WWE: Ruthless Aggression - Jericho vs Van Dam - Ladder Match

[King Of Spice]

February 25th, 2002 | Bryce Jordan Center, University Park, Pennsylvania

Raw begins with none other than The Undertaker walking down a Raw ramp for the first time in two months. He grabs a mic, and starts to speak.

"You see, for 10 years now, I've been bustin' my ass here in the WWF. I worked hard for 3 long years, from 1992 until 1995. By that point, many people said I was the man here in the WWF. And then, some bald headed SOB who couldn't make it in WCW or ECW comes in, wins King Of The Ring, and the fans go crazy for him. "The Austin Era" begins, and where does that leave me? Stuck in his shadow. Oh, and you? Don't even get me started on you people. You turned your backs on me just like everyone else did. Since 1997 I have been stuck behind Stone Cold Steve Austin and it ends at Wrestlemania. See, I don't know if it's been announced or what, but I just got done talking to Ric Flair, and he told me that at Wrestlemania, it's gonna be vs Stone Cold Steve Austin in an I Quit match."

Undertaker turns around, and talks to Jim Ross.

"JR", you like to say that "Austin will never quit on ya?"

"It's true." remarked Ross.

Undertaker gets out of the ring and moves next to Ross.

"You're exactly the same as these people. You, King, Coach, everybody, you all turned your back on me when the Austin era began and I was simply left behind. Ain't that right?"

"Come on, no-"

JR is stopped mid sentence as the Undertaker grabs him by the collar and stands him up.

"Come on, Undertaker! Leave him alone!"

Undertaker gets in JR's face, and then draws his fist back, as if he's going to punch him. King tries to stop Undertaker, but 'Taker just pushes him away. Undertaker is finally stopped by Stone Cold Steve Austin, who spins the Undertaker around and rocks him with rights and lefts. Austin throws Undertaker into the barricade, and is unrelenting in his assault on "Big Evil". Austin grabbed 'Taker by the head and slammed the back of his head into the security wall a number of time before security ran down and began to pull him off. As security held Austin, Undertaker saw his opportunity, and jumped forward into the pile of security men, however, this time, it was him attacking Austin. Undertaker struck "The Texas Rattlesnake" a number of times in the head, before even more security men came down to ringside. Security tried their best to separate the two, and eventually, Austin was dragged one way yelling and trying to escape, and The Undertaker was dragged in the opposite direction, doing the same. Raw faded to a commercial break.

- Commercial Break -

#1 Contender's Match for the Intercontinental Championship - Val Venis vs Rob Van Dam
Val Venis, a man on a roll as of late, met Rob Van Dam, another man achieving a good amount of success in recent weeks. Knowing what was on the line, both Venis and Van Dam went right after each other, with both of them going for early covers to try and earn an opportunity at the Intercontinental Title. RVD tried for Rolling Thunder in the middle of the encounter, but Venis just barely got out of the way. As Venis stood up and got the fans behind him, William Regal, who just happened to be sat at commentary with Test, got up and stood on the apron, distracting Maven. Maven turned around, and he was met with punches by Venis. Val whipped RVD into the ropes and backed himself off into the other set, but Regal grabbed Venis by the ankles and pulled him to the outside of the ring, allowing Test to take his head off with a clothesline and the match to end in a disqualification.
Winner: Rob Van Dam (6:13)

As Van Dam looked on at Regal, confused as to why he helped him win, "The Whole Dam Show" was span around by Test, who then dropped him with a big boot. Regal got into the ring and raised his title in the air alongside Test, but Vince McMahon's theme hit, and he appeared at the top of the stage.

"Regal.. I saw what you just did, and, backstage in my office, I thought "I'd better go do something about this, but then, I thought, no, this would be a better job for the new Raw General Manager to take care of. So, ladies and gentlemen, my handpicked, new Raw General Manager!"

"I'M BACK! AND BETTER THAN EVER!" played throughout the arena, as the new Raw General Manager was revealed to be none other than Eric Bischoff. Bischoff shook the hand of McMahon, and Vince left through the curtain. Bischoff, however, began to speak.

"Mr. Regal.. you know, we go way back, don't we? I've known you since all the way back in WCW, and I know that you're more than capable as an in-ring competitor, and, it's that fact that makes me know you'll do just fine in your match at Wrestlemania. Oh, who is in that match, you ask? Well, at Wrestlemania, it's gonna be you, William Regal, against, you, Val Venis, against, you, Rob Van Dam, for the WWF Intercontinental Championship!"

As Bischoff's theme played and he left through the curtain, Regal's face dropped, as Van Dam and Venis stood next to each other at ringside, more than likely forming a game plan of sorts. Test tried to re-assure Regal as a camera cut to backstage.

A camera and Jonathan Coachman chased Vince McMahon, as Vince walked to his car. Coachman caught up with him, and got the chance to speak to him.

"Well, Mr. McMahon, we just saw out there that you named none other than Eric Bi-"

"Look, I don't have time to talk right now, I have to go somewhere. Uh.. you, you with the camera, get in here and come with me."

"Wait, Mr. McMahon, where are you going?"

"Haha.. you'll see."

Coachman looked on in confusion as the car sped away.

- Commercial Break -

As we returned from commercial break, JR and The King informed us that new General Manager Eric Bischoff just arranged our main event of the evening, and that it would be Edge teaming with Chris Benoit to take on Booker T and Kurt Angle in a clash of Wrestlemania X8 opponents.

A graphic for the match is shown.

Billy, Chuck, and their "stylist", Rico's music hits, and they make their way to the ring, where Rico grabs a microphone.

"Well, well, well. Pennsylvania."

Rico is barely audible over the loud chants of "RICO'S GAY! RICO'S GAY!" from the fans in the Bryce Jordan Center.

Rico gives a disapproving look and starts to talk again.

"In a little under a month, Billy and Chuck will compete in a "Tables, Ladders, and Chairs" match for the first time as a team, against the Dudley Boyz, The Hardy Boyz, and The APA. Just in case you've been living under a rock for the past 6 months, Billy and Chuck have completely dominated the entire tag team division. At one point, Billy and Chuck have defeated every single one of their opponents in this match. Dudleyz? Beat 'em. Hardyz? Beat 'em. APA? Beat 'em. And just like they have every other time, they're gonna beat every single team, once again."

The crowd boos and continues to taunt Rico, Billy, and Chuck, until the theme song of The Hardy Boyz begins to play. The crowd cheer them loudly. The Hardy Boyz are soon followed by The APA and The Dudleyz. Matt Hardy begins to talk into the mic.

"Rico, you're right. I mean, the facts don't lie. Billy and Chuck have beaten all of us before. But at Wrestlemania, things are going to be different. You know why? You've got Billy and Chuck, two guys who've never even been in a ladder match before, going against The Hardy Boyz - the masters of ladders, The APA - the masters of chairs, and The Dudley Boyz - the masters of tables. Not only will you guys be facing 3 of the best teams in the world, and 3 teams who know exactly how dangerous these matches are, but you'll be facing 3 teams that hate your guts! The difference between every other match and this match is that you may have faced all of us at once in an actual match, but you've never faced all of us at once in a match like this. If you thought we all kicked your ass at No Way Out, you just wait until Wrestlemania."

Hardy drops the mic, and the 3 teams point to Billy and Chuck. A look of concern grows across the faces of Billy and Chuck, as the realisation that they have a 1/4 chance of retaining their titles at Wrestlemania sets in.

- Commercial Break -

Mighty Molly vs Jazz - #1 Contender's Match for the WWF Women's Championship
In another match set up by new general manager Eric Bischoff, Mighty Molly went one on one with Jazz, with Trish Stratus on commentary. The King couldn't stop ogling Stratus throughout the entire match, however, in the ring, Jazz dominated Molly during the early goings and the better part of the match, for that matter. Jazz almost put her away with a massive sit-out tree trunk slam halfway through, but was unable to get the pinfall due to Molly just barely getting the shoulder up. Realising that Molly wasn't going to go down without a fight, Jazz looked to be ready to put her down with something huge, but the crowd's somewhat disrespectful chants directed towards Jazz seemed to distract her, as she turned her back on Molly and yelled back at the crowd. Molly then seized the opportunity and rolled Jazz up for behind with the pinfall for the victory and the right to call herself the #1 Contender.
Winner: Mighty Molly (5:57)

An irate Jazz stormed up the ramp, as Stratus got into the ring and faced her opponent at Wrestlemania. Molly got right in the face of Trish, but Stratus, never one to back down, got back in the face of Molly. A referee was able to separate the two and keep them from coming to blows, but the tension between the two was very obvious and the atmosphere could be cut with a knife.

Christian vs DDP
In a preview of the 8 man tag team match between The Un-Americans and Tazz, Kane, and DDP, Christian went one on with DDP, with all other participants in the match at Wrestlemania banned from ringside. The smaller Christian made use of his speed advantage, catching DDP off guard at the beginning of the match. Christian maintained the upper hand for a while, until the 265lber from the Jersey Shore began to get a "second wind" of sorts. Christian sent DDP off into the ropes, which allowed Page to come back off of them and launch himself into Christian with a flying clothesline. Page went on the offensive for a little while, then tried to pump up the crowd, presumably setting up for the Diamond Cutter. DDP turned around, but it was Christian who went for the Unprettier. DDP pushed Christian away, and when he came back towards him, Page put him away with the Diamond Cutter.
Winner: Diamond Dallas Page (7:18)

As Christian backed up the ramp, visually disappointed that he'd lost, Test, Lance Storm, and William Regal appeared behind him. With Page seemingly on his own, the Un-Americans moved towards the ring, looking to attack, but Taz and Kane came running down the ramp behind them, and a brawl ensued. Taz and Storm went after each other, Kane and Test went after each other, and Page and Christian went after one another, leaving William Regal to join Test in beating down Kane. With the numbers game in their favour, the Un-Americans were dominating their opponents at Wrestlemania. Regal bought Kane in the ring, and Storm and Christian held him in the corner for Test to hit him with a big boot. Test looked like he was going for it, until Val Venis and Rob Van Dam came in to make the save. RVD, Venis, Page, Taz, and Kane then beat down on the Un-Americans, forcing them up the ramp and into retreat. All the men the Un-Americans are going to face at Wrestlemania stood tall, as Storm, Test, Regal and Christian backed up the ramp, realising that the numbers game was no longer in their favour.

- Commercial Break -

As we returned from a commercial break, JR informed us that a camera was following Vince McMahon, and that the camera would now be broadcast on the titantron. The camera feed appears on screen.

"Yeah, yeah, here we are. Alright, follow me through here." said Mr McMahon, as the cameraman followed behind him through a door.

"Well, well, well! Look who we have here! David Flair. A prodigy of the wrestling business. Somebody who undoubtedly has a bright future ahead of him."

"Oh.. uh.. Hello, Mr. McMahon."

"You know, David, I thought I'd come down here and pay you a little visit, because there's something I need to tell you.


David, I just want you to know, that even though I may hate your father, and I may have fired him live in television last week...

I hate you just as much."

