STW - No Way Out 2002 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Welcome back to Something to Wrestle - today we’re going to be covering No Way Out 2002!

It’s been 20 years since the nWo walked the aisle in Milwaukee and before we get there there’s so much to unpack as I like to say Bruce.

We’re coming off the Rumble which we talked about last month. Coming out of that show the normal plan is to begin building for Mania. You had Triple H win the Rumble to set up his eventual match with Jericho but you’re about to introduce 3 new characters to the top spots. Is this one of those times where everything is just up in the air?

The night after Rumble on Raw Vince teases about the arrival of the nWo as a way to gain revenge for his loss to Flair, and talked about making a move that all the wrestlers, the fans and even he himself may regret.

Hindsight 20/20 Bruce…is this a worked line that turns into a shoot?

It has to be tough for Vince to introduce Hall, Nash & Hogan as the nWo - something that is not his creation. Vince has long been notorious on not doing that - what was different about this time and place?

Walking into TV that day - do you know it’s Rock vs. Hogan, Jericho vs. Hunter and Austin vs. Hall at Mania?

The amount of unrest the nWo’s signing creates in the locker room couldn’t be easy to temper but in terms of the office…do you remember one person specifically being excited about this?

Do you think the nWo needed someone like Eric Bischoff with them?

Edge is given a bit of … excuse the pun … edge on Raw when he knocks out William Regal, Charles Robinson, Nick Patrick and others with brass knuckles and spears. It was time for Edge to level up his character was it not?

The show is in Greenville so Flair has to come out and cut a promo and he’s insanely over. You think the match at Rumble and this time in Greenville were boosts to Flair’s confidence?

Austin destroys Val Venis and Mr. Perfect then rambles about the Beverly Hillbillies, a menu and his workout routine but the crowd eats it up. Austin has always been described about being very demanding about his creative … and here it just kind of seems like he’s destroying mid carders. Is Austin in this weird spot of no man’s land?

Rock & Hunter team up in the main event to take on Angle & Jericho and after miscommunication with the heels Rock pins Jericho with the rock bottom. Any reason it’s Rock getting the win here compared to Hunter who Jericho is going to be working with at Mania?

AJ Styles has a dark match the next night at the Smackdown tapings losing to Rico Costantino. Think AJ has a future?

Smackdown is built around Vince revealing his secret plan that he’ll regret. It’s also built around Hunter and Stephanie’s martial issues. Stephanie gets a lot of grief regarding her various characters but my goodness Bruce she is just amazing in some of these. Was this Stephanie’s best role?

There’s a tournament set up to determine who’s going to take on Jericho at No Way Out for the title and Austin pins Booker to advance and Angle pins Rock after Taker interferes. Meltzer would write this, “Angle pinned Rock, who broke the all-time record for a supposed top babyface doing jobs on TV.” Rocky did lose a lot in this era. Can you explain the differences in Rock’s thinking compared to Austin’s regarding their characters?

Vince reveals the chair with the nWo logo and that he’s going to kill the WWF with a legal dose of poison. The way this is all set up…could it had been done better? Does the nWo lose it’s edge when it’s Vince McMahon bringing them in?

The WWF puts tickets on sale for an upcoming tour of Asia and with it being the first time the WWF is in Japan in 8 years the Yokohama Arena show sells out immediately. Japan is in a mess at the time between New Japan, All Japan, NOAH all way down in business. Does Vince keep track of that at the time and think there may be something there for him to get involved with?

Jim Ross has a press conference and is asked about Scott Steiner, Randy Savage, Goldberg, Rey Misterio Jr and Jeff Jarrett coming into the company. How much talent is too much talent and would any of them fit at this point in time?

Jim brings up doing two PPV events per month may be a challenge with the brand split. Was there actual thought that running two pay per views a month was viable?

It’s announced on OVW TV that Randy Orton was going to be finishing up as he’s moving to the main roster. How excited are you to get someone like Orton up at this time?

