Smackdown!
Wilkes-Barre,
Pennsylvania
July 18, 2002
SmackDown! kicked off from the First Union Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, with Chris Jericho in singles action against John Cena.
During Jericho's entrance, Michael Cole informed us that Marc Loyd was outside the area awaiting the arrival of the new general manager of SmackDown!
Back in the ring, Cena made his way to the ring, and the two superstars starting talking trash to each other until Jericho finally slapped the rookie across his face. Cena immediately attacked Y2J, hitting a German Suplex on Jericho. He nearly got a pinfall after a quick rollup, but Jericho kicked out. Frustrated, Y2J nailed Cena with a low blow and got disqualified! Jericho locked the ailing Cena in the Walls of Jericho and wouldn't let go until several refs pried him off! Jericho didn't stop there. He grabbed a steel chair from ringside and whaled away on Cena's back before he was stopped again by the refs.
A white limousine pulled up outside with Marc Loyd immediately running up to it in expectation of seeing the new SmackDown! general manager. But instead, RAW GM Eric Bischoff popped out and strolled into the arena.
Bischoff found Randy Orton working out and introduced himself. Orton directed Bischoff to Hulk Hogan's locker room. The RAW GM walked straight in and greeted the Hulkster. Hulk hesitantly said it was nice to see him. Hulk said he heard The Bisch was attempting to sign Triple H, but he warned Bischoff that he couldn't go on a power trip here. Plus, Hogan said Bischoff was there to see The Rock, not him. Bischoff denied this and said he was always ready to negotiate. "Negotiate my ass," Hogan said as Bischoff exited.
The Hurricane leapt into action against Chavo Guerrero next. Hurricane downed Chavo with a huge neckbreaker followed by a back body drop and a cross body off the top rope. Chavo fought back with a blow to the knee that appeared to injure the superhero. The ref attempted to check on Hurricane's status, but Chavo viciously attacked the wounded knee. The Hurricane battled back, but the pain in his knee limited him. Chavo put Hurricane in the STF hold and forced the superhero to tap out.
Chavo took the mic and said that he is the premiere Latin-American superstar in WWE, but every time he turns around, he hears something else about Rey Mysterio Jr. Chavo screamed that he is sick of it and said that next week Mysterio should make his in-ring debut next-week against him!
A black limousine pulled up outside and Vince McMahon got out. Vince said that the SmackDown! GM may already be in the building. He told Loyd that with Eric Bischoff in the building, this would be a very interesting evening.
Backstage, Rico offered his services to Eric Bischoff, but the GM just wanted to know where The Rock's dressing room was. Bischoff ran into Vince and said that there's nothing better than checking out the competition live. He said that there was no way the new SmackDown! GM would be able to stop him from signing away Triple H. Bischoff excused himself to continue his search for The Rock
Michael Cole showed footage of his interview with the Undertaker held prior to SmackDown! in the arena. Taker said he is the Undisputed Champion not because he kissed ass and was protected, but because he defended his title and there is nobody that can beat him in a championship match. Taker told how The Rock attacked him at King of the Ring because he knows that one-on-one the Brahma Bull can't beat Taker. Taker said Rock attacked him to get, Taker's attention, but when someone gets his attention, he feel's Taker's wrath.
Taker accused Kurt Angle of living in a fantasy world for thinking he made the Dead Man tap out two weeks ago. The Undisputed Champion stated that Angle could not make him tap in 1,000 matches. Taker promised to straighten out a lot of things at Vengeance this Sunday, saying that Kurt Angle and The Rock would find out that WWE is Taker's yard and people get hurt when they play in it.
Billy and Chuck, joined by Rico, took on the Big Valbowski and Hardcore Holly in tag team action. Shortly into the match, Chuck's arguing with the referee allowed Hardcore to nail a low blow on Billy. Billy managed to make a tag and retreated outside the ring to recover. When he returned to the ring, he took a powerbomb from Valbowski but Chuck ran in to break up the count. Hardcore tried to even the score, but the ref detained him, which prompted Rico to sneak in for a spinning heel kick to Valbowski's face. Soon after, though, Hardcore nailed the Alabama Slam and Valbowski followed with the Money Shot to take the pinfall!
A six-man tag team match came up next, featuring Edge, Hollywood Hogan and Rikishi against Test, Christian and Lance Storm. Test soon nailed a pumphandle slam on Edge and readied a Big Boot. Edge ducked and retaliated by planting Test's face hard into the canvas. Edge tried to make a tag, but Christian dashed in and cut Edge off. Storm tried a cross body but Edge caught him in mid-air and decked him with a powerslam! This time, Edge managed to get to the corner and tag in Hogan. Storm delivered a series of shots to the face, but Hogan Hulked up and came back with his own right hands, followed by a spear from Edge! Rikishi almost executed a Stink Face but was cut down by a Big Boot from Test! But Edge soon tagged in and hit the Edgecution on Lance Storm to get the pinfall!