McMahon struck David in the head, and cracked his head off of the gym wall, as JR screamed "Oh my god! McMahon has gone too far! That's Ric Flair's son goddammit!" McMahon then sent Flair flying into a weight bench, and slapped him in the face. McMahon stood above a now bloody David, and instructed the cameraman to focus on him.

"You see this, Ric? This is what I'm capable of when I hate somebody, and you better believe that I hate you, Flair. I know you're watching this at home, and I know that you're probably wondering why I attacked your bastard of a son. Well, Flair, I attacked your son because I want to infuriate you Flair. I want to make you mad. Flair, I'm going to give you a chance to get your contract re-instated. Ric, I'm challenging you to a mat- no, a fight, a street fight at Wrestlemania. If you win, you will once again be on the World Wrestling Federation payroll. But, if I win.. YOU'RE! STILL! FIRED!"

The camera feed cut out, as we returned to the arena.

JR and The King, almost at a lost for words sat at the announce desk, started to discuss the events that just went down.

"Well, King, I've been a sports broadcaster since the late '70s, and I don't know if I've ever seen anything quite as despicable as what we just saw there."

"Well, yeah, you're 100% right. I may not like Ric Flair, but what Mr. McMahon did just there was way over the line and totally uncalled for, attacking Ric Flair's son David Flair like that. Truly an awful, classless act."

"Most definitely, we have indeed had an eventful night tonight, but we must move on, as up next, well, uh, Chris Jericho will present the Highlight Reel, with his guests being his opponents at Wrestlemania, Triple H and The Rock, which is definitely gonna be something you're not gonna wanna miss."

The sound of WWF Undisputed Champion Chris Jericho's theme starts to play around the Bryce Jordan Center, as he enters the ring, where the set of the Highlight Reel is displayed.

"Ladies, I use that term loosely, and gentlemen, welcome to Chris Jericho's Highlight Reel! Tonight, we have two very special guests appearing on the show, first, he is a former World Wrestling Federation champion, he is none other than "The People's Champ", The Rock! And my second guest, a man who had such a heroic comeback from injury last year, and is also a former WWF Champion, the game, Triple H! So, please, give a warm welcome to both men."

The Rock and Triple H make their respective ways to the ring, with both men taking seats in the ring, as Jericho begins to interview them.

"So, Rock, Hunter, in 3 weeks at Wrestlemania, in my home country of Canada, you two will collide with me as you attempt to take the WWF Undisputed Championship from me, so, can I ask, how are you two feeling knowing that you're just 3 weeks away from being embarrassed by me in the country I was raised in?"

"Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, Chris Jericho. The Rock understands that you're confident headed into this match, and quite frankly you have every right to be, but The Rock just has one question for you. Jericho, The Rock wants you to look him in the eyes and pay very close attention to what The Rock says. Chris Jericho, in 3 weeks time at Wrestlemania, in your home country of Canada, how does it feel for you, knowing that "the jabroni beatin'", lalalalalalalalow! "pie eatin'", "trail blazin'", "eyebrow raisin'", take your foot off the brake and put your foot on the gas, always ready to kick some ass, "People's Champ" The Rock is gonna beat your roody-poo candy ass all over Toronto and once again, reclaim what is rightfully his, and that is the WWF Undisputed Championship?"

"Hold on a second. It seems that both you, and you are forgetting something. Rock, Jericho, at Wrestlemania, you're not just getting in the ring with a man. Rock, Jericho, at Wrestlemania, you are getting in the ring with a cyborg. You are getting in the ring with a man on another level. You are getting in the ring with the absolute best that there is. You are getting in the ring with a man that knows everything about you, and everything about you. I know every trick in your book, and in yours. I know every single thing. Every single time you're planning something, I'll be one step ahead. I know every counter to all of your moves. I know exactly what you're going to do next, because I am the Cerebral Assassin, I am Triple H, and I am that. damn. good."

"Woah, am I sensing some animosity between you two? The two men who plan on teaming up to get rid of Chris Jericho can't co-exist because their egos are just too big. What a surprise."

"Shut up. Triple H, The Rock knows exactly what you're capable of. The Rock has wrestled you more times than he can count. The Rock is more than familiar with how good you are, but, Triple H, there is just one thing, that holds you back, and one thing that will always hold you back. You never have, and you never will be better than The Rock."

Both men dropped their microphones, and stood nose to nose in the center of the ring. Jericho was about to say something, but Triple H punched him right in the face to shut him up. The Rock and Triple H then came to blows, exchanging shots to the head and striking each other with everything they had. Triple H gained the upper hand, and backed himself into the ropes, but he came running straight into a Rock Bottom from The Rock. With Jericho down at ringside and Triple H planted in the center of the ring, The Rock stood tall above both of the men he will meet at Wrestlemania, that was however, until Jericho came flying in with the WWF Championship and smashed it over the back of Rock's head. Jericho grabbed the WCW Heavyweight Championship, and it was now him standing above The Rock and Triple H, as the camera cut to a commercial break.

- Commercial Break -

Maven vs Stevie Richards
The up and comer Maven went one on one with the veteran, and slightly unhinged, Stevie Richards. Maven took control in the early goings with some mat wrestling, until the scrappy Richards came back with a slingshot suplex, gaining control once again. Richards then kept control over the rookie for the next portion of the match, keeping him down on the ground, until he whipped Maven into the ropes and Maven took him down with a clothesline. Maven wasted no time in going to the top rope and sailing off with the Halo DDT for the pin and the win.
Winner: Maven (4:36)

JR and The King informed us that our main event, a tag team match featuring Edge teaming up with Chris Benoit to take on the team of Kurt Angle and Booker T, was next.

Kurt Angle and Booker T vs Edge and Chris Benoit
In yet another clash of Wrestlemania opponents, four of the brightest young stars in the WWF collided in a tag team match. With fantastic action throughout, the fans loved this match. Edge and Chris kept the match in the favour during the opening stages, frequently tagging each other in and out while they worked on Booker T. Things changed when Booker kicked Chris in the jaw and leaped across the ring to tag in Kurt Angle. Angle came straight in and threw Benoit with a series of 8 Belly-to-Belly and German suplexes. Kurt and Booker then kept control, frequently tagging in and out while they worked over Benoit. As the match went on and Benoit was visibly in pain, Angle got sloppy and swung wildly with a punch, which Benoit was able to duck, and then throw Angle across the ring with a Belly-to-Belly of his own. Benoit then dived across the ring and tagged in Edge, who was clearly fired up. Booker T came after Edge, but Edge ripped him in half with a spear. Angle then came after Edge, and Edge took him down with a clothesline followed by and Edge-U-Cution. With Angle groggy in the corner, Edge jumped into him and went for a Stinger Splash, but Angle moved, and as a result, Edge squashed referee Earl Hebner in the corner. Angle tried to throw Edge in the Angle Slam, but Edge got free, tagged in Benoit, and "The Rabid Wolverine" trapped the now legal Booker T in the Crippler Crossface. With Booker screaming in pain and tapping out, Benoit realised that the referee was down. Benoit tried to revive the referee, but Kurt Angle spun him around and knocked him dizzy with a chair shot. Benoit fell to the floor, Angle covered him, and Earl Hebner slowly counted to 3, just before Edge could break it up.
Winners: Booker T and Kurt Angle (9:52)

Angle and Booker walked up the ramp and celebrated on the stage, as Edge checked on Benoit and Raw ended.

© 2002, World Wrestling Federation.

[King Of Spice]

March 1, 2002 | Gaylord Entertainment Center, Nashville, Tennessee

Smackdown begins with the sound of Chris Jericho's theme playing, and the Undisputed Champion making his way to the ring.

"For those of you who aren't keeping track, today is Friday, March 1st, 2002. That means that in exactly 17 days, I will get into the ring with The Rock.. and Triple H. This past Monday night on Raw, I hosted the Highlight Reel, and I was nice enough to invite them on as my guests, but as was to be expected, those two Neanderthals were unable to be civil around each other for more than 5 minutes, and the whole segment descended into anarchy. Triple H attacked me, Triple H attacked The Rock, The Rock attacked Triple H, until ultimately, it was just The Rock, standing tall, until, once again, he fell at the hands of me. The greatest WWF Undisputed Champion of all time, Chris Jericho. I put The Rock on his ass in front of everybody in that arena, and everybody watching at home, just like I've done every other single time we've faced o-"

The Rock's theme plays, and he walks down to the ring, as Jericho looks on in disappointment. The Rock joins him in the ring.

"Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah! Chris Jericho, backstage, listening to you talk, The Rock wasn't sure if he was hearing himself correctly. You are right, yes, you did put The Rock down for the count on Monday, but you couldn't do it in your own, could you? You had to use that championship belt, and you had to do it from behind, because, Chris Jericho, both you, and The Rock know, that you will never.. AND THE ROCK MEANS.. never, be better than The Rock."

The sound of Triple H's theme cuts off Jericho before he can reply to The Rock. Triple H makes his way down the ramp, and gets in the ring.

"Rock, you might be better than Jericho, hell, you may be the best god damn wrestler in this company, but there's just one thing that you're forgetting. Every time you and I are in the ring together, it ends the same way. With me kicking your ass, planting your face into the mat, and beating you. You see Rock, the facts just don't lie, and the fact of the matter is, there is nobody in this company, any other company, or the world for that matter, that eats, sleeps, and breathes wrestling more than me. It is my life. Rock, when you step into that ring in 17 days at Wrestlemania, it's not gonna be me going "one, on one, with "The Great One", it's gonna be you, going one on one with me, The Game, The Cerebral Assassin, the greatest professional wrestler in this business today, and the next WWF Undisputed Champion, Triple H."

"Well, Triple H, you make some very bold claims, but, just like he has done your whole entire career, The Rock knows that you're all talk. The Rock knows that these are just empty threats. The Rock knows that you don't have what it takes to beat him. And above all else, The Rock knows that in Toronto, Canada in a little over two weeks baby, it's gonna be me, The People's Champ, The Great One, The Rock getting his arm raised at the end of the night as the new WWF Undisputed Champion."

"You know what, Rock? I say, let's not wait until Wrestlemania. What do you say, we get it on right now?"

The Rock and Triple H both dropped their mics. Triple H removed his jacket, and The Rock ripped his shirt off, until Jericho interrupted them.

"Easy, easy! Rock, Hunter, I wouldn't want to do that if I was you, because later tonight, you two are going to have to co-exist together, if you even want to make it to Wrestlemania. Because you see, Rock, I spoke with Mr. McMahon earlier, and tonight, you, Rock, are gonna team with you, Triple H, to take on the team of Lance Storm and Christian in our tag team match main event. So, before you rip each other's heads off, consider that."

Jericho's theme hits and he leaves the down the ramp, leaving The Rock and Triple H in the ring, arguing amongst each other.

- Commercial Break -

A graphic promoting our main event is shown as we return from a commercial break.