Regarding using the nWo to hype the pay-per-view from Meltzer: “Basically, about 83,000 added buys equals a million extra dollars to the company. Normal PPVs were doing 350,000 to 400,000 buys last summer but Invasion did 681,000, and Steve Austin's first two appearances after neck surgery both did numbers in that range which shows how much added revenue saving a hot item for PPV can draw. Numbers are lower now, partially due to the DirecTV fiasco. If saved, the first live appearance of these guys, if properly promoted and not used as a surprise, with a hot angle, should be worth a few million on PPV. If we are conservative and say they'll add 166,000 buys, and I think the number would be considerably higher, particularly since Hogan is involved and hasn't been seen in nearly two years by a national audience so all but the hardcore fans have forgotten why they wanted him gone, for them to debut on a live Raw with publicity and garner that same revenue, they would have to increase the rating on that show (not just their quarter hour but the entire two hours show) from a 4.5 to a 23.1, an impossibility. Already the excitement has led the No Way Out PPV on 2/17 in Milwaukee to sellout the Bradley Center in three hours when tickets were put on sale on 1/19. Current plan for the show is a triple main in the ring, with Chris Jericho vs. Steve Austin for the WWF title, HHH vs. Kurt Angle and Undertaker vs. Rock. For the same reason, their first actual matches, or at least serious matches, should be held off until Wrestlemania.”

Go ahead Bruce…

On Raw on January 28th - the storyline is put in motion that Flair had to sell his 50% back to Vince at no profit or Vince will bring in the nWo and bankrupt the WWF, making it worthless. This…I don’t know. Does it make sense Bruce?

From Meltzer: “Then came the single greatest segment in the history of WWF wrestling. Flair showed up and talked about the history of wrestling and the NWO. They aired the WWF video. Vince came out acting so over the top it could have killed a lesser segment. Flair said WWF was bigger than the NFL, NBA and baseball. Think about this. Flair spent 25 years saying the NWA and later WCW title was the biggest title in all of wrestling, but has since publicly admitted that he was lying because he was being paid by that company. Finally, as Flair was putting every WWF wrestler of the Old, New and Next generation to shame on the mic, Vince grabbed the mic like a maniac and said he wanted Flair to sell him his stock or he'd bring in the NWO and they'd destroy the promotion and gave Ric a few days to make a decision.”

The Kid Rock music video that features virtually every major start of the past 30 years in the WWF airs on SmackDown and it’s truly amazing. From Meltzer: “This video did more to acknowledge history in four minutes than the company had in the previous 20 years.” Why the shift to highlight people like Bruno, the Valiants, Chief Jay and others?

Kane pins Big Show in under 3 minutes after kicking out of his choke slam and hitting him with one of his own. Meltzer speculates this is because Big Show showed up to a Stacker 2 commercial weighing 500 pounds. What say you Bruce?

Also from Meltzer: “APA threw a tantrum about Hall, Nash and Hogan coming in. Everyone on the internet and in the business was laughing and everyone at home is scratching their heads.”

Do you think the nWo coming into the WWF is explained enough to its audience why it’s a poison?

I just want to read this to you Bruce… “Chuck & Billy & Jazz beat Stratus & APA in 4:04. Stratus did the old stuff in the face huracanrana on Palumbo, but he blocked it and power bombed her for the pin. He acted totally repulsed by her. Booker T pinned HHH in 5:07. Christian attacked HHH because of an unprovoked beating HHH gave him at Smackdown. Stephanie came out to save him, but of course, screwed up. HHH ended up colliding with Stephanie and was schoolboyed by Booker. The first person who thought how pro it was for HHH to do the job here should be on a booking committee with a company where Hogan and Nash are the top stars. This also wasn't a good match. People may start catching on about that, and that's not a good thing. Stephanie was doing her genetic overacting and fake crying as HHH slammed the door in her face for costing him the match. She told him that she loved him. An important lesson about relationships was being taught here. Never say that at this moment. The other person isn't believing it. True to form, he opened up, threw her suitcase at her and slammed the door in her face.”

Give it to me Bruce.

Austin gets the win over Angle in the main event to determine the #1 contender and to take on Jericho at No Way Out. Do you think Austin and Angle ever had a bad match?

