Smackdown!

North Charleston, South Carolina
January 24, 2002

SmackDown! kicked off from the North Charleston Coliseum in North Charleston, S.C., with the announcement of two blockbuster matches for the show. In two separate qualifying No. 1 contender’s matches, Stone Cold Steve Austin would face Booker T, and The Rock would square off against Kurt Angle. The winners of both matches would face each other this Monday night live on RAW to determine who would face Chris Jericho for the Undisputed Federation Championship at No Way Out!

First up, Rob Van Dam went one-on-one against Intercontinental Champion William Regal in a non-title match. The high-flyer from Battle Creek, Mich., went on the offensive early, as he attacked the champion before he could enter the ring. Within a matter of seconds, RVD hit his patented Five-Star Frog Splash on Regal, which allowed him to gain the victory! As RVD made his way up the ramp, Edge emerged from the audience! The former Intercontinental Champion, who was supposed to be barred from the arena due to his actions against Regal on RAW, nailed the Englishman with a spear in the middle of the ring and began pounding on the champ before exiting through the crowd!

In his office, Mr. McMahon was talking to someone in his locker room. He said that he knew what everyone was thinking, but they were wrong. He accused everyone of thinking that he didn’t have the guts to do what he said he was going to do this past Monday night on RAW. He said he had no other alternative. He said that on SmackDown!

, he had to do something that even he would regret.

With special guest referee Jacqueline, Rikishi battled Big Boss Man. Boss Man immediately started working over the Samoan monster, taking him to the outside and bashing him into the steel stairs. Throughout the match, Jacqueline continued to get physically involved. At one point, Rikishi sat on Boss Man, which allowed the Samoan to set up Boss Man for a Banzai Drop from the corner for the win!

The King and Michael Cole then addressed the rumors concerning the relationship status of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley. The King said that after seeing the look in Triple H’s eyes when he was talking to Steph on RAW, he was convinced the rumors were true.

Backstage, Stephanie and Lilian Garcia were getting coffee when Lilian commented on how surprised she was to see Steph at SmackDown! because she had seen what happened between her and Triple H on RAW. She offered to talk to Stephanie about her problem if she wanted. Mrs. Game said that the only problem she had was Lilian, and she threw hot coffee all over the screaming ring announcer!

The Tag Team Championship was on the line as Tazz and Spike Dudley defended their titles against Scotty 2 Hotty and Albert. During the match, Spike tried to spear Albert, but instead of moving the Hip Hop Hippo, he reaggravated his injured neck! Scotty and Albert continued to work on Spike’s injured neck for the majority of the match.

Scotty hit his patented Worm on Tazz, but Spike broke it up. As Spike continued to fight with Albert outside the ring, Tazz slapped a Tazzmission on Scotty for the tap-out victory!

In their locker room, Stephanie was reveling in what she had done to Lilian to Triple H. The Game looked like he could care less. Steph told Triple H that he should pay attention to her because she was the one that made him what he is in this business. She said that he may love the business, but her family is the business. Steph started talking about what her father did for his company, but Triple H interrupted her and said Vince was an asshole. The Game said that after everything her father had put her through, he couldn’t understand why she still worshipped the ground he walked on. An enraged Stephanie said that her father had told her that Triple H had only married her to get into the McMahon family, but The Game said he married her in spite of her family. He said that Vince had never thought he was good enough for her, and Steph wondered if maybe her father was right. An upset Triple H then said that maybe everyone else was right about what they thought of Stephanie.

Next, The Rock was interviewed by Jonathan Coachman. The Coach asked the Great One about his match at the Royal Rumble, but the People’s Champ was annoyed by the fact that Coach wasn’t paying enough attention to him. At that point, The Rock made Coach dance the Charleston, in honor of the home crowd.

Coach began dancing the Charleston for the crowd, but The Rock kicked him out of the camera’s view. The Great One then said that this past Sunday was full of surprises, but the biggest surprise was the fact that Y2J walked out as the Undisputed Federation Champion. The Great One said that the past was the past, however. The Rock guaranteed that this year, WrestleMania would be The Rock’s WrestleMania, and he would walk out of Toronto as the champion.

Triple H was standing in a hallway backstage when Sharmell approached him. She asked him if he was ok, but he told her that it wasn’t a good time to talk. European Champion Christian then approached Triple H and told him that he knew how The Game felt. He commented on how Stephanie had quite a temper. Christian started walking away, but an enraged Game grabbed the Euro Champ by the hair and started beating him down!

Back in his locker room, Mr. McMahon was still talking to someone off camera. He said that everyone would have to face the facts, and the facts are that ever since the Royal Rumble, Ric Flair has assumed the position of leadership in the Federation. He said that everyone should understand that under Flair’s leadership, the Federation has terminal cancer. He said that under Flair, the Federation would slowly die, and he said he knew what he had to do.

In the first of two qualifying No.1 contender’s matches, Booker T squared off against Stone Cold Steve Austin.