Crusierweight Championship Tournament - Jeff Hardy vs Billy Kidman
In a fantastic match, Billy Kidman met Jeff Hardy in the quarter finals of the Cruiserweight Championship Tournament. Kidman took control early on, wearing Hardy down with the rear chinlock, until Jeff countered a clothesline attempt from Kidman with a low-bridge to the top rope, sending Billy to the outside. Jeff went airborne with a breathtaking cross-body, and then focused his attack on the mid-section of Billy in the middle of the ring. Kidman had spurts of offence in the center portion of the match, but Hardy was not going to relent, and bought more pain to Billy with a Hardy-ac Arrest in the corner. Jeff seemed like he was ready to put Kidman away after he removed his shirt and climbed to the top rope, but as Hardy came down, Kidman was able to get his knees up and drive them into the kidneys of Hardy to counter it. With Hardy now on the defensive, Billy looked to seize the opportunity and put Hardy away. Kidman sent the champion into the corner and came flying into him with a Stinger Splash, and then went for a shot to the head, but Hardy ducked and instead connected with a kick to the mid-section. Jeff held Kidman in position and called to the crowd, signalling for the Twist Of Fate, but Jeff took too long, as Billy rolled him up with a small package to get the win and advance to the finals of the Cruiserweight Championship Tournament after a tremendous match up.
Winner: Billy Kidman (10:16)

Jeff Hardy got back on his feet and extended his hand out to Billy in a great show of class and sportsmanship. Both men shook hands in the center of the ring as Hardy raised Kidman's hand.

Rikishi vs Test
"Big Kish" returned after a short absence to recover from injury, and was met with the physically imposing "Un-American", Test. The 275lb took it right to Rikishi at first, but the large Samoan fought back, connecting with strikes and an eventual superkick. Rikishi went for the cover, but Test powered out. After a short while, Rikishi went for a clothesline, but Test reversed the moved, lifted Rikishi up, and powered him down with a huge Pump-Handle Slam for the quick win.
Winner: Test (3:45)

Test left a decimated Rikishi lying in the ring, as the crowd began to boo. Test reached under the ring, pulled out a Canadian flag, got back into the ring, and placed it over the fallen body of Rikishi, as the crowd booed him.

- Commercial Break -

Cruiserweight Championship Tournament - Justin Credible vs The Hurricane
In the last semi-final round match of the Cruiserweight Championship Tournament, both the veteran Justin Credible and the superhero The Hurricane looked to advance to the final at the expense of each other. The Hurricane wasted no time attacking Credible, launching himself off the top rope with a missile dropkick before he'd even removed his cape. Hurricane then rained down stomps in the corner, and continued to hold onto the upper hand, until the gutsy Credible ducked an attempted clothesline and used that momentary mistake on the part of The Hurricane to put him away with a DDT. With The Hurricane down, Credible went for the cover, but The Hurricane just barely got the shoulder up at 2. Credible seemed to get frustrated at this point, and grabbed Hurricane by the hair and lifted him up, but The Hurricane had been playing possum all along, and put Credible down like that with the Hurri-Chokeslam.
Winner: The Hurricane (6:59)

Backstage, Vince McMahon is sat in his office, when The Undertaker walks in.

"Oh, u-"

"Listen. You saw what happened on Raw Monday. Austin attacked me from behind, and to be quite frank with you, he pissed me off. He pissed me off real bad to the point where if I don't kick somebody's ass tonight, bad things are gonna happen. So what I want you to do, I want you to go in the back, and I want you to find anyone with a pair of balls big enough to step into the ring with me. Oh, and whoever accepts? Tell 'em "The Deadman" is about to make 'em famous."

Undertaker leaves.

Trish Stratus vs Lita
Jazz met the fighting champion Trish Stratus, in preparation for Stratus' match at Wrestlemania. The current Women's Champion was worked over by Lita, who applied her knowledge of strength and brute to the match, dominating the champion and even hitting a huge pump-handle slam at one point, only for Stratus to barely kick out at two. As the match went further, Trish started to mount some offence, and as Jazz went for a back suplex, Stratus wisely countered it into the Stratusfaction for the 3 count.
Winner: Trish Stratus (5:22)

As Trish celebrated her win in the ring, the sound of Mighty Molly's theme could be heard as she appeared on the stage.

"Trish Stratus, I'm afraid I have to tell you something. You see, in a world full of villains, there a few true heroes around, but, have no fear, citizens of the WWF Universe, for I, Mighty Molly, will begin to clear the WWF of all of it's evils and problems not just at Wrestlemania, no, I'm going to start right now. You see, Trish Stratus, looking right now, I wouldn't turn around if I were you, because I guarantee, you will most certainly not like the view!"

A bemused Stratus looked on in confusion and turned around, only to be met with the site of The Hurricane. Trish tried to run, but Hurricane grabbed her by the arms and trapped her. Molly got into the ring and grabbed Stratus' title belt. Just as it seemed Molly was about to nail her Wrestlemania opponent with the WWF Women's Championship, Billy Kidman came sprinting down the ramp to save Stratus. Hurricane and Molly scampered away up the ramp, as Kidman checked on Trish and the 4 exchanged trash talk with one another.

- Commercial Break -

"Well, ladies and gentlemen, as you see on screen right now, I have just been informed that Mr McMahon has just announced another match from Wrestlemania 18, and for the first time ever in Wrestlemania history, 2 singles championships will be on the line, as Billy Kidman teams up with the Women's Champion Trish Stratus, to take on the heroic team of The Hurricane and Mighty Molly in a huge winners-take-all mixed tag team match.", remarked JR, as we returned from commercial break and a graphic was shown.


The Undertaker's theme hit and he made his way to the ring, to jeers from the crowd. Undertaker grabbed a mic.

"Vince McMahon, whoever you found, send him out here, because I'm about to make him famous."

The glass shatter of Stone Cold Steve Austin's theme was heard, and the crowd anticipated his entrance, but the rattlesnake was nowhere to be seen. Looking confused, Undertaker looked around, but, from seemingly out of nowhere, Maven came up from behind and struck Undertaker in the back of the head.

Maven vs The Undertaker
The bell rang, and Maven wasted no time, remaining quick with the offence, getting Taker literally on the ropes and hitting him with a barrage of punches and kicks. Maven then sent Undertaker's head into the top turnbuckle a number of time, and then climbed to the top, but that's where the in-experience of Maven came into play, with The Undertaker simply walking out of the way of the dropkick attempt from Maven. Undertaker then picked Maven up with one hand, and began to go to work on Maven himself. With Taker throwing bombs at him in the corner, Maven had to find a way to get back into the match, and as Undertaker took his time between a shot to taunt the crowd, Maven slid under his legs and used The Undertaker's leverage to roll him up for a 2 count, but The Undertaker kicked out and immediately kicked Maven in the head, signalling the beginning of the end. "I think that kick to the back of the head may have just knocked Maven out", noted Michael Cole, as The Undertaker picked Maven up and bounced his head off the mat with a tombstone for the 3.
Winner: The Undertaker (4:34)

Undertaker continued his assault way after the bell rang, raining down rights and lefts on Maven's head, busting the rookie wide open. Undertaker bought Maven to the outside, and in shades of the Royal Rumble, sent him crashing into the steel steps. With the top step removed, Undertaker grabbed Maven and got him in position for a tombstone on the steel steps, again similar to what he did at the Royal Rumble, but Stone Cold Steve Austin[/font{ came down to stop him just in the nick of time, jumping on top of The Undertaker after sprinting down the ramp and knocking "Big Evil" silly with shots to the side of the head, as a bloody Maven lay next to the ring steps, still knocked out. Austin reached under the ring and grabbed a chair, but just before he could swing it at The Undertaker, 'Taker hit him right between the legs with a low blow. Undertaker grabbed both the chair and Austin, and bought both of them into the ring, grabbed "The Texas Rattlesnake" by the throat, and planted him on top of the chair with a chokeslam. Undertaker left a path of destruction in his wake, as he walked up the ramp and his theme played.

Michael Cole informed us that we would now be shown Ric Flair on the titantron, live from Charlotte, NC, via satellite, to answer Mr. McMahon's challenge and talk about what went down on Raw. Cole took a microphone.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen, at this time, please welcome, 16-Time World Champion, "The Nature Boy", Ric Flair."

"Hello."

"Now, Ric, I'm sure you saw what went down this past Monday night on Raw, and, this has gotta be so hard for you to answer, but, what are your thoughts on the situation that's transpired?"

"Well, I've always known that Vince McMahon was a no good son of a gun, but what he did on Monday, that confirmed that Vince McMahon truly is Satan. Vince McMahon is pure evil. Vince McMahon attacked my son at the gym. Vince McMahon attacked a 24 year old kid. Vince McMahon, you crossed the line this past Monday night, and at Wrestlemania, you're god damn right I accept your challenge, and Vince, at Wrestlemania, 25 long years of hatred will boil to the surface, when I finally get my hands on you, and I finally get the revenge that I deserve and my son deserves."

"Hold on a second, hold on a second"

Vince McMahon appears on the stage, microphone in hand, to boos from the crowd.

"Flair, you sure as hell talk a big game, but, just like it has been your whole entire career. Can you back it up? Because, Flair, you're gonna be in there with an animal. You're gonna be in there with a man who hates your guts. But, but.. I'm gonna extend you an olive branch, Ric. This Monday, Raw is live from Charlotte. Flair, I'm going to give you an open invitation to come down that ramp, get in this ring, face me like a man, and sign the contract for this match."

"Vince, it would be my pleasure to get out there in front of my people in my home town, but just remember. When you sign your name on that piece of paper, you won't be signing a contract for a match, brother, you'll be signing your death certificate."

Flair's theme hits.

- Commercial Break -

Triple H & The Rock vs Lance Storm and Christian (w/ Test)
The Un-Americans had the upper hand for the majority of the match. As soon as the match started, Storm and Christian made a point of targeting the previously injured, recently healed hamstring of Triple H, and they also did a good job of cutting the ring in half and frequently tagging each other in and out. After a while however, they seemed to get complacent, and Triple H took full advantage of the split second opportunity to leap across the ring and tag in The Rock. Rock came in like a house on fire, taking down both Christian and Storm with punches, and connecting with The People's Elbow to Storm. Rock looked like he was signalling for the end when he grabbed Christian and set up for the Rock Bottom, but Storm pushed Rock and sent him into the referee, taking him down. With no referee, the match descended into anarchy, but surprisingly, Jericho remained at his seat at the commentary table. Rock went for a running clothesline to Christian, but Christian ducked, and instead, The Rock took down Triple H. Rocky realised what he did, and then turned around, but Test came in and out The Rock down with a big boot. Test rolled out of the ring, Storm crawled to the cover, and The Un-Americans stole a victory from the #1 Contenders to the WWF Undisputed Championship.
Winners: Christian and Lance Storm (8:37)

The Un-Americans moved to the top of the stage and to the back, as Chris Jericho stood on the ramp, and The Rock looked on in disappointment. Triple H span The Rock around, and shoved him. The Rock pushed Triple H back, and a brawl broke out between them, with the two exchanging blows between one another, until The Rock went for a Rock Bottom, but Triple H got out of it and planted The Rock with a Pedigree, as Chris Jericho looked on and smiled.

Smackdown ended.

© 2002, World Wrestling Federation.

[King Of Spice]

[WAIF]

Smackdown was dope mah man! Hardy vs Kiddman was MOTN and Credible vs Hurricane was a very strong runner up. Main event was good build up and that's what it was for. So overall this was prettydope. Can't wait to read Mania man!