Rollerball is a focus of SmackDown on January 31st. Was it Paul Heyman who made this connection since he’s in the movie?

The show is in Norfolk and Flair gets another gigantic pop. Was Flair utilized to the best of his ability during this time because the crowd reactions are tremendous…

The story is that Flair is going to sign over his stock to Vince and stop the nWo from coming.

Speaking of stories JR interviews Stephanie about her current marital problems…and asks about early on infidelity that she committed which she denied and then when JR asks Stephanie about HHH cheating on her…her answer is that it is impossible because there is no other woman on Earth as good in bed as her. Tell me Vince McMahon scripted this without telling me Vince McMahon scripted this.

There’s a bikini contest between Billy & Chuck and Torrie Wilson & Trish Stratus. I don’t even know what to say Bruce about this so let’s move on.

The episode of SmackDown ends with Vince & Flair in the ring. From the Observer: “Vince explained that the perception of Ric Flair is false. He would never do anything to help the young talent and doesn't give a damn about the fans. Vince explained that Flair is signing over all his WWF stock, but that Vince agreed not to bring the NWO in. Before the signature, Vince explained that the members of the NWO he was talking about were Hogan, Hall and Nash. He said the NWO would have destroyed WWF, destroying all the stars and the company, but would have revolutionized sports entertainment. If revolutionized is a euphemism for making the main events suck, he's right. Vince said he hopes to do business with Hogan, Hall and Nash in the future. Flair comes out to sign. But before he does, Austin showed up and told him to tear up the contract. Flair decked Vince and Austin gave him a stunner. Show ends with Michael Cole recognizing that this means the NWO is coming”

So this segment finishes…is the thought process Hogan vs. Austin? Nash & Hall against Flair & Austin? What does Austin gain by not letting Flair sign it over?

Well here comes the heat Bruce. From the Observer: “It didn't take long for there to be a problem. After everyone was told there would be no favoritism played (despite the NWO guys getting preferential treatment in regard to not working house shows and getting virtually all their demands met), Hall showed up this week to the TV tapings and made a total spectacle of himself according to several reports. An argument can be made that since Hall wasn't wrestling, he wasn't endangering anyone else, and plenty of wrestlers may do a lot of things but things are basically looked the other way unless they show up in condition where they could endanger their opponent in the ring or police have to be called and the company gets embarrassed. While some wrestlers were very upset about the guy being handed a top spot with his track record, and showing so much respect for it that he made a fool of himself on his first day in when it was figured he should make a strong first impression, embarrassed the company in front of a lot of fans and management that had tried to give pep talks about how he's changed, others were laughing about it basically saying management deserved it. The big question everyone was asking was what kind of response would be made after management had tried to blame previous problems on WCW and saying things would be different. Tensions have gotten worse and morale is the lowest it has been in the modern era according to more than one source. One wrestler told us that the reason management hasn't reacted is because they likely aren't aware, because nobody wants to say anything publicly for fear of being buried, because it always comes out, and who needs to be the victim of reprisals. Hogan, Hall and Nash were all in Los Angeles for the Smackdown show but didn't appear on the air as they are wisely saving the debut for the PPV. Both Austin and Undertaker have told wrestlers that they've worked too hard to not only get the company where it is but to elevate the style to the level it's at to sacrifice it with people who aren't going to work for it.”

Was there a legitimate beef between guys like Austin & Taker with the nWo walking in? Is this why we never got Austin vs. Hogan?

What do you remember of Scott at this time? What’s the incident in question do you know?

Raw on the 4th from Vegas sees Hunter getting his win back over Booker in 2 minutes because…well you know.

It’s announced that Hunter vs. Angle at No Way Out will be for Hunter’s #1 contendership. Is there any thought to moving Hunter out of that spot or was it to add something to that match itself?

Vince and Flair are in the ring again together discussing what happened on SmackDown and Nash, Hall & Hogan appear on the screen to a less than thunderous reaction. Are you concerned that their appearance may not be the big thing everyone is hoping for?

Rock challenges Taker for No Way Out. Is this just kind of treading water for these two?

