to work.

Light Heavyweight Champion Crash teamed up with his cousin Molly Holly in a handicap match against Rhyno. Rhyno picked up the win after Goring Crash. After getting the win, Rhyno slammed Molly to the floor, but Hardcore Holly ran out and chased Rhyno to the back!

Elsewhere, Mr. McMahon told Stephanie that he had a bad feeling about the rest of the night, especially after what J.R. said about Shane. Stephanie told him not to worry, but then she noticed Linda McMahon on a nearby monitor. Vince stammered for a moment, and then asked Stephanie to grab him a drink of water.

As Linda walked through the back of the arena, the APA greeted her and said it was nice to see her. Then, Chyna saw Mrs. McMahon and she greeted her as well.

Michael Cole asked Spike Dudley about his loss to Lita on HEAT. Spike said it was an honor to be in the ring with such a competitor, and as he went on, he was interrupted by Albert, X-Pac and Justin Credible, and started making fun of Spike's size. The trio then attacked Spike and left him lying!

In William Regal's office, the commissioner told Coach to go inform Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit would be facing each other later!

In a match made earlier on RAW, the Big Show challenged Undertaker. Big Show used his size advantage to try and take out the Dead Man early on. But Taker finished off Show after nailing him with a huge powerbomb off the top rope!

Linda McMahon then began to make her way out to the ring. Linda said she had three announcements to make. The first one - that she has fully recovered and she is now of sound body and mind, and that allows her to resume her full responsibility as CEO of the World Wrestling Federation. Second - that she was very proud of her son Shane and she wanted to wish him luck with WCW. The third announcement had to do with her husband, Vincent K. McMahon. And in order to make that announcement, Linda wanted Vince to join her in the ring!

Mr. McMahon confidently walked to the ring and attempted to hug his wife, but she just pushed him away! Vince then demanded a microphone and told Linda he knew why she was there - because she was going to apologize to him for what she did at WrestleMania. Linda interrupted Vince and told him to shut up! Linda then showed footage from last year when Vince demanded a divorce from Linda. Mrs. McMahon said she was stunned that night, and he broke her heart and made her very sick. But not sick enough to be medicated against her will! Then Linda showed footage of Mr. McMahon and Trish Stratus to show how sick Vince became during her illness. Linda said that after WrestleMania, she still hadn't gotten enough revenge! Mr. McMahon then publicly apologized to Linda, even getting down on his knees! Linda then looked at Vince and told him to read her lips, because she wanted a divorce!

As Linda McMahon was leaving, Lita came up and told her that what had just happened was really inspiring. After Linda got in her limo, Vince ran up and demanded that she roll her window down! The limo just sped away. Vince then noticed Lita standing there and told her what inspired him - Lita and the Hardyz in a match against Stephanie, Triple H and Stone Cold Steve Austin!

In six-man tag action, the Dudley Boyz took on X-Factor. Immediately, Bubba Ray Dudley began taking it to Justin Credible. After Spike Dudley was tagged in, Albert began absolutely crushing him! The match continued with Spike being isolated by X-Pac and Credible, but Spike was finally able to tag in D-Von. The Dudleys took the win after Bubba and D-Von hit Credible with a 3D! After the match, Bubba called for a table, but Albert was able to take out all three Dudley Boyz! After D-Von and Bubba had gotten back up, they began setting up the table! But after D-Von was distracted, Albert was able to hit Bubba with a Bald Bomb through the table!

As Vince was leaving to take care of his problems with Linda, Stephanie and Triple H asked him what he was thinking by putting them in a match later. Mr. McMahon said they should stop being so selfish and go do what they had to do!

In their locker room, the Hardys discussed their match against Stephanie, Austin and Triple H. As Matt worried, he asked Jeff what he thought. Jeff replied by saying the opportunity was awesome, and he couldn't wait to get out there and beat them! Lita and Matt agreed and the three got ready to go.

In a match made earlier by Commissioner Regal, Chris Jericho faced Chris Benoit. The match was made by Regal in order to thwart any possible alliance happening between the two. Before the match began, regal came to the ring wearing an officials shirt, saying he was the only man fit to officiate such a classic battle! Jericho and Benoit began tossing each other around the ring. Soon, Regal laid both men out with some cheap shots! Then, Benoit and Jericho began tossing Regal around the ring! As Jericho had Regal in the Walls of Jericho, Benoit locked on the Crossface! Both men stretched out the commissioner until he couldn't take it anymore!

In footage recorded earlier in the day, Steven Richards and Val Venis asked Raven to join them. Raven said their hypocritical beliefs would be exposed, and pain would be their punishment. Raven said that the only place he didn't want to be was trapped in their belief systems!

At WWF New York, Edge said that the Hollys were tough when it was three-on-one, but on SmackDown!, Edge and Christian would even the odds and give Hardcore and Crash a Tag Title shot! Christian and Edge then celebrated their record-setting seventh Tag Title win, they gave the fans at WWF New York a special seven-second pose!

As Stephanie prepared for her match later, Stone Cold and Triple H spoke to each other. When Stephanie asked to be included on the conversation, the two men said they were done. As they walked out of the locker room, the Game looked at his wife and said, "This will be really good."

In singles action, Raven went up against Val Venis of the Right to Censor. The former Hardcore Champion punished Val from the beginning, and nearly got a pin after a DDT. Raven continually went for pins, but the match kept being interrupted by members of the Right to Censor! Val took the win after hitting Raven with the Money Shot.

In a six-person intergender tag team match, the Hardy Boyz and Lita took on World Wrestling Federation Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin, Intercontinental Champion Triple H and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley. The match began with Austin and Triple H going after the Hardys, and Stephanie knocked Lita out of the ring. The Hardys isolated the Game and nailed him with Poetry in Motion, and Jeff hit him with a corkscrew off the top rope! Jeff then attempted to pin Triple H, with help from Matt, but the Game kicked out and tagged in Austin.

Matt Hardy then began pounding on Austin in the corner and went for a cover, but Austin kicked out! Jeff Hardy was tagged in, and Austin began punishing him with fierce right hands. Stone Cold tagged in Triple H, who continued to brutalize Jeff, but Jeff was able to escape and tag in his brother, who flew in and hit both Austin and Triple H with a double-clothesline! The match then spilled out of the ring, while in the ring, Lita hit Stephanie with the Twist of Fate and a moonsault! Lita then covered Stephanie for the win!

After the match, Triple H and Austin assaulted Lita with a steel chair and a Pedigree! Stone Cold then laid out both Hardy Boyz with his steel chair! Lita then rolled on top of Matt Hardy, trying to protect him from further beatings, but Austin just hit her with a chair! The Game then pulled Lita up by the hair, leaving her defenseless as Austin hit her with a Stunner! All three members of Team Extreme were left lying as RAW went off the air!