[King Of Spice]

Match	Result
Tajiri vs Justin Credible	Tajiri wins after the Buzzsaw Kick (4:32)
Victoria vs Lita	Lita wins after rolling up Victoria (3:21)
Raven vs Tommy Dreamer	Tommy Dreamer wins after the Dreamer Driver (5:13)
The Hardy Boyz vs The Dudleyz	The Hardy Boyz win after a Twist Of Fate from Matt (8:47)

[King Of Spice]

MAJOR WWF ANNOUNCEMENT:

For the first time ever in World Wrestling Federation history, the Superstars of the WWF will be split between the two flagship broadcasts of the company; with one half of the roster competing exclusively on Raw, and the other exclusively on Smackdown. Every WWF superstar is eligible to be drafted, including whoever holds a championship coming out of Wrestlemania.

[King Of Spice]

March 4th, 2002 | Greensboro Coliseum Complex, Greensboro, North Carolina

Raw was opened with Vince McMahon, along with a good 7 security men, coming down the ramp and grabbing a microphone.

If you watched Smackdown last week, you'd know that I told.. ugh.. Ric Flair, that he could come back tonight to sign the contract for our street fight at Wrestlemania, and right now, that's exactly what's going to happen. Ric, I know you're back there, so if you'd please, come out to the ring.

Ric Flair's theme hits and he comes down to the ring to a huge ovation from his hometown crowd.

"Flair.. before you try anything, I want you to remember. Legally, you shouldn't even be in this ring, so don't even think about starting anything. Alright, let's get this done. Flair, I want you to read this contract carefully, out loud, and then I want you to sign it."

Flair pulled the contract and the microphone to his side of the table, and began to read it aloud.

"By signing this contract, Richard Morgan Flair agrees to a street fight at the World Wrestling Federation's "Wrestlemania X8" pay-per-view, on the night of Sunday, March 17, 2002. Flair also agrees that the World Wrestling Federation is not to be held accountable for any injuries, be them life threatening or serious sustained by Flair at the hands of McMahon. Flair also agrees that he doesn't have a chance in hell of sign-.. wait a minute."

"Flair, just sign the contra-"

"Vince McMahon, you shut your goddamn mouth when I'm talkin' to you, alright? Vince, I've known you since the 70s. The first time I laid my eyes on you, I knew exactly what you were. Evil. Vince, I knew even then you wanted your father to die so you could take this place over, so you could do exactly this. Abuse your power and throw your weight around. Well, at Wrestlemania.. IT ENDS!"

Flair rips his jacket off and gets in McMahon's face.

"VINCE MCMAHON! AT WRESTLEMANIA, RIC FLAIR IS GONNA BEAT YOU LIKE A STEPCHILD, YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU WANNA MAKE THIS PERSONAL? YOU WANNA ATTACK MY SON? WELL, YOU GOT IT! I-"

Before Flair can go any further, a security man runs towards Flair and takes him down with a clothesline. The other 6 men join in, and it soon dawns on everybody that they weren't real security men at all, and that McMahon paid them off. The security men bring a now bloody Flair to his knees, and McMahon begins to rain in the shots on Ric's head. McMahon instructs the security men to leave, as he grabs Flair and sits him in the chair. Vince grabs Flair's hand, wipes his finger on his bloody forehead, and, using Flair's finger as the pen, and his blood as the ink, crudely writes "Ric Flair" where Flair was originally intended to sign the contract. McMahon threw Flair to the ground, and, with his shirt, arms, and hands drenched in Flair's blood, raised his hand in the air as his theme song hit and he walked out of the ring.

- Commercial Break -

Maven vs Goldust
"The Bizzare One" Goldust returned to action after a couple of months off to recover from injuries, but immediately had to be focused, as the young Maven, fresh off of a brawl with none other than The Undertaker on Smackdown, was his first opponent. It appeared the Goldust had underestimated the upstart, as he was on the defensive in the early goings after getting rocked with a dropkick from Maven. The veteran instincts however kicked in for Goldust, with him taking control until Maven eventually got the victory with the Halo DDT.
Winner: Maven (4:24)

Backstage, Triple H is in his locker room, when The Rock walks in. Triple H stands up and they face off.

"Woah, woah, woah, Triple H.. The Rock understands how you're feeling. The Rock was screwed in that match on Smackdown too. But, as much as you want to punch The Rock in the face, oh, and believe me, the feeling is mutual, we have to put that beside if only just for tonight. Triple H, you know just as well as The Rock does that tonight, we've got a handicap match against Storm, Christian, and Regal. The Rock wants this momentum going into Wrestlemania, and The Rock knows that you do too, so, what do you say, just for tonight, we put our differences to one side, and co-exist in this main event. Because you know Jericho will love every second of us brawling."

"Rock, as much as I would like to punch you right in your face, you make a great point. Yeah, we can't fool around tonight. Yeah, these guys are dangerous, and, yeah, I'll co-exist with you tonight."

The two men stare down as we cut to a commercial.

- Commercial Break -

DDP vs Test
Two men who will meet at Wrestlemania, Test and DDP went one on one on Raw. Test grounded DDP as much as he could, utilising some mat wrestling and targeting DDP's legs as The Un-American's looked on from outside. Test appeared to get complacent as the match progressed, and went for a double leg take down on Page, but DDP moved out of the way and began to go on the offensive himself. DDP hit Test with rights and lefts in the corner, and then crushed him with the Stinger Splash. DDP then put his hands in the air and signalled for the Diamond Cutter, but it appeared that William Regal passed Test something, and when Test got up, he practically knocked DDP out with a shot to the mouth. Storm went for a cover and got the pinfall victory and the momentum over DDP headed into Wrestlemania.
Winner: Test (6:16)

The Un-Americans got into the ring after the match ended, and began to attack DDP in a 4-on-1 assault, until Kane, Tazz, Val Venis and Rob Van Dam, all of The Un-Americans' Wrestlemania opponents came down to even the score. Van Dam sent Regal out of the ring after a roundhouse kick to the head, Venis threw Storm over the top rope, Taz got rid of Christian, and Kane launched the powerhouse Test over the top and to the outside. DDP got up, and with the Un-Americans in retreat, JR asked "Is this a sign of things to come at Wrestlemania?".

Backstage, The Undertaker is shown arriving on his prized motorcycle. He gets up and tells one of the security men "watch it for me". The security man agrees, and stands next to the bike.

Mr McMahon is walking down the hallway and talking to Chris Jericho.

"Did you see that on Smackdown this past week? Triple H and The Rock are at each other's throats! And that's only good for me, you know why? It makes my match against them at Wrestlemania all that much easier, and hey, I saw what you did out there to Flair. Humiliating him in his hometown, in front of his daughter and his bastard son who you beat the tar out of two weeks ago. Oh oh, man, you know what? I got a feeling that Wrestlemania is gonna be a great night for the two of us."

"You know what? You're absolutely right, Chris. After I beat Ric Flair to a bloody pulp in the middle of that ring, and then you beat The Rock and Triple H to retain the WWF Undisputed Championship, what do you say we go back to the hotel, get some champa-


Woah, wo-"

A police car can be seen arriving at the parking lot. Two policemen get out.

"Excuse me, are you Vince McMahon?"

"Yeah, why the hell do you care?"

"Well, earlier tonight, when you assaulted Ric Flair, you attacked a man who is not under WWF contract, and therefore, Vince McMahon, I have no choice but to place you under arrest."

"What the he-"

"You have the right to remain silent, anything you say or do during your time under police custody may be used against you in court."

Mr McMahon is handcuffed and led away into the police car, as Jericho looks on in shock, realising that he's basically on his own for the rest of the night.

Matt Hardy vs Bradshaw vs Billy vs D-Von
4 random members of each participating team in the TLC match at Wrestlemania were selected to all face each other in a huge fatal 4 way match. As soon as the bell rang, D-Von, Matt, and Bradshaw focused on eliminating Billy, with Matt hitting him with a modified Twist Of Fate, and D-Von whipping him into the big brute Bradshaw, who almost knocked Billy's teeth out with a vicious Clothesline From Hell. Hardy then came after Bradshaw, but he got the same fate as Billy and recieved a Clothesline From Hell for his troubles. D-Von however managed to get some offence in on Bradshaw, striking him in the corner and even taking him down with a spinebuster as Hardy came back into the ring. All 3 men exchanged offence with one another for a while, and as the match progressed further and further, it seemed that Matt Hardy was going to be the one to end things and put D-Von away after he hit him with the side effect. Matt got back up and called for the Twist Of Fate, but just as he did, Billy came from seemingly out of nowhere and rolled him up with a schoolboy for the win.
Winner: Billy (7:05)

Billy staggered up the ramp and fell down halfway up it, seemingly still groggy from the horrendous Clothesline From Hell he received at the hands of Bradshaw. D-Von, Bradshaw and Matt Hardy looked on, as Billy celebrated on stage.

- Commercial Break -

Chris Benoit is backstage with Lillian Garcia getting interviewed.

"Chris Benoit, in a little under two weeks, you will once again step into the ring with Kurt Angle at Wrestlemania. However last year, you were defeated after Kurt Angle cheated to get the victory. What are you going to do headed into this years match to prevent that from happening again?"

"Well, yo-"

Kurt Angle walks in.

"Woah, woah, woah, cheated? Listen, lady, I didn't cheat to win last year at Wrestlemania, alright? I beat Chris Benoit fair and square, just like I will this year."

"Well, Kurt, I don't know if you've taken one to many blows to the head, but if my memory serves me correctly, you did cheat to win at Wrestlemania last year, for one reason and one reason only. I know, and most importantly, you know, you can't and never will be able to beat me fair and square."

"Benoit, I've beaten the best there is to beat, alright? I've beaten Stone Cold Steve Austin. I've beaten The Rock. I've beaten The Undertaker."

"Kurt, it doesn't matter who you've beaten cleanly, because none of those men are named Chris Benoit. And in two weeks? You're gonna find out exactly why they call me "The Rabid Wolverine."

Benoit and Angle get nose to nose, as the camera fades to the ring.

Mighty Molly (w/ The Hurricane) vs Victoria
Molly, ahead of her mixed tag team match at Wrestlemania, was met with the challenge of beating the slightly deranged Victoria. Molly wasted no time in going after Victoria's leg, attacking the knee she wears a brace on, and even trapping her in a figure four. Victoria managed to fight her way back into it after a while, but just as it seemed like she was going to be able to get a win over Molly, The Hurricane grabbed her by the ankles and tripped her over, allowing Molly to dive off the top and pin Victoria after the Molly-Go-Round.
Winner: Mighty Molly (4:36)

Mighty Molly and The Hurricane began to leave up the ramp, until the WWF Women's Champion, Trish Stratus' theme hit and her and Billy Kidman appeared on the stage. Molly and Hurricane went right after Stratus and Kidman, and a brawl broke out between all 4 of them. Billy sent Hurricane crashing into the steel steps, and meanwhile, in the ring, Trish dropped Molly with the Chick Kick. Molly and The Hurricane retreated up the ramp, as a dominant Billy and Trish looked on.