From the Observer: “Stephanie came out with HHH and asked her to renew their wedding vows on Raw on 2/11. Stephanie wanted to renew them because Las Vegas was where they got married. A what a wonderful occasion that was, as she was drugged and married against her will as I recall. HHH said her idea was the stupidest one he had ever heard and said he was sick of everything in their lives being done in front of the whole world. Stephanie practically ordered him to do so and he said no again. He started yelling at her and she started crying, and then said she was pregnant. After a pregnant pause, HHH hugged her and celebrated. The fans sure didn't. They were booing this badly, saying she wasn't pregnant and the baby wasn't his. HHH is so smart (well, not always as we'll get to later, but at least in wrestling) I can't believe he'd make the mistake of playing geek. That's the clever ideas for people who are threats to the top spot, not something you do voluntarily when you understand this game. And believe me, the fans thought of HHH as a geek for believing her. Every time pro wrestling has done a pregnancy angle, it has been beyond lame, and everyone has done them.”

Does Hunter look like a geek here or is this just Meltzer nitpicking?

Jazz wins the WWF Women’s Title from Trish with a STF as a finish. Are you surprised Jazz didn’t get over more as a badass heel?

The main is Rock & Austin teaming up to face Undertaker & Jericho but as Jericho comes out a fan attacks him. When these types of situations happen … and as recently as when it happened to Seth Rollins … what goes on in gorilla?

Undertaker hits Rock with a pipe and Jericho gets the pin. Is it tough creatively when your main storyline in the company is about an impending debut to make everything else mean something? As Jericho as World Champion here is almost a complete afterthought.

Smackdown is taped in LA and is notable for a couple different reasons. “They showed a taped interview with HHH & Stephanie and the doctor said she was eight weeks along. Angle came out with a baby carriage, saying Stephanie would make a good mom but HHH would be a lousy father since he's closer to an ape. He then pulled out a stuffed ape he called Game Jr. HHH came out to attack him”

The Kurt Angle stuff with the baby ape is fucking hilarious. How good was Kurt at the comedy aspect of this business?

Jericho calls out Austin and Will Sasso from Mad TV comes out instead acting like Austin and kisses Jericho’s boots and sucking up to him. The real Austin comes out and ends up drinking beer with Sasso before stunning him. Will Sasso had made numerous appearances in WCW and WWF. What was it like working with him?

Maven - with an assist from the Rock - defeats Undertaker for the Hardcore title. It was time to get the title off Taker here but why Maven?

Later on that night Taker attacks Rock and hits him with a piledriver on the roof of the vehicle. I know we don’t talk about current but this is one of those classic angles that was highlighted in the Undertaker’s Hall of Fame video. How cool is it to see Taker going into the Hall of Fame this year?

Hunter and Vince discuss the wedding renewal and Stephanie asked to make sure Vince walks her down the aisle and Hunter states though he would never let Vince near his kids…so Vince gets hot about that and orders Hunter to appear in a handicap match against Angle & Jericho. The match has Hunter losing after two Angle slams on a chair. After Hunter hugs Stephanie but Angle attacks him from behind and Stephanie goes crashing as the show goes off the air. Is the implication that Stephanie losing the baby from a physical attack…good creative?

From the Observer… “It took almost no time for Scott Hall to be in the WWF doghouse.

As noted last week, Hall, claiming to have kicked his now legendary alcohol and drug dependencies, showed up on 2/11 in Las Vegas and made a complete spectacle of himself in public to where he had to be dragged into his hotel room to keep from further problems, totally embarrassing management that had gone to bat for him and pleaded his case among wrestlers who with few exceptions, were dead-set against the idea of bringing not only Hall, but also Hulk Hogan and Kevin Nash back.

To make matters worse, the next day in Los Angeles, when Steve Austin was told by Vince McMahon and Jim Ross of the plans to work an Austin vs. Hall match at Wrestlemania and to come up with ideas to build it and to work together to get comfortable, Austin's response was reportedly something to the effect of why even waste my time, he's not going to be in the company by the time Wrestlemania comes around and we all know it, so why start something when we know it's going nowhere. Austin was hardly the only wrestler to have those feelings, as several wrestlers came to management saying they didn't want to work with Hall.