Bischoff finally found the People's Champion in a locker room and introduced himself. Bischoff said he wants The Rock on RAW Monday night. Bischoff said having The Rock and himself together on the same team would let the GM take Rock to a level he'd never been to before. The Rock pondered this for a moment and said he would be there. Bischoff got all excited, but The Rock cut him off and said he wasn't signing anything and would only be going because he planned to beat Undertaker and Kurt Angle on Sunday at Vengeance to become the WWE Undisputed Champion. That means, The Rock can go on any show: RAW, SmackDown! the Sopranos, and even Frazier to kick him in the nuts! Bischoff laughed hysterically and said if he had The Rock on Nitro, WCW would have been amazing. Rock smiled and said that while Bischoff was on Nitro working his creative magic, The Rock was busy putting Bischoff's company out of business! The two exchanged an icy look as The Rock exitedMr. McMahon came out to reveal the new SmackDown! general manager. Mr. McMahon said he'd never seen the superstars more concerned than when he revealed Eric Bischoff to fill that position on RAW. He told the superstars, that they were free to negotiate with the GMs if they felt the grass was greener on the other side. Vince said that Bischoff had been named the GM because he was the right person for the job and he enjoys ruthless aggression. Vince said the SmackDown! GM also tried to put him out of business and loved ruthless aggression as well. Mr. McMahon said he thought the people deserved Bischoff as a GM, but wasn't sure they deserved the SmackDown! GM. With that, Mr. McMahon introduced the new SmackDown! general manager: Stephanie McMahon!
Stephanie said that her brother, Shane, was right when he said that Bischoff would try to screw him, but she said she would not let that happen. Stephanie promised to block Bischoff's attempt to sign Triple H at Vengeance this Sunday. Stephanie said her first official act would take place immediately as she would threw Bischoff out of her building!
Stephanie retreated backstage and searched for the RAW General Manager. She grabbed a stagehand, but he insisted he didn't know where he was. After some more hunting, Stephanie found the former head of WCW talking to Test, Christian and Lance Storm and got up in his face. She said Bischoff could leave on her own or be thrown out. Bischoff said he'd leave but he'd see her at Vengeance.
Billy Kidman clashed with Tajiri in a cruiserweight match-up. Tajiri quickly put Kidman in the Tarantula and followed with a knee drop to the skull. Kidman countered with a modified neckbreaker and got a two count. Tajiri got a two-count after a kick to the head, but Kidman dodged a moonsault. Tajiri landed on his feet but was slammed to the mat. Kidman nailed the Shooting Star Press and got the pin! Cruiserweight Champion Jamie Noble raced in and attacked Kidman. After leaving Kidman in a heap on the mat, he planted a long kiss on Nidia and then celebrated along with Tajiri
Chris Jericho walked into Stephanie McMahon's office and exclaimed that it was great to see her. The two shook hands and Stephanie said that Y2J was very unselfish last week for giving up his match against Edge so he and Hogan could defend the Tag Team Championship. Stephanie said she would reward him by giving Y2J the match that he gave up on next week's SmackDown! Jericho's face fell and contorted in anger as he left Stephanie's office.
Kurt Angle came out to face The Rock, but had a few words for the People's Champion first. Angle said that this Sunday at Vengeance he will become the next Undisputed Champion. He said he already had made the Undertaker tap, and tonight he will make The Rock tap too! That prompted a surprise appearance by The Undertaker, who rode his motorcylce down to ringside and joined Tazz and Michael Cole.
As Angle turned his attention to Taker, The Rock raced down and assaulted the Olympic Hero. The battle erupted outside the ring as The Rock bashed Angle's head into Taker's motorcycle and suplexed him on the metal entrance ramp. Angle recovered and catapulted The Rock into the ring post.
Back in the ring, Angle continued to mount an offensive. Four German suplexes took the wind out of The Rock but couldn't get him pinned. Angle began to show some cockiness, which allowed The Rock to come back with a crushing clothesline. Angle collected himself and began stomping on The Rock. Angle latched on a headlock, but The Rock fought out of it, only to be whipped into the Angle Slam! Still, The Rock would not go down in defeat. He took down Angle and locked him in the Sharpshooter, causing Angle to crawl to the rope and break the hold. Rock went for a Rock Bottom, but Angle stopped him with elbows to the head and a clothesline. The Rock sprang to his feet and knocked Angle from the ring. Angle bumped into the Undertaker, but moved out of the way to cause the Brahma Bull to smash into the Dead Man!
Once back in the ring, Angle slapped Rock in the ankle lock, but Rocky swiftly countered out of it. Angle fell victim to a spinebuster and Rock set up for the People's Elbow, but Taker jumped in and decked The Rock to end the bout in a disqualification! Taker pounced on The Rock until Angle decked the champ with a chair then put the People's Champion in the ankle lock! Angle raised his hands over the ailing bodies of Taker and The Rock.
Marc Loyd found Triple H walking to his limo in the parking lot and tried to get an interview. He stopped short when Stephanie walked up to her ex-husband and asked for a quick meeting for strictly business reasons. Triple H asked if he was sure she didn't want her lawyer there to do her dirty work for him. Triple H said he would hear everything that she and Eric Bischoff had to say on Sunday before making his decision at Vengeance. The Game went to climb into his car, but stopped and came back to smile at Stephanie. The two held eye contact for a minute, until Triple H looked her over and asked, "Are you gaining weight?" Stephanie sneered as The Game got into his car. Stephanie leaned in to the window as it rolled down and came face to face with Bischoff! The RAW GM laughed while the car drove off with Stephanie screaming as SmackDown! closed!