- Commercial Break -

The Undertaker's theme hits, and he comes down to the ring with a microphone.

"Last week, Austin, when I left Maven and you lying there in a pool of your own blood, I thought you would have learned your lesson. If you think what I did to you on Smackdown was bad? You just wait until Wrestlemania, when I beat your bald ass all around that arena, and I get my tenth victory at Wrest-"

Stone Cold appears on the titantron.

"Hey, Undertaker. Up here. You think you got one over on Old Stone Cold when you hit him between the legs and attacked him? EH EH! Undertaker, since you wanted to piss me off by doing that on Smackdown, I had to find a way to take my anger out and vent my stress, so I just got back from the bar a few blocks down the road. I rode my ATV down here, and I think I've found just the way to vent my anger."

The camera pans down to Austin's quadbike, where we can see that he's tied The Undertaker's motorcycle to the back of it.

"You know, I always hear the boys saying that you brag about your motorcycle a lot? Well, now I'm gonna find out just what all the hype is about."

A look of shock appears on The Undertaker's face, as Austin gets on top of his ATV and begins to rev the engine.

"There's no way he's genuinely gonna do this.. is there? I mean, come on, not even Austin would do something like this.. would he?" asked The King.

Austin begins to rev the engine once more, and then starts to drive around the parking lot, with Undertaker's bike still attached to the back, being dragged and scratched along the ground. Austin starts to do doughnuts with the ATV, then stopped it as The Undertaker sprints up the ramp and runs as fast as he can through the backstage area to meet Austin and fight him. Austin was waiting, and as soon as The Undertaker opened the door to the parking lot, Stone Cold met him, and the two men began exchanging shots until Austin sent Undertaker crashing headfirst into a brick wall. Austin then mounted The Undertaker, and rained down even more rights and lefts. Austin then bounced the Undertaker's head off of a car, and then off of his own ATV. Stone Cold threw Undertaker to the floor, and drove the ATV off out of the parking lot, dragging the Undertaker's motorcycle behind it, as an enraged Undertaker looked on, unable to do a thing about it.

Handicap Match: The Un-Americans (Lance Storm, Christian, and William Regal) vs Triple H and The Rock)
After talking earlier in the night and agreeing to put their differences behind them for just this match, Triple H and The Rock wasted no time in taking the offence to the Un-Americans. As soon as the bell rang, Triple H came straight after Lance Storm, sent him into the ropes,and hit him with kicks to the gut and shots to the face. "The Game" then tagged in The Rock. Rocky took down Storm with a clothesline and took the match to the mat for a while, which some could argue was a mistake, as Storm would gain the advantage after countering The Rock's armbar and into a scissorlock around the head and tagging in Regal. The Un-Americans made sure to work like a well-oiled machine, frequently tagging in and out. The Rock had some offence, sending Christian flying over the top and to the outside. With the referee's back turned, Triple H took advantage and struck Christian in the face, but Test had none of it and blasted Triple H with a clothesline. As the match progressed, The Rock courageously fought back, and finally tagged in Triple H, who came in with a flurry of offence, hitting Storm with a high knee, Regal with a facebuster, and Christian with a spinebuster. Triple H almost put Regal away after the Pedigree, but Storm just came in to break it up. Triple H took Storm down with a clothesline, and seemed to be getting ready for the pedigree, but The Rock tagged himself in. Rock got in and went for the Rock Bottom, but Triple H stopped him and span him around. Triple H and The Rock got in each other's faces and began to argue, but amidst all that, Christian pushed The Rock, causing him to butt heads with Triple H, and then rolled him up to steal yet another win.
Winners: The Un-Americans

After the match ended, The Un-Americans continued their assault, with Test joining in and attacking Triple H and The Rock, until Tazz, Kane, and DDP to clear the ring of The Un-Americans for the second time in the night. The Un-Americans ran to the back, as Taz, Kane, DDP, The Rock, and Triple H stood tall. Eventually, Taz, Kane, and DDP left, with just Triple H and The Rock left in the ring, until Chris Jericho left his position at commentary and got into the ring with both belts. Triple H and The Rock however anticipated the attack, and Jericho was sent sailing over the top rope by both men. Jericho fell to the outside, and it seemed that The Rock and Triple H were finally co-existing, until The Rock planted Triple H on the mat with the Rock Bottom and Raw finished.

© 2002, World Wrestling Federation.

[King Of Spice]

As of March 8th, 2002, the World Wrestling Federation has come to terms on the re-singing of Accie
Connor, better known as D-Lo Brown.

[King Of Spice]

March 8, 2002 | Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio, Texas

Smackdown was opened up with WWF Undisputed Champion, Chris Jericho, walking into Vince McMahon's office.

"Hey, uh, Chris, why don't you come on in, have a seat."

"Is something wrong?"

"Well, there's something that I have to tell you."

"What?"

"The board of directors contacted me today and they told me that since you haven't defended your title in over 30 days, you have to defend it tonight, or you will be immediately stripped of the title, and The Rock and Triple H will wrestle each other for the vacant championship at Wrestlemania."

Jericho's face dropped.

"But, thankfully, I was able to convince them to let you choose your own opponent, so, why don't you go on out there and make us proud, huh? Come on, I know you can do it."

"Well, uh, alright."

Smackdown'sintro played.

Chris Jericho's theme played, and he walked down to the ramp with both of his championships and a microphone.

"In case you were unaware, Mr. McMahon just informed me that tonight I have to defend my WWF Championship. Normally, it wouldn't bother me that I have to, because, you know, I'm a fighting champion, but I have to defend it in such a crappy state in front of a bunch of cretins right here in San Antonio.


..regardless of that, Mr. McMahon let me choose my own opponent. But I decided to things a little differently. I am going to issue a challenge to anybody on the WWF roster under 230lbs. So, come on down kid, make yourself famous!"

As Jericho stood in the ring and removed his jacket, ready for combat, Maven's theme song hit, and he came down to the ring, as Jericho looked on and laughed.

"Wait a minute, seriously? This is the best that this company has to offer me? Maven? Wait, wait a second, hold on, hold on, what makes you think that you can beat me, the current reigning and defending WWF Undisputed Champion, Chris Jericho?"

Maven took the microphone from Jericho, but simply dropped it on the ground and hit Jericho right in the jaw with a dropkick as the bell rang.

Chris Jericho vs Maven - WWF Undisputed Championship
Jericho, shocked that Maven had shown no fear and pretty much showed him up, backed into the corner, but Maven simply came flying into him with a Stinger Splash. Jericho tried to escape the ring, but Maven grabbed him by the tights, bought him back in, and hit him with a German Suplex. Almost as soon as Jericho landed on his back, he rolled under the bottom rope, grabbed both of his belts, and staggered up the entrance ramp, signalling that he wasn't going to be finishing this match, but Triple H came up from behind and sent Jericho back into the ring and in to the waiting Maven. Jericho, realising he had nowhere to go, got up and his veteran instincts kicked in, as he coaxed Maven into a Greco-Roman Knucklelock, only to kick the upstart in the gut, dropping him to his knees. Jericho then laughed to the crowd, as they booed him. With Maven slumped down in the corner, "Y2J" began pinking him out, slapping Maven and piefacing him, which only seemed to light a fire under the Tough Enough Season 1 Champion, who got up and took Jericho down and then rained down the rights and lefts. Maven and Jericho went back and forth, with not only Jericho, but Michael Cole, King, Triple H, and everyone else in the arena surprised at how well he was holding his own. With Jericho figuratively on the ropes, Maven seized the opportunity and climbed to the top for the Halo DDT, but he was distracted by the appearance of The Rock on the entrance ramp, who came down to ringside and got in the face of Triple H. With both the referee and Maven distracted, Jericho seized the opportunity, pulled Maven off the top rope, and hit him with a low blow. Y2J then rolled up Maven with a schoolboy to steal a win and retain his championship.
Winner: Chris Jericho (9:46)

As Jericho backed up the ramp, Maven looked on in disappointment, clearly upset that he wasn't able to beat Jericho. As The Rock and Triple H argued with each other, the cameraman zoomed in on both of them, making their discussion audible.

"What the hell are we doing? You realise this is exactly what Jericho wants, right? Every time we attack each other, it just makes things easier for him."

The Rock simply ignored Triple H and walked up the ramp. Triple H then got in the ring, shook the hand of Maven, and raised his arm in the air.

- Commercial Break -

Val Venis and Rob Van Dam vs William Regal and Lance Storm
We started things off hot, as Regal's two opponents at Wrestlemania teamed up to go against Regal and his Un-American stablemate, Lance Storm. The more experienced team of Regal and Storm first isolated Venis from RVD, keeping him on their side of the ring and frequently tagging in and out to keep the fresh man in and make sure that The Big Valbowski didn't get an opening to make the tag to Van Dam. It seemed as if Storm got complacent after a while, however, as Venis was able to easily dodge and attempt at a clothesline by Storm, and then dived across the ring to tag in "Mr. Monday Night". Van Dam came in like a house on fire, hitting Regal with a spinkick, dropping Storm with a roundhouse, and then coming down on the sternum of Lance Storm with some Rolling Thunder. Regal came after Van Dam, but Venis span him around and dropped him with a Spinebuster. Van Dam and Venis then both climbed to the top ropes, and came off of them with a Five Star Frog Splash and Money Shot, respectively for the win.
Winners: Val Venis and Rob Van Dam (7:13)

As Van Dam and Val celebrated their victory, Test and Christian came in from behind and took both men down with attacks from behind. Regal and Storm then came in to pick the bones of RVD and The Big Valbowski, until DDP, Tazz, and Kane came down to even the score and clear the ring. The Un-Americans retreated as all of their Wrestlemania opponents stood tall in the ring. "Is this what we'll see at Wrestlemania? The Un-Americans running away like scalded dogs after losing?", remarked JR as we cut to a commercial break.

- Commercial Break -

Billy Kidman vs Tajiri
In a test for both men, Billy Kidman went one on one with Tajiri. "The Japanese Buzzsaw" took control early on, utilising his kicks to wear down Kidman, and for the most part, it was working. Billy got some offence in halfway through, but Tajiri, like a scrappy pitbull, continued to bring the fight to Kidman and keep him down on the mat. Kidman finally got things to swing in his favour, however, after Tajiri wildly missed a roundhouse and Billy was able to capitalise by pulling off a hurricanrana and hitting a seated Tajiri with a dropkick to the face. Billy climbed to the top rope and signalled for the shooting star press, but The Hurricane came running down the ramp, pushing Kidman off and allowing Tajiri to capitalise with a small package for the win.
Winner: Tajiri (6:37)

The Hurricane laughed at Kidman on the ramp as a disappointed and angered Billy looked down the ramp and pointed at The Hurricane, visibly pissed off.

Backstage, Booker T is with Jonathan Coachman. The Coach begins to ask him some questions.