Hall gained even more heat on himself when he, Hogan and Nash showed up to do some production work in Los Angeles. It was the first time Hogan and Nash had been around the current crew, and were met with the expected skepticism. While Hogan and Nash, as everyone expected, went out of their way to be nice to everyone, the reaction to Hall was different. The big story was Hall going up to the Dudleys and saying one of two things, as we've heard two different version of essentially the same story. Either he said to Bubba, "That's a great move you have (in reference to the 3-D). I can't wait to kick out of it" or "That's a really realistic finisher you have" and then started laughing as to mock the move. While those who know Hall from WCW say that was typical Hall, in that he's always pushing buttons and think the dressing room overreacted. But they could understand the feeling, being that when the mood was so strong against him going in. Him making things worse for himself the night before by exposing the having turned around his life story as a farce, that it probably wasn't the time to be a smartass and try to get under people's skin and play his "I'm an untouchable star" card.

There is a point that Hall was hardly the first WWF wrestler to have a problem and it isn't as if problems among wrestlers is uncommon. He wasn't even wrestling in Las Vegas, and there is sort of a code among wrestlers that you can do what you want on your own time, just show up in shape to perform up when it's company time because a messed up wrestler puts his opponent's body in jeopardy.”

Walk me through all this Bruce. Were you immediately regretting all this?

The Godfather returns as the Godfather again but now his escort business isn’t doing great. Where does this shift in gimmick come from?

Austin and Taker go one-on-one on SmackDown and it ends when Jericho comes out and really gets some heat on Austin by using a belt shot, hitting him with his beer cooler and drinking his beer. Because really there’s no way to insult Austin more by drinking his beer right?

RVD and Christian have a singles match and this is probably the beginning of the Christian whining angle. Christian hits RVD with everything but can’t get the pin and he ends up flopping around on the mat during it and doesn’t notice Van Dam recovering to climb to the top rope and hit him with the frog splash for the win. This is silly shit isn’t it Bruce?

Linda calls up Hunter and asks him to watch the video tape she sent him and it’s a video exposing Stephanie as not being pregnant. Does that defeat the purpose of the show ending angle last week where she’s bumped into?

From there…well there’s this. “Vince, who rolled his eyes earlier at the suggestion he'd walk Stephanie down the aisle, showed up to reconcile. This got really creepy as Stephanie was wearing the sluttiest wedding dress I've ever seen. Finkel tried to warn Stephanie that a problem was going to ensue, but Vince yelled at him. It got really creepy as Vince was looking down his daughter's top. Anyway, now it's time for a wedding. HHH came out to his entrance music. Well, so did Test, so we have a precedent, but he smiled in that sly face manner. At least he didn't spit water. Stephanie & Vince came out. Fans were chanting "What" at the preacher. While that's usually annoying, this thing was so ungodly bad that it was at least making it humorous. To make a long story short, this went 15 minutes and seemed like two hours. They even sang a wedding song. Stephanie went on forever with her vows. HHH then got the mic, actually had a pretty well written speech, called her a no good lying bitch, said they were through, gave Vince a pedigree (totally botched on the first attempt, Vince's bad) and pie-faced Stephanie. He then destroyed the wedding set”

Is this one of the more memorable weddings? Was it as bad as Meltzer described it here?

The go-home SmackDown features John Walsh of America’s Most Wanted cutting an in ring promo about helping find the killers of two WWF fans. Bruce how the fuck does this get put together?

“Vince is on the phone with Hogan to let everyone know Hogan is back at No Way Out. They showed several NWO clips, the final one being a cut-in during the history of WWF video showing them spray painting NWO over a photo of Vince Sr. Maven & HHH beat Angle & Undertaker when HHH set up Undertaker in the pedigree but Angle got DQ'd for a chair shot. Angle destroyed HHH with a chair shot and Undertaker choke slammed him. Flair ran in for the save. Undertaker laid out Flair with a big boot and set up the last ride, but Vince & Stephanie told him to stop because they wanted Flair healthy for the PPV to see the NWO first-hand. Undertaker then tosses Flair over the top like he was nothing, and then Vince announced Stephanie as ref of the HHH vs. Angle match”

This is a hell of an ending to this show Bruce. Who’s idea was the picture of Vince Sr. getting spray painted?

