Smackdown!

Detroit, Michigan
August 30, 2001

SmackDown! kicked off from the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit with the Dudley Boyz and Test teaming up to take on the APA and Big Show. During the match, a fresh Big Show was tagged in and the monster began to clean house! The 7’ 2” behemoth was about to seal the deal with a chokeslam on Bubba Ray, but D-Von made the save with a low blow. Then, with the big man stunned, Test helped the Dudley Boyz execute a 3-D on the former World Wrestling Federation Champion. Before any of the men could cover Big Show, the APA entered the ring and laid out all three men, with Bradshaw picking up the win after a Clothesline from Hell on D-Von!

Kurt Angle’s music then blared through the Joe Louis Arena as the crowd rose to its feet. The Olympic hero then grabbed a microphone and said that he tried to be a nice guy to Stone Cold Steve Austin. At SummerSlam, he said he was nice enough to kick out of three Stunners so the crowd could enjoy a classic match, only to see Austin get disqualified because the Rattlesnake realized he couldn’t beat him. Then, he said, the following night during Austin Appreciation Night, he said he was nice enough to drive all the way in and supply the Alliance with some good, wholesome milk. Then, this past Monday, he said he was nice enough to invite Stone Cold to take on himself and Chris Jericho, but instead, Stone Cold not only refused to accept the match, but afterwards he attacked his Olympic hero and stole his medals.

Angle said that since Austin was nice enough to take something from him, he felt compelled to take something from the Rattlesnake – the World Wrestling Federation Championship. Angle challenged Stone Cold to a Federation Championship match at Unforgiven live on Pay-Per-View on Sept. 23 from Kurt’s hometown of Pittsburgh! Angle finished up by calling Austin to the ring so he could take back his medals from Stone Cold’s thick red neck, but before the Rattlesnake could respond, Booker T and WCW owner Shane McMahon made their way out.

Booker T told Angle that he “gots to be kidding.” He said that everyone knew that he was the one that was robbed at SummerSlam when The Rock stole the WCW Championship from him. The former five-time WCW Champ told the Olympic hero that his medals meant nothing compared to the WCW Championship. Angle then asked Booker T if the Spinaroonie had suddenly become an Olympic sport. He told “The Book” to go back to his dressing room, practice his dancing, send out another audition tape for “Soul Train” and get the hell out of the ring! Booker said he came out because he felt he and Angle were both in the same boat, seeing as they had both been robbed, but he realized that Angle and him had nothing in common. He said that, on SmackDown!, he was going to add to the horrible crime rate in Detroit by punking out Angle later in the night.

Shane got on the microphone and told Angle that he should respect the five-time WCW Champion.

He then said he could sense something big – the Spinaroonie! Booker T executed his move in the middle of the ring as Shane taunted Angle by asking him, “What are you going to do about that?” Angle responded by knocking both men out of the ring, sending them back to the Alliance’s locker room.

At that point, Stone Cold popped up on the TitanTron with Angle’s medals in his hand. He told the Olympic hero that if he wanted his medals back, he should come to the backstage area and get them! Angle then jumped out of the ring and made his way to the back.

After commercial, Angle was searching for the Rattlesnake backstage when he ran into Scotty 2 Hotty. The master of the Worm told the Olympic hero that after Austin saw Angle making his way to the back, he jumped in his truck and drove away.

Next up, the Undertaker took on Albert, who was accompanied by X-Pac, in a rematch from RAW IS WAR. Before the match, Michael Cole and Tazz announced that Kane has been sidelined with an infection in his elbow, so it could be some time before the Big Red Machine was back in action. During the match, X-Pac jumped onto the apron and threw a steel chair into the ring, but Taker grabbed the high-flyer and brought him into the ring the hard way. With the Dead Man preoccupied with X-Pac, Albert picked up the chair and nailed Taker in the back. The former Intercontinental Champion went for the cover on the Dead Man, but he kicked out.

Undertaker then picked up the chair and blasted Albert in the head, getting disqualified in the process. Afterwards, X-Pac entered the ring and waffled Taker in the back with the chair, but the Dead Man quickly recovered and caught the Light Heavyweight/Cruiserweight Champion. Taker then planted X-Pac in the middle of the ring with the Last Ride.

Backstage, Stacy Keibler and Shawn Stasiak were carrying a covered food tray. Shawn asked Stacy if he really thought their plan was going to work, and Stacy said that he should leave the talking to her.

Debra was in Stone Cold’s locker room when Stacy and Shawn entered. They said they wanted to apologize for dousing her with rancid milk on RAW. Debra was furious, saying she had to wash her hair five times to get the smell out. Stacy said that she had baked Debra some cookies as a peace offering. Debra tried one and said that they were really good. Then, she smashed the tray of cookies in Stacy’s face and beat her over the back with the metal tray! The duo fled the locker room as Mrs. Stone Cold continued to verbally berate them.