"Book, just over one week from now at Wrestlemania, you're gonna be going one on one with a man who's already beaten you twice, Edge. Now, a lot of people think that Edge has your number-"

"......tell me you didn't just say that? You really think Edge has my number? You really think Edge has the number of the 5x, 5x, 5x, 5x, 5x, WCW Champion? Let me tell you something. Yeah, your right, Edge might have beaten me at No Way Out, and he might have showed me up at the Royal Rumble, but at Wrestlemania, that's all gonna change, because when I'm there, in that ring, I'm gonna know exactly what to do when Edge comes at me. I'm gonna drop him with the scissor kick, get rid of him for good, and then move on to my next goal.. the WWF Championship. Now can, you, dig, that...






SUCKAAAAAAAAA!"

Lita vs Jazz
The two women not challenging for the Women's Title at Wrestlemania, Lita and Trish Stratus, challenged each other to try and prove who deserved the next opportunity down the road. The impressive power of Jazz was on display from the start, but Lita's tenacity wouldn't let her stay down, and after a good 5 minutes of Jazz pretty much dominating her, she managed to fight back herself and would eventually go on to get the victory after a Litasault.
Winner: Lita (7:01)

- Commercial Break -

The Undertaker came down to the ring, but with no motorcycle.

"Monday night, Stone Cold Steve Austin cost me my most prized possession. Austin, that bike probably cost more than your house, and dammit, I'm not gonna let that slide."

Stone Cold's theme hit, and he walked down to the ring.

Well you see Undertaker, after you almost broke my neck for the second time in my career last week, I needed to get a measure of revenge, so I decided to borrow something of yours for little while, but don't worry, you'll get it back eventually. But, hey, since you wanna talk a big game with Old Stone Cold, and say that you're gonna stand for what I did..


..why don't you take your best shot?"

Austin dropped the microphone, and The Undertaker looked him in the eye as Stone Cold pointed to his forehead. Undertaker seemed like he was gonna go for a punch, but instead, he kicked Austin in between the legs, folding him in half. With Stone Cold on his knees, Undertaker picked him up, and similar to last week's Smackdown, dropped him on his head with a tombstone piledriver. Undertaker left to the back as Austin lied in the ring, almost motionless.

Triple H vs Test
In our main event of the evening, Triple H was met with the imposing Test. As Chris Jericho looked on from commentary, looking dishevelled after his match with Maven, Triple H tried to get rid of Test quickly and hit him with a high knee barely 45 seconds into the match, but Test just got in the face of Triple H and yelled at him, seemingly unaffected. Test took control for most of the match, until "The Game" bought the fight to the young Canadian, sending him into the corner and hitting him with rights and lefts and then a Spinebuster. Test once again swung things in his favour, but Triple H managed to duck the attempted big boot and put Test down with a Pedigree for the win.
Winner: Triple H (9:36)

As Triple H celebrated a hard fought victory, Christian, Lance Storm, and William Regal hit the ring and started to beat down on The Game, until The Rock came running down the ramp, chair in hand, and cleared the ring of everybody, including the Undisputed Champion, Chris Jericho. Rock then planted Christian in the middle of the ring, and had a stare down with Triple H. Both men looked at each other for a while and to the surprise of most people in the arena, The Rock extended his hand, and Triple H accepted it, as JR exclaimed "And that spells bad news for Chris Jericho. Two men who hate him equally seem like they're gonna work together to eliminate him at Wrestlemania."

Smackdown ended.

© 2002, World Wrestling Federation.

[King Of Spice]

Match	Result
Tajiri vs The Hurricane	The Hurricane wins after the Chokeslam (5:11)
Victoria vs Jazz	Jazz wins after a tree trunk slam to Victoria (4:03)
D-Lo Brown vs Kanyon	D-Lo Brown wins after the Lo Down (4:36)
Maven and Al Snow vs Raven and Stevie	Maven and Al Snow win after a Halo DDT from Maven (9:02)

[King Of Spice]

March 11th, 2002 | Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, MI

Chris Jericho is in the ring as Raw begins. The fans are already getting under his skin.

"You know, some Friday, people have been asking me "Chris, are you worried now that The Rock and Triple H are on the same page?", "Chris, what are your thoughts now that it's basically a handicap match?"

..my thoughts? You want to know my thoughts?

My thoughts are, I couldn't care less if The Rock and Triple H walked down here holding hands right now, because quite frankly, it doesn't make a single shred of a difference to me. The fact is, The Rock and Triple H aren't on my level. The Rock and Triple H can't hang with me. The Rock and Triple H are inferior to me. I've beaten The Rock before. I've beaten Triple H before. It doesn't matter. When I get out of this museum of treachery known as Detroit, and I go to my home country of Canada, in my nation's capital, Toronto, and I beat Triple H and The Rock and walk out of the match still the WWF Champion, you're all gonna realise that I'm more than just words. I'm not empty threats. I am every bit as good as I say I am. In a world full of fakes and phonies, and people who lie about how good they are, I don't have to. I prove it every single time I step in that ring, it's just that all of you plebeians are too stupid to recognise it."

Jericho dropped the microphone and raised both Undisputed Championship belts in the air, until Triple H's theme started to play and he joined Jericho in the ring.

"Chris, for a guy who claims to be the best wrestler in the world, you sure as hell seemed to be struggling against a so-called "stupid talentless rookie" in Maven. In fact, if it wasn't for The Rock, Maven might well be the Undisputed Champion right now."

"Triple H, you're just like every single person in this arena.

Stupid. You hide behind words and fragile insults. You make your subtle jabs and you try and get under people's skin. I mean, let's be honest, you probably wouldn't even be in the WWF now if you didn't marry Stephanie. I mean, look at you. Right now, less than two months after your return, there's a new Triple H action figure coming out. You've got t-shirts, DVDs, hats, posters, armbands, he'll, there's even a Triple H beer cozy.

And to be honest with you? It makes me sick to my stomach. You don't deserve any of it. When you were gone for over a year, I was here, every single day, busting my ass to prove that I am the best in the world at what I do, and I finally did it. I won the WWF Undisputed Championship last year by defeating The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin in the same freakin' night. But even though I was the Undisputed Champion, I was always forced to take a back seat. Every time I met a fan, the first thing they'd say to me was "Hey man, when's Triple H coming back?" and it made me sick. You don't deserve any of the success you've gotten here, Hunter, because at the end of the day, all you're good for i-"

"You shut your goddamn mouth.

Chris, I might not have been here for the past year because I couldn't even walk for most of it, but I was still watching, and do you know what I saw? I didn't see the strong warrior you just described yourself as. I saw a cowardly little chicken shit who was forced to cheat and get himself disqualified because quite frankly, he couldn't get the job done."

"Did it eat away at you that much Hunter? Did the fact that you know I'm better than you torment you so much that you had to drag your broken ass out of bed, come back and try and take what I rightfully deserve?"

"No. But I'll tell you what does eat away at me. It's the fact that our Undisputed Champion, the man who kids are supposed to look up to, the man representing our company, is a joke."

Jericho and Triple H got in each other's faces, as The Rock's theme started to play and he came down to the ring.

"Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah. Chris Jericho. Triple H. You two are talking like The Rock doesn't even exist. Let me tell you both something. Jericho, The Rock has watched for months and months as men have stepped up but fallen just this short of beating you and becoming the Undisputed Champion, and dammit, The Rock gives credit where credit is due, and Jericho, you are good.


...but, are you even close to The Rock's level? Absolutely not!"

"You know Rock, it's funny that you mentioned "levels", what with me being "The Game" and all. Rock, you might be good, but right now, not you, not Chris Jericho, not anybody on this planet is better than me. And nothing is gonna stand between me and that WWF Undisputed Championship at Wrestlemania."

"Triple H. The Rock might respect you. But The Rock will never.. AND THE ROCK MEANS.. never.. like you. You might be one of the best wrestlers in the world, you might be a student of the game, but the fact is, you are not and you never will be as good as The Rock."

"You two can talk about who's better than each other all day long, but as long as I'm living and breathing and able to get into this ring, there never has, and there never will be another wrestler better than Chris Jericho."

Jericho threw his microphone to the ground, raised both championships in the air, as The Rock and Triple H joined him in the middle of the ring and faced off, until Eric Bischoff's theme played and he emerged from the curtain.

"Guys, guys, guys, save any hostility for Wrestlemania. Because tonight, after our main event, which, by the way, I will announce in just a few moments, there's going to be a contract signing. And if any one of you even does so much as lay a finger on one another between now and this Sunday, you will be removed from the match at Wrestlemania. So, I'd just keep that in mind."

Jericho, The Rock, and Triple H looked at each other, as Eric Bischoff's theme played once again and he left through the curtain.

- Commercial Break -


Test vs Goldust

"The Bizzare One" had a tough match in store against the dominant Test, who took Triple H to the limit on Smackdown, but Goldust barely made it out of the gate before Test started to dominate him. The 6'6 Canadian behemoth took Goldust down with a huge clothesline, and from then on out, it was academic. Test took Goldust over with a Pump-Handle Slam, and then a big boot to make easy work of Goldust.
Winner: Test (0:49)

Backstage, Triple H is walking towards the locker room, when he's stopped by Eric Bischoff.

"Hunter, let me talk to you for a second."

"What the hell do you want?"

"I'd be a little nicer if I were you. Because, there are two ways this could go. If you agree to work in my favour, I can be a very valuable asset to you, Hunter.

Or.. if you choose not to play nice, then I could make your life a living hell around here."

Triple H looked at Bischoff, shook his head, and left.

JR and The King informed us of our tag team main event of the evening, with Chris Benoit teaming up with Stone Cold Steve Austin to take on The Undertaker and Booker T.

Backstage, Lillian Garcia is standing by with Edge.

Edge, in just under one week at Wrestlemania, you're going to go one-on-one with Booker T, a man who cla-"

Edge went flying forward, after being struck in the back of the head by Booker T. Booker then continued to attack a grounded Edge, attacking him with stomps to the upper body, and then sending him shoulder first into a container. As a prone Edge lies on the ground, Booker leaned over him and said "Yo punk ass in trouble", and left.


Lance Storm, Christian and William Regal vs Val Venis, DDP and Rob Van Dam

6 men who will meet one way or another at Wrestlemania had a preview of their respective matches on Raw. Venis, Page, and Van Dam took control early on, isolating Christian, but that didn't last long, as Storm and Regal used frequent tags in and out to keep "The Big Valbowski" on their side of the ring. Val, quite clearly worn down, tried to fight back halfway through, and took Christian down with a clothesline to tag in DDP. Page came in like a house on fire, taking down every single one of his opponents, and hitting the Diamond Cutter on Christian, but Storm came in at the last second to break things up. Venis grabbed a hold of Storm and went for a clothesline, but Lance was able to duck it, causing Val to make contact with the referee. Venis turned around, only to be met with a big boot to the face from Test, who had come down the ramp like lighting to get in the cheap shot. Christian and Regal held off DDP and Van Dam, as Storm revived the referee for the 3 count.
Winners: Lance Storm, William Regal and Christian

The victorious Un-Americans rolled to the outside and celebrated on the ramp, as JR remarked "this has got to give the Un-Americans a huge boost in confidence ahead of Wrestlemania."

- Commercial Break -

Billy and Chuck are in their locker room. Billy is eating a hot dog.