Well we’re here Bruce and what a show this is.

The reaction to this show is…not great. 55.8% thumbs down. This monumental show is more remembered for the promos than anything else. Let’s get into it!

The show draws 15,291 with 13,484 paying $966,150 in gross and $138,591 in merchandise. It is the highest gate for professional wrestling in North America since King of the Ring 2001. That has to be a crowning achievement right Bruce?

From the Observer: “Nothing on the show was awful, and nothing was really great. Even what was good were match-ups that have usually been better. Due to the standard of WWF PPV shows, it was a huge letdown, particularly since the company has a history of great February shows leading to Mania. A lot of the problem was the dead crowd. Whether bringing the NWO out at the start of the show for an interview killed everything that followed, which seems to have been the prevailing view from those there live, it made the show come across as lacking any spark on television. I'm not sure if this is a prevailing view, but it does appear that some within the decision making group felt the same way, and more so in hindsight. The fact that the show sold out in about an hour showed it was hardly a crowd of people who weren't rabid for the product.”

Were you one of those who were against bringing out the nWo to start the show?

This has always been under the category of rumor and innuendo…No Way Out was used as a pay-per-view name because of the initials of the nWo. Was it just a straight coincidence that they debuted at that pay-per-view?

“The PPV opened with Hogan, Hall and Nash coming out to the WCW NWO music. Nash talked first. All three did a sarcastic interview about the backstage problems. The crowd popped for the guys but were quiet for the interview. Problem was they were making the WCW-like problem of assuming far more knowledge from the general audience than existed, assuming everyone knew about the locker room problems and the like. With the exception of Hall's drinking, which was pushed hard as a WCW angle, it didn't seem like much of what they were doing was registering. As each guy grabbed the mic, they got a pop. It was reminiscent of when DDP unmasked as the Stalker, where they were this gigantic pop (actually much bigger than any of these pops), but then his interview didn't get over. Hall got a pop for "Hey, yo" and crowd got it when they did the drinking jokes. There is something terribly uncomfortable about Hall's TV portrayal as this cool drunk guy. I got some really poignant letters on Sunday night from people who were recovery alcoholics on this subject that were furious. Hogan thanked Vince and did this fake babyface interview about how they are just in to help strengthen the company.”

Was this the way to introduce these guys?

“1. APA won the tag team turmoil match for the title shot at Mania over Scotty 2 Hotty & Albert, Christian & Lance Storm, Matt & Jeff Hardy, Dudleys and Billy & Chuck. Crowd was dead for much of this. It seemed like everyone was rushing through because they had so little time. Christian pinned Scotty after the unprettier in 2:56. Hardys got a big initial pop as the next time in. Storm accidentally hit Christian with a spin kick and Jeff pinned Storm after a swanton in 2:44. Dudleys came in. This was the best segment of the match, which shouldn't come as any surprise. Stacy interfered, which led to Lita spearing her to the expected big pop. Bubba laid out Matt with the Bubba Bomb. Lita then gave Bubba the Litacanrana. Jeff then did the move of the night, a somersault plancha onto Bubba, while Matt scored the pin on D-Von with the twist of fate in 4:16. After the match, the Dudleys gave Jeff a 3-D on the floor. The idea was it left the Hardys as sitting ducks for Billy & Chuck. Jeff was laid out and Billy pinned Matt in just :21 with the fame asser. This left the APA vs. Billy & Chuck for the title shot. This wasn't a good night for Billy. First, he wound up with a bloody nose. Then Faarooq gave him a spinebuster and his landing looked really ugly and he appeared to be shaken up. He also had to take the pin from Bradshaw's lariat in 3:48 in a match one would have expected him to win. All in all, probably not the most pleasant three minutes of his life. *½”

The Dudleys vs. Hardys is really good and it’s nice that the Hardys time off gave them a rest it seems like. But looking back Billy & Chuck should’ve won this right?