In another locker room, Christian was on the phone asking the operator why his Grandma Edna wouldn’t accept his collect call, when Edge entered the room. Edge told Christian they needed to have a talk, and Christian agreed, saying that it was awesome that Edge was going to face Kanyon for the U.S. Championship on SmackDown!

Edge said that he wanted to go to the ring alone because he wanted to win the U.S. Title by himself. Christian said that he understood.

In the parking lot area, Stone Cold was sitting on the roof of a car looking into a camera wondering where Kurt Angle was. He said that Angle was obviously scared of the Rattlesnake. He said he was beginning to get a little bored with the Olympic hero. He then began pondering how Kurt’s medals would make a great hood ornament.

After commercial, Angle was seen looking around the parking lot when a car drove up. He ran up to the car, but it wasn’t Austin – it was the Alliance’s Tommy Dreamer. He beat on Dreamer until Stone Cold nearly ran him over with another car! A laughing Austin stopped the car and dangled the medals out the window, asking Angle if he wanted to take a ride with his “little medals.” Stone Cold then took off, crashing through a gate and out of the parking lot.

Next up, The Rock and Chris Jericho teamed up to battle Rhyno and Rob Van Dam. During the match, Y2J tagged in a fired-up People’s Champ, and the Great One pummeled both Rhyno and RVD. The Rock hit a DDT on Rhyno, but the Man-Beast kicked out. The Rock then locked in a Sharpshooter on Rhyno when Booker T ran down to the ring! Seeing this, the Great One let go of Rhyno and laid out “The Book”. The Rock turned around and hit a spinebuster on a charging Rhyno.

The People’s Champ then went for the People’s Elbow when Shane McMahon blindsided the Great One with a flying tackle! With WCW referee Nick Patrick conveniently checking on Booker T on the outside, Shane taunted The Rock by strutting around in the ring! Jericho entered the ring, hit a bulldog on the Boy Wonder and went for the Walls of Jericho, but Rob Van Dam quickly ended the Shane’s pain after nailing Jericho with a flying kick from the top rope. As RVD celebrated, The Rock hit a Rock Bottom on the Hardcore Champ. Booker T jumped on the apron to distract The Rock, but the Great One clotheslined “The Book” off the top rope. When the People’s Champ turned around, Rhyno was there to welcome him with a Gore, covering The Rock for the win!

Commissioner William Regal and Tajiri were in their office discussing how the Alliance was gaining the upper-hand on SmackDown! when Torrie Wilson walked in. Torrie said that a woman like her had needs, and that she needed to be motivated and stimulated. She then asked Regal if she could have a job with Regal’s administration. The Commish responded by telling the blonde beauty that he could never have an Alliance member on his staff. Torrie asked if there was anything she could do to change his mind, saying that she wanted a position not only for professional reasons, but for personal reasons as well.

She said that a man with an accent drives her wild, and as Regal smiled, Torrie skipped over him and went after Tajiri, saying that the Japanese Buzzsaw was the man of her dreams! As Torrie caressed Tajiri, Regal was confronted by Lance Storm, who told the Commish that he was humiliated by a midget last week, and he wanted some respect. Tajiri then did his impression of Storm, asking Lance if “he could be serious for a moment.” Storm told the Japanese Buzzsaw that if he wanted to tell jokes, he could try telling them to him in the ring later in the night.

The next match saw WCW U.S. Champion Kanyon putting his title on the line against Edge. Before the match began, Christian came to ringside with the 2001 King of the Ring trophy. At one point, Kanyon rolled out of the ring, picked up his U.S. Championship and re-entered the ring. He wound up to hit the Intercontinental Champion with the belt, but Christian jumped on the apron and grabbed the U.S. Championship out of Kanyon’s hands. Christian then attempted to hit Kanyon with the title, but the U.S. Champ ducked and Christian waffled Edge! Kanyon covered the fallen Edge for the 1-2-3 to retain the U.S. Championship. After the match, Christian apologized to Edge for hitting him, saying that he would make it up to his brother by taking on The Rock this Monday night on RAW in his hometown of Toronto and becoming the WCW Champion! Christian said that Team E&C would then be Team NBG –Nothing But Gold!

A baffled Edge then looked on as Christian made his way backstage.

In the Alliance’s locker room, Lilian Garcia interviewed Hurricane Helms. Garcia told Helms that it wasn’t exactly heroic how Ivory helped him win the European Championship from Matt Hardy on RAW. Helms said that when he defeated the meddlesome Matt Hardy and his sidekick, the lovely Lita, he struck a courageous blow for truth, justice and the European way. Garcia told Hurricane that on SmackDown!, he would be teaming up with Ivory to take on Molly Holly and the Federation’s underdog, Spike Dudley. Helms said that Spike was no underdog, saying that Underdog wasn’t even real. Helms said that he and Ivory would be victorious, so Garcia should tune in at the same Hurri-time and the same Hurri-station.