"I'll tell you, Chuckie, their really is nothing quite like a hot, juicy wiener in between two buns, am I right?"

"Haha, definitely"

"Woah, woah, woah, what the hell is this?" exclaimed Rico, as Billy and Chuck both looked at him in surprise.

"... it's a hot dog."

"Yeah, I can see that, but why the hell are you eating it? Come on, you can't be eating trash like that less than a week before Wrestlemania! Alright, we're gonna go and get you some new gear so you're ready for this Sunday. Alright?"

The camera cuts back to the arena.


The Hardy Boyz and Lita vs The Dudley Boyz and Stacy Kiebler

In a preview of sorts for Wrestlemania, two of the four teams involved in the TLC match at Wrestlemania clashed in a 6 man mixed tag team match. Matt and D-Von started off, but soon, Jeff Hardy was being worked over by both D-Von and Bubba, and this lasted for a good portion of the match. The tenacious Hardy didn't quit, however, and scratched and clawed his way to corner, where he was able to tag in Lita, who sent Stacy into the corner with a dropkick, and then tagged in Matt Hardy, who went flying into Bubba Ray with a clothesline and put him down with the Twist Of Fate. D-Von dived in to break the cover up, but Matt moved, causing D-Von to crush the chest of his half brother. Jeff Hardy then came off the top rope with the Swanton Bomb, coming down on top of both men and allowing Matt to get the pinfall.
Winners: The Hardy Boyz

With Matt and Jeff basically out after a hellacious brawl, D-Von and Bubba were the only men left standing in the ring, which could only mean one thing. "D-VON!..... GET THE TABLES!" could be heard all the way through San Antonio, and D-Von bought a table in. Most people presumed that one of the Hardy Boyz was going to go through the wood, but Bubba and D-Von instead grabbed Lita and drilled her through the table with the 3D to the shock of almost everyone. As Bubba Ray got up, he had an almost demonic smile on his face. He D-Von and Stacy observed the damage that they'd just caused. Matt and Jeff checked on Lita as they left up the ramp.


Kane vs Kanyon

Kane made extremely easy work of Kanyon, not letting him even get a chance to lock up, as "The Big Red Machine" booted him right in the face mere seconds after the bell. Kane then grabbed him by the throat and from that point on, it didn't take any more than a pin to put Kanyon away.
Winner: Kane (0:26)

"Kane looks stronger than ever, and if you're any single one of the Un-Americans, that's not good news", remarked The King, as JR also noted "Absolutely not. Kane is a monster, and I truly believe that when he is focused that there is no-one better, but folks we gotta shift the focus over to our main event, as Stone Cold Steve Austin is getting set to team up with Chris Benoit to take on Kurt Angle and the man he will meet at Wrestlemania in a last man standing match, The Undertaker".


"Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Chris Benoit vs Kurt Angle and The Undertaker

In a fantastic back and forth tag team match, both teams exchanged offence non stop throughout. Benoit displayed his impressive strength early on, throwing the 300Ib Undertaker over his head with a number of German Suplexes. Angle however then showed his technical prowess, going to work on Austin's shin and ankle to weaken it for the Ankle Lock. Halfway through, Benoit tagged in Austin, and Undertaker signalled to Austin that he wanted to go for a strike-off, but The Undertaker avoided him and instead sent Austin shoulder first into the corner and tagged in Angle. "Is The Undertaker actually afraid of Austin?" asked JR, "No, that can't be. He's the deadman. He fears nobody." replied King. Angle and The Undertaker kept control of Austin for a good while, but "The Texas Rattlesnake" bounced off into the ropes and came down on top of Angle with a Thesz Press and a number of punches, then jumped across the ring and tagged in Chris Benoit. "The Rabid Wolverine" cleaned house, throwing Angle over his head a number of times with a number of different suplexes. The Undertaker came in, but Benoit grabbed him by the arm and locked him in the Crippler Crossface, but Undertaker was able to reach the ropes using his long legs. Angle then tagged himself in and went for the Angle Slam, but just as he lifted Benoit up, Austin slapped Chris on the boot, came in, and dropped Angle with a Stone Cold Stunner for the pin and the win.

Winners: Steve Austin and Chris Benoit (10:14)

Austin and Benoit celebrated in the ring and shared a beer. As Benoit left up the ramp, The Undertaker came up from behind and attacked Austin, and then bought him to the outside and nailed him with a number of shots to the back and bounced his head off of the steel steps. Undertaker then reached under the ring and pulled out a chain, tied it to Austin's wrists, and then began to tie Austin to the back of the bike. "Wait a minute, what the hell is The Undertaker gonna do now? Oh no, he wouldn't, would he? I've known The Undertaker for 15 years, and my god, he's done some pretty terrible things, but I don't think he'd go as far as to do this.. would he?" asked JR. The Undertaker sat down on his brand new Titan bike, and started to rev the engine, teasing that he was going to drive off with Austin tied to the bike. Referees stood in front of The Undertaker and begged him not to drive off, as JR and King both remarked "No, come on don't do this." "Dammit, you'll kill him!, but it was in all in vain, as The Undertaker drove off up the ramp with Austin attached to the back of the bike. The cameras followed him through the arena, and The Undertaker dragged him all the way through the corridors of the Joe Louis Arena, before he reached the parking lot, untied the chains, and then began to strike Austin even more. Undertaker then grabbed Austin's face, and started yelling at him.

"You see, Austin? That's what you get. That's what you get when you mess with me. Stupid son of a bitch."

Undertaker then kicked him in the face, climbed onto his bike, and left the arena.

- Commercial Break -

Eric Bischoff walked down to the ring, where a table was set up, along with 4 chairs, a contract, and a pen. Individually, The Rock, Chris Jericho, and Triple H all made their ways to the ring and sat at the table.

"Ok. So, here I have a contract. On this contract, it states that once you sign this, all 3 of you agree that this match at Wrestlemania will happen, and that there is no backing out. Agreed?"

All 3 men replied with "agreed".

"Now, wait just a minute.", said Chris Jericho to loud boos.

"The moment I sign this contract, I agree that I'm going to let these two misfits challenge for my championship. And why should I do that?"

"You should do it, because if you don't, I'll make sure you don't even make it to Wrestlemania."

"Ah, ah, ah, ah, remember what I said earlier tonight. If you so much a-"

"Eric, shut the hell up. Chris, sign the god damn contract."

"Wait a second, Hunter, remember, I am your boss. Technically, I own you. Like I said earlier tonight, things can go one of two ways. Eithe-"

"Eric Bischoff, on behalf of everybody in this arena, know your role, and shut your mouth. Jericho, The Rock has watched you worm your way out of a lot of stuff in the past year. Matches, altercations, just about everything imaginable, but The Rock will be damned if he watches you get out of this. Now take the pen, put it to the paper, sign the damn contract before The Rock does it for you."

"Hold on, Rock, let me tell you something."

"Oh, you want to tell The Rock something, huh? Yeah? What do you want to tell The Rock?"

"I-"

"It doesn't matter what you want to tell The Rock. Now sign the contract."

Visibly angered, Jericho signed the contract, slid the paper across the table, and threw the pen at The Rock. The Rock and Triple H both signed the contract, and Eric Bischoff once again began to speak.

"So, the match is set. At Wrestlemania, it will be Triple H, vs The Rock, vs Chris Jericho, for the Undisputed Championship. Gentlemen, thank you for your time."

In a scene similar to earlier in the night, The Rock, Triple H, and Chris Jericho stood in the middle of the ring, with Jericho raising his Championships in the air.

"You could the atmosphere with a knife." said The King.

As all 3 men stared down, clearly all wanting to fight each other, Eric Bischoff walked behind Triple H and span him around. Triple H took exception to his general manager, and drove him through the table with a Spinebuster.

"Oh my god! Triple H just put Eric Bischoff right through that table! I don't believe it!

Chris Jericho rolled out of the ring as fast as he could, leaving just The Rock and Triple H staring each other down as Raw ended.

© 2002, World Wrestling Federation.

[King Of Spice]

March 15th, 2002 | Gund Arena, Cleveland, OH

Smackdown began with a shot of Triple H entering the arena. Jonathan Coachman ran towards him with a microphone.

"Triple H.. I have to ask you. What are your thoughts going into tonight where you're going to have to run the gauntlet against Christian, Lance Storm, and Test?

Triple H gave The Coach an angry look, grunted, and walked on.

Smackdown'sintro played, and Michael Cole and The King welcomed us to the final Smackdown ahead of Wrestlemania 18.


Billy Kidman vs Tajiri

Kidman took control of Tajiri early on, but the veteran wisely managed to send Billy to the outside and came flying into him with a suicide dive. Tajiri wasted no time in capitalising, bringing Kidman into the ring and locking him in a rear chinlock. The two went back and forth throughout the match, until Mighty Molly came down the ramp, got up on the apron and distracted both the referee and Kidman. With the referee's attention elsewhere, Tajiri looked to capitalise by rolling Kidman up, but Trish Stratus came running down the ramp, grabbed Molly by the ankles and bounced her head off of the apron. The referee tried to seperate Molly and Trish, but this allowed The Hurricane to come down and hit Kidman with a Chokeslam, which in turn allowed Tajiri to cover Kidman and get the win.

Winner: Tajiri (5:47)

Kidman and Stratus stood in the ring, pointing at The Hurricane and Molly, with Kidman pointing to his torso, symbolising that the Crusierweight Title will be his soon.

The Undertaker was shown arriving to the arena on his bike, but he was soon knocked off of it when Stone Cold Steve Austin jumped him from behind and started punching and kicking him with everything he had, and The Undertaker fought back, as they exchange blows all over the parking lot, security, referees, and even WWF Superstars came running in to try and break the two up. It seemed like they finally had the two under control, until Austin jumped over everybody and straight onto The Undertaker, once again throwing a flurry of shots. It took almost 30 people, but finally, Austin and The Undertaker were split up after Vince McMahon said he would have both men arrested and fired permanently if they laid another hand on each other. Austin backed away, and McMahon walked up to him, followed by 3 policemen.

Austin, these are 3 of Ohio's finest. They're here to escort you from the arena. They'll follow you back to the hotel, and if you do one thing wrong, they'll arrest you on the spot."

Austin flipped McMahon off, climbed onto his motorcycle and left, followed by the cops.

Chris Jericho is backstage, when Booker T walks in.

"Hey, man."

"Oh, uh, hey, Booker."

"Alright, I wanna axe you somethin'."

"Well, axe away, I mean, I'm all ears."

"I wanna know if I can trust you out there tonight."

"What do you mean, "can you trust me out there tonight"? Of course you can trust me out there tonight. I'll tell you what. I'll take care of Edge for you, if you take care of The Rock for me, huh? How does that sound?"

"....Yeah, alright. That sound good. I'll see you out there."

"Keep it real, homie!"

Booker looked back at Jericho in disapproval.

"Tell me....... you didn't just say that?"


The APA vs Raven and Stevie Richards

Almost right off the bat, Bradshaw and Faarooq bought the pain to both Raven and Stevie Richards. Hitting them both with clubbing shots to the back, Faarooq sent Stevie off the ropes and into Bradshaw who almost decapitated him with a vicious Clothesline From Hell, turning Stevie inside out and getting them the victory in under a minute.