The Book used most of the match to work over the knees of the Rattlesnake, capping off his offensive assault with a Spinarooni followed by a Scissors Kick, but Stone Cold managed to kick out! Austin made it back to his feet, laid in a kick to Booker’s breadbasket and nailed a Stunner of the former WCW Champion for the win! Stone Cold will face the winner of the Angle/Rock match this Monday on RAW!

Backstage, Sharmell interviewed the co-owner of the Federation, Ric Flair. She asked him about the statements that Mr. McMahon made earlier in the show, but he said he had no idea what Vince was talking about. He said he didn’t care what Vince was talking about because the Federation would continue to run as normal.

In a Tag Team Table Match, Kane and Big Show took on the Dudley Boyz, who were accompanied to the ring by Stacy Keibler. Tables were set up in the ring early on, and Show went for a double chokeslam on the Dudleyz, but they managed to fight out of the giant’s clutches. Again, Show tried to chokeslam D-Von through a table, but Bubba Ray moved the table out of the way. Show then Irish-whipped Bubba Ray into the ropes, but in the process, Bubba hit Kane, who was on the apron, and the Big Red Monster fell from the ring through a table on the outside, giving the Dudley Boyz the win! After the match, referees had to separate Big Show and Kane from destroying one another!

Mr. McMahon was seen again talking to someone off camera, looking a little upset.

He said it was a damn shame that everything on Earth has to come to an end. He said that he never thought his world would come down crashing around him. He said he built the Federation, and he did it all on his own. He is furious that someone was trying to take it away from him. Mr. McMahon started sobbing, thinking about his dilemma, but he collected himself and reiterated that it was too bad that it had to end this way.

In another Shattered Dreams Production, Goldust said that he had many warm memories of the Federation. He said the first time he appeared, the Federation changed forever. Now, the Federation will change again. Goldust said that his greatest production will be for only one man. He said that if this person doesn’t like it, he really didn’t give a damn. He said the memory that will last the longest in this person’s mind will be the name … Goldust.

In the locker room, Billy and Chuck were commenting on Goldust’s hair when Billy changed the subject to the Tag Team Championship. Billy said that if any team should be champions, it should be them … because chicks dig them. The two exchanged high-fives, followed by a slap on the ass by Billy on Chuck.

Kurt Angle was interviewed by Coach about his upcoming qualifying No. 1 contender’s match, but every time Angle said something, he was met with a huge “WHAT?” from the crowd! He said he felt disrespected by the audience, and he pleaded with the people to stop chanting. He told Coach that “WHAT?

” was ruining his life. He told the crowd if they said “WHAT?” one more time, he was leaving – and, of course, the interview was cut short, thanks to the sold-out North Charleston Coliseum fans.

The Women’s Champion, Trish Stratus, faced Jazz in a rematch from the Royal Rumble in a non-title match. Jazz completely dominated the match, but she was eventually disqualified when she wouldn’t let go of an arm-bar submission. The domination continued as Jazz continued to soundly thrash Trish, culminating with a DDT. Jazz then left the ring, leaving the Women’s Champ in a heap in the middle of the ring.

Again talking to someone, Mr. McMahon told himself that he couldn’t talk himself out of what he was going to do. He said that if there was any other way, he would do it. He said what he was going to wasn’t logical or normal, but because he cared so much for the Federation, he had to go through with his plan. Vince said he was starting to feel really good.

With Undisputed Federation Champion Chris Jericho on color commentary, Kurt Angle took on The Rock in a qualifying No. 1 contender’s match. After a succession of German suplexes, Angle went for the pin on the Great One, but The Rock kicked out. Angle through the People’s Champ to the outside, and with the ref’s back turned, Y2J picked up The Rock and threw him against the steel ring pole! The Rock was able to get his wind back and hit a DDT on Angle, but the Olympic champion kicked out.

The Rock was able to lock in the Sharpshooter on Angle, but Jericho distracted the ref as the Olympic champ was tapping out! With the official still not looking, the Undertaker ran into the ring and chokeslammed the People’s Champ! Angle then climbed over and pinned The Rock to win the match. Angle will face Stone Cold Steve Austin this Monday on RAW to determine who will face Jericho for the Undisputed Federation Championship at No Way Out!

Stone Cold was interviewed by Coach, and the Rattlesnake said that when he beats Angle on RAW, he will face Jericho for the Championship at No Way Out. At that point, Angle attacked Stone Cold. The two brawled around the backstage area, until Angle locked in the Ankle-Lock on the Rattlesnake until officials finally broke the duo up.

Mr. McMahon was seen again in his locker room, saying that he knew the Federation was going to die. He reiterated that the Federation has cancer because of Ric Flair. He said that the kind of cancer that Flair gave the Federation was the slow, eating type. Vince said that he was not going to let Flair kill what he created. He said if anyone was going to kill his creation, it was going to be him! He said he was going to inject the Federation with a lethal dose of poison. He then turned into the camera, revealing a large “nWo” spray-painted on the back of his chair. Vince simply said that “if anyone is going to kill the Federation, it will be me … and the nWo.”