“2. Rob Van Dam pinned Goldust in 11:06. This was the most unique match of the night. It was, by far, Van Dam's worst PPV match in years because he was put in with an old school stylist. Because of the style clash, Van Dam looked sloppier than usual. Still, what sort of gets Van Dam over is that he still did a lot of his unique gymnastic moves that nobody else does. But in doing a basic match, his weaknesses, like selling and timing, were terribly apparent. Van Dam did his corkscrew legdrop off the apron while Goldust was on the barricade. Goldust came off the middle rope to the floor with a standing elbow. Goldust did a long camel clutch, which is exactly what people don't want to see in a Van Dam match. After a while, it became obvious why. Van Dam even slipped on the ropes the first time he went for a Rider kick, and he's one of the most sure-footed top rope guys I've ever seen. Van Dam ended up scoring a clean pin with a frog splash after doing that step through kick. *½”

This is a legit styles clash and not a great one. Did these two just not mesh?

“Austin met the NWO for the first time. Hall offered him a 12-pack. He threw it on the ground and blew them off. What was really weird here was the camera work. It's freakin magic. Austin looked the same height as Hall and Hogan, who both have him by three inches. He only looked three inches or so shorter than Nash. How do they do that? Masters of illusion.”

wwe Stonecold meets the NWO

“3. Tazz & Spike Dudley retained the WWF tag titles over Booker T & Test in 7:17. Another flat match. Tazz & Spike are a great team when Spike sells forever and Tazz hot tags and throws people around. Any other formula doesn't work. Spike started selling when Test blocked the Dudley dog and crotched him on the top rope, and he fell to the floor. But the heat spot was short due to time constraints. Finish saw Test shove ref Jack Doan, who came off the ropes and shoved him back, and Tazz put Test in the Tazmission. I had almost forgot about the Test vs. referees feud. *”

I forgot about the Test against the referees feud too. Once again looking back it seems weird that Tazz & Spike went over. Was there not a lot of direction for some of this undercard stuff considering the upper card has so much going on?

“4. William Regal retained the IC title in a Brass Knux on a pole match with Edge in 10:25. I actually liked this match, but was clearly in the minority. Regal used a double-arm power bomb on the floor and later a second one in the ring. Edge was bleeding from the mouth. They did a scary spot where Regal tried a power bomb while they were on the apron, and Edge reversed it and they both tumbled to the floor. They did the climbing and crotching spots. Regal got the Knux first, but Edge back suplexed him off the ropes with the Knux going flying. They both crawled for the Knux, which would have been a great spot if the people cared at this point, but they didn't. Just as Edge almost had them, Regal kicked them out of the ring. Edge speared Regal and got the Knux. Regal maneuvered the ref, gave Edge a low blow, and hit him with his own Knux for the pin. Clearly they are planning a big blow-off for Edge to go over finally in Toronto on the big stage where they can do the home town boy chasing the belt angle. In that sense, Regal winning makes sense. Still, changing entrance music seems to have done more to elevate Edge than this program so far. **¼”

Hard to disagree about the music here. Did Edge and Regal just have a hard time getting everything together?

“5. Rock pinned Undertaker in 17:25. Crowd was into Rock early, but even they didn't sustain the heat. Still, easily the most heat so far. They brawled outside the ring. Undertaker worked on the neck. Good spot where Rock used a spinebuster and set up the elbow, but Taker got up and set up the choke slam, but Rock low blowed him. Taker finally used the choke slam for a near fall. Then he went out of the ring, seemingly forever. It looked to make zero sense, until he finally found the pipe he was looking for. He was searching everywhere for the thing. He then threw the ref into the steps (more of this to come) and was about to break Rock's skull. Ric Flair came to the rescue and grabbed it. Flair started throwing chops, which Undertaker no-sold with such disdain I was starting to get nostalgic about Luger's workrate. Rock got the sharpshooter on Undertaker but Vince came out. Rock dropped the hold and began pounding on Vince, who did his comically bad selling. Undertaker then set up doing a tombstone on Rock, when Flair got the pipe and nailed Undertaker with it, leading to a rock bottom for the pin. **¼”

All the ga-ga and smoke and mirrors here Bruce. Did they need it or was this strictly to advance to getting to Flair vs. Taker?