Spike and Molly then took on Ivory and Helms in tag-team competition. In true superhero fashion, Hurricane started the match with a friendly handshake with Spike. During the match, Molly went for her patented Molly-Go-Round, but Ivory ducked out the way. Ivory then grabbed Molly, holding her for Hurricane for a superkick, but Molly moved and Helms nailed Ivory in the face! Spike grabbed Hurricane and went for the Dudley Dog, but Ivory took out the leg of Spike. Helms then hit his Eye of the Hurricane finishing maneuver to pick up the win for the Alliance.

On a Detroit city street, Stone Cold was talking into the camera, asking where Kurt Angle was.

He said he wanted to talk to Kurt, but he Angle was nowhere to be found. Austin said they obviously had a failure to communicate, and the Rattlesnake said that since Angle didn’t want to talk to him, he was feeling a little upset. Austin then lifted the cover off a manhole and said that every time a person in Detroit flushed their toilet, it passed under the street in the sewer. He said if Kurt didn’t want to talk to him, he would be forced to drop the medals down the manhole. He continued to dangle the medals over the smelly sewer until he said he had a better idea for Angle’s medals.

The Rock was seen pacing in the backstage area, prompting Tazz to wonder why the Great One was still in the building.

Back in the Commissioner’s office, Torrie was complimenting Tajiri on his big muscles when Regal told her to run along. Torrie kissed the Japanese Buzzsaw and left the office. At that point, Perry Saturn confronted Regal, and the Commish told Saturn that he hated to be the bearer of bad news, but an unmarked envelope had arrived at the Commissioner’s office earlier in the day. Regal showed Perry the contents of the envelope, which included a Polaroid shot of Moppy and a kidnapper’s ransom note that read “$100,000 or you’ll never seen Moppy again” in pieced-together letters. Furious, and wondering where he was going to get the money, a screaming Saturn left the office.

Kurt Angle was in his locker room when the Alliance’s Mike Awesome approached him.

Awesome said that he wanted to let Angle know that the Alliance just had a group meeting, and they all thought that it was wrong what Austin was doing with Angle’s medals. He said he had a token of admiration for Angle, and he gave Angle a small Federation Championship replica toy belt. Awesome said that that was the only gold that the “little man” was going to see as long as Stone Cold had the Federation Championship. Angle snapped, attacking Awesome and locking the former Hardcore Champion into the ankle-lock!

Next up, Tajiri took on Lance Storm in one-on-one action. Tajiri locked in the Tarantula on Storm, but Lance was able to escape. During the match, Torrie ran to ringside to assist Tajiri back into the ring, but Storm was waiting to hit the Japanese Buzzsaw in the face with a superkick for the win! After the match, Torrie consoled Tajiri in the ring.

The main event of SmackDown! saw the former five-time WCW Champion Booker T, accompanied by Shane McMahon, take on the medal-less Olympic hero, Kurt Angle. During the match, Shane pulled down the top rope, forcing Angle to plummet to the mat outside the ring. With the ref distracted, Shane attacked Angle, throwing him into the ring post. Booker T continued the attack, throwing the American hero throat-first on the barricade. Back inside the ring, Booker T hit a scissors-kick on Angle, and followed it up with a Spinaroonie! “The Book” went for the cover, but Angle managed to kick out.

An exhausted Angle then hit his Angle Slam on Booker. The Olympic hero went for the ankle-lock, but Shane entered the ring and hit an Angle Slam on Kurt! At that point, The Rock ran down to the ring and took out WCW referee Charles Robinson. The Great One then pummeled Shane and started beating on him in the corner. Booker T attacked the People’s Champ from behind, but Angle snuck up behind “The Book”, executed a German Suplex on him and pinned Booker for the win as Federation official Earl Hebner made the count. After the match, Booker T beat on The Rock as Shane attacked Angle. The Olympic hero fought back, however, and hit a belly-to-belly suplex on the WCW owner! The Rock also gained the advantage on “The Book”, knocking him out of the ring after a rapid-fire assault of right hands! With Shane laid out outside the ring, and Booker T limping to the back, The Rock and Kurt Angle celebrated by guzzling cartons of milk inside the ring!

While they were celebrating, Stone Cold again popped up on the TitanTron with Angle's medals. He said that Angle said Stone Cold would never have gold medals, but he has two now. He wondered what Angle would do to get his medals back. He said all the Olympic hero had to do was ask for them. He then corrected himself, saying that asking for them would be too easy. The Rattlesnake said Angle should beg for them. He told Angle to get on his knees and beg Stone Cold for his medals.