“6. Kurt Angle pinned HHH to theoretically win the title shot in 14:40 with Stephanie (who insisted on being called Stephanie McMahon) as ref. As much as she figured to ruin the match, and she took it down, she took an awesome first bump to get her out of there flying over the top rope for a great looking Angle clothesline. Seriously, that was as good as almost anything on the show. Not only that, but it meant they could work several minutes without her being the focus of everything with Tim White as ref. Of course the downside is it meant that White was going to get beat up by her before the finish. She was carried out while HHH laughed at her. Technically sound but lacked heat. Angle was suplexing HHH all over the place and seemed frustrated with the lack of response. Angle punched White, gave HHH a low blow and an Angle slam as Stephanie ran in but HHH kicked out. Very surprised she didn't count fast. Angle used the ankle lock but HHH kicked Angle into squashing Stephanie. Ref bump No. 3. DDT by HHH but no ref. HHH had Angle set up for the Pedigree when Stephanie attacked White and kicked him low. That's ref bump No. 4. He set up the pedigree on her, but Angle got a chair and nailed HHH twice, then gave him the Angle slam and Stephanie counted the pin. ***¼”

More ga-ga. Is there too much ga-ga on this show? Seems odd to take the shot away from Hunter though after his big return is with the big win. Is that a necessary part of the story?

Now…the classic Rock promo…

The Rock meets The nWo: No Way Out 2002

How good is this Bruce? Was this to show the nWo guys can do business?

“7. Chris Jericho retained the WWF/WCW title pinning Steve Austin in 21:34. Total chop fest, and they were hard chops. In a sense this was the best match as a stand-alone match, but all the ref bumps after a match with all the ref bumps really took it down. They worked a 21:00 very physical good match. Austin used three superplexes on Jericho for near falls. They lost the crowd with the fight in the stands. Jericho then did a low blow. Crowd had already seen too many of them so it didn't pop them. Jericho used two lionsaults with Austin too far away from the ropes, so the move didn't look quite right. Jericho blocked the Thesz press and got the walls in the middle. Ref got squashed. Austin got a near fall with a spinebuster on the belt. Jericho blocked the stunner into a breakdown on the belt for a near fall. Jericho clotheslined Earl Hebner. They seriously need to have someone make sure that the last two matches aren't doing the same thing. Austin got the walls on and Jericho tapped, but no ref. Jericho brought in the belt but Austin caught him with a stunner. At this point, Hogan, Hall and Nash came in. Austin pounded all of them at first, and they all bumped for him. Nash hasn't worked so hard in years. Hogan tried, but it was comical seeing he and Austin mistime brawling. Finally, Hall gave Austin a screwy looking stunner and Jericho got the pin. After the match, they continued to pound on Austin, and Hall gave him a second, and better, stunner. Austin was laid out and they spray painted NWO on him to end the show. This requires some massive sense of disbelief that 50 wrestlers backstage who all hate these guys, are twiddling their thumbs while they do a three-on-one and humiliate the company's biggest star, but it did work for a time in WCW when they had 100 guys backstage. After the PPV ended, in the arena, they all left. When Austin recovered, they sent Hall by himself back to the ring to get a stunner and the show ended live with Austin pouring beer all over Hall. Apparently the plan was for Hall to take the stunner, but the pouring beer was impromptu. Nash was really upset about it and complained to Jim Ross after the show that Hall was on anti-alcohol medicine, that the smell or taste of beer makes him vomit and blamed Austin for purposely dumping the beer on his face, which nearly made him ill, and that he couldn't close his mouth because he was selling the stunner. That was the story, anyway. ***”

What a fucking mess this is Bruce. How the hell does this all happen? How upset is Austin afterward? Jericho? The nWo?

What did you think of the show Bruce?