Winners: The APA (0:56)

- Commercial Break -

Triple H is walking to the entrance area when he's stopped by Tazz, DDP, and Kane.

"Look, man. We know how tough these guys are, I mean, you do yourself. So we just want to let you know, if anything goes down, we've got your back out there tonight."

"Thanks, guys."

Vince McMahon walks in.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. You see, Eric Bischoff told me that to ensure that there is no funny business in this match, Tazz, Page, Kane, you've all been banned from ringside. Have a good night, gentlemen."

DDP, Kane and Tazz looked on in anger as Triple H turned around and got ready to go through the ramp.


Triple H vs Lance Storm

Triple H's first of three opponents was Lance Storm. The cold and calculating technician worked over Triple H's lower body, specifically his previously injured quadricep, trying to weaken him as much as possible. Storm was unrelenting in his assault, wrapping the leg of Triple H around the bottom rope, and putting him in a number of different holds, most notably a figure four in the middle of the ring, severely breaking down the lower legs of The Game. Favouring his legs, Triple H crawled over to the corner and barely made it up to his feet. Storm came running into the corner, possibly looking for a Stinger Splash, but Triple H was just barely able to dodge the attack and move out of the way, causing Lance to land face first on the top turnbuckle. Triple H took advantage and rained in the shots on Storm's head in the corner, then backed away and signalled for Storm to come towards him. It however turned out to be a ruse, as Triple H kicked Storm in the gut and set him up for the Pedigree, but Storm was able to sweep the legs of Triple H and lock him in the Sharpshooter. Triple H was trapped in the middle of the ring, screaming and yelling with nowhere to go. Storm continued to wrench on the legs, but Triple H barely made it to the bottom rope. After slowly pulling himself up to his feet, Triple H held on to the ropes to keep his vertical base. Storm ran towards him, but Triple H did the same and connected with a high knee, busting Storm in the nose and making him bleed. Michael Cole exclaimed "Look at that! Triple H might have broken Storm's nose with that knee to the face!". "The Cerebral Assassin seemed to have tapped into a second wind, and hit Storm with a Pedigree to put him down for the pin and move on to his second opponent.

Winner: Triple H (7:14)

The Game, lying on the mat in severe pain, awaited his second opponent.


Triple H vs Christian

Christian came in and continued right where Storm left off, stomping away and pulling on the quad of Triple H. Christian turned around and celebrated, a costly mistake, as The Game span him around and hit him with a Pedigree to make easy work of Christian.

Winner: Triple H (1:21)

Cole asked "Is The Game really gonna run the gauntlet and beat everybody here?"

"I don't know, remember who his last opponent is."


Triple H vs Test

The man who took The Game to his physical limit last week on Smackdown, and his final opponent on the gauntlet, Test came in to the fray and once again targeted the previously torn quadricep. Test twisted and pulled on the leg of Triple H, and hit him with stomp after stomp after stomp to the thigh. The largest member of the Un-Americans then picked Triple H up, and trapped him in a Full Nelson. Test wrenched on the hold, and then lifted Triple H in the air and sent him crashing to the mat with a debilitating Full Nelson Slam. Test then began toying with Triple H, sliding his boot across his face, and slapping him, until Triple H used the little power he had left in his legs to send Test flying backwards and crashing into the referee, which would turn out to only work in Test's favour, as it allowed Christian and Storm to come back down the ramp and begin a 3-on-1 assault on Triple H and his injured leg, until The Rock came in with a chair to even the score. Test got in his face, but The Rock just planted him with a Rock Bottom, and dragged Triple H's near lifeless body to the cover to allow him to remain in the match.

Winner: Triple H (6:08)

The Game crawled to the bottom rope and looked up the ramp, as The Rock looked back and nodded at him.

"Why the hell did The Rock just help Triple H?!"

"Lord only knows, King, but we've gotta shift our focus once again, as it is time for our main event. Edge teams with the man who we just saw, The Rock, to go up against the team of Booker T and Undisputed Champion, Chris Jericho, after the break."

- Commercial Break -


Edge and The Rock vs Booker T and Chris Jericho

Edge came out to an enormous ovation from the Ohio faithful. Michael Cole noted that "This ovation is just a testament of how popular of a young superstar Edge really is. No matter what town we go to, the Edgeheads are always out and in full force!". The match began with The Rock and Booker T, as both teams exchanged frequent tags, but Jericho made it clear that he wanted no part of Rock, and Booker showed the same sentiments toward Edge. For the middle portion of the match, Edge and Jericho went back and forth on that mat, with Jericho proving exactly why he is the Undisputed Champion, trapping Edge in a number of impressive holds, but Edge was able to get out of them and show "Y2J" exactly what he was made off. Edge ran off into the ropes, but Booker T took advantage of the opportunity and grabbed Edge by the chin, snapping his neck off of the top rope and launching him forward. Jericho and Booker kept the match in their favour, cutting the ring in half and keeping Edge from The Rock. Jericho went for the Lionsault, but Edge moved out of the way and tagged in The Rock. Jericho quickly crawled away and tagged in Booker, who was taken down after a number of shots and a Spinebuster from The Rock. Booker stuck his hand out for the tag, but Jericho simply jumped off of the apron and left him there. "Y2J" grabbed both championships from the timekeeper's area, and walked up the ramp. "Jericho can't just walk out of this match, can he?" asked Cole. Jericho stood on the stage, as Booker looked on in shock and anger. Jericho left through the curtain, and when Booker turned around, he was ripped in half after a spear from Edge for the pinfall.

Winners: The Rock and Edge

Edge and Rocky celebrated in the ring, as Booker laid down on the outside of the ring, favouring his midsection. When Edge and Rock faced the other way, Jericho came running down the ramp with a chair and got in the ring, but when they turned around, he fell down to the mat and backed away as fast as he could. Jericho backed up the ramp, but walked right into Triple H. With nowhere to go, Jericho seemed trapped, but Test came down the ramp and attacked Triple H. Jericho used this split second to sprint past Triple H and make it up onto the stage. Kane then came down the ramp and attacked Test, and soon after, Lance Storm, Tazz, Christian, DDP, William Regal, Val Venis, and Rob Van Dan all came down and brawled with each other.

"Folks, this is absolute pandemonium out here! We're about to run out of time here, we've gotta see if we can get all of this under control, but we'll see you this Sunday at Wrestlemania X8, live from the Skydome in Toronto, Canada! Goodnight, everybody!"

© 2002, World Wrestling Federation.

[King Of Spice]

WWF WRESTLEMANIA X8 PRE SHOW

The Big Show defeats Raven and Stevie Richards in 1:42 after a double chokeslam

Jazz defeats Victoria in 3:31 after a Spinebuster Slam

18 Man Pre-Wrestlemania Battle Royal - Maven defeats D-Lo Brown, Al Snow, Tajiri, Tommy Dreamer, Spike Dudley, Justin Credible, Goldust, Kanyon, Perry Saturn, Crash Holly, Hardcore Holly, The Godfather, Mark Henry, Jim Duggan, Scotty Too Hotty, Rikishi and Grand Master Sexay in 12:56 after last eliminating Rikishi

[King Of Spice]

March 17th, 2002 | Skydome, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Before our show began, we were treated to a live performance of "Superstar" by Saliva.

A video packaged played, and the pyro exploded.

"Hello, everybody, and welcome to the Skydome! Welcome to the biggest event of the year! Welcome to the grandaddy of them all! Welcome to Wrestlemania 18! Hello everybody, I'm "JR", Jim Ross, alongside "The King", Jerry Lawler, and Michael Cole, and tonight is the biggest night in World Wrestling Federation history! Tonight, the landscape of this very company will change, championships will be contested Blood, sweat, and tears will be shed, but most importantly, you are going to witness history! Let's get it underway folks, with our first match of the evening!"


Lance Storm, Test and Christian vs Tazz, Diamond Dallas Page and Kane

The Un-Americans first made their way to the ring. "This might be the first and only times The Un-Americans ever receive a single cheer.", exclaimed JR, as Test, Christian and Storm got into the ring and Storm grabbed a microphone.

"My oh my, it's good to be back home. After spending so long in that hateful hellhole known as the United States, we are finally home, where we belong, the great white north, Canada! You know, for all you Americans who are at home watching, let me tell you something. Canada is the best and most peaceful country in the world. Every single war that you got involved in, who was there to help you out? Canada. Every time you needed a loan, who was there to help you out? Canada. When you needed a venue for Wrestlemania, who was there to help you out? Canada."

All three men leaned into the microphone.

"AMERICA SUCKS!"

"There are some cheers in this arena, but the majority of our great fans out here in Canada do not agree with the view of these Un-Americans, ladies and gentlemen, and are not supporting them tonight.", exclaimed Michael Cole.

The familiar heartbeats of Tazz's theme played, as the New York native appeared at the top of the ramp, with a purpose, however, wearing a singlet for this match.

"Man, does Tazz look all business tonight."

"Yeah, and you'll notice that he's not getting in the ring yet, which is very wise, he's gonna wait for his partners."

"YO! IT'S ME! IT'S ME! IT'S D! D! P!" blasted through the arena, as Diamond Dallas Page walked through the curtain to loud cheers.

"DDP certainly one of the most popular superstars on all of the WWF roster, but he's certainly got his work cut out for him here tonight."

The pyro exploded, and Kane emerged through the smoke to equally loud cheers.

"Here comes "The Big Red Machine", and folks, he earned that nickname through sheer dominance of everybody on the roster, and folks, when he is focused, I truly believe that there is no one better than him, and my god, does he look focused here tonight."

The action unfolded immediately, with Tazz and DDP going after Storm and Christian on the outside, whilst Kane and Test brawled in the middle of the ring. Kane sent the big Canadian in the corner, and struck him with rights and lefts, rocking him, but Test used all the power in his body to shove Kane away and on to his back. Test came after Kane, but the two big bulls continued to have a stalemate and strike each other over and over, with neither man going down. Tazz, DDP, Storm and Christian took their positions on the apron, and the bell officially rang, signalling the beginning of the match. Kane backed Test into the corner, but that allowed Test to tag in Storm, who came in with a sharp kick to the gut of Kane, and then swept his leg. With Kane down, showing shades of Smackdown, Storm grabbed Kane by the ankles and began to stomp on the thighs and wear down the tree-trunk like legs of Kane. Storm reached out and tagged in Christian who came in and pulled back on Kane's leg, and dropped a series of elbows on the knee of Kane. Christian continued the offensive attack on Kane, but made the mistake of bringing him to his feet, as this allowed Kane to knock Christian silly with an uppercut and tag in Tazz. Tazz stepped through the ropes with his arms folded, showing no fear of the Un-Americans. Christian tagged in Storm, and Lance and Tazz locked up, but Tazz immediately took the upper hand and threw Storm to the mat. Storm, now angered, ran towards Tazz, but got a belly to belly for his troubles. Tazz walked over to Storm, lifted him up, and hit him with another belly to belly. Tazz continued this twice more, until he tagged in DDP, and Page came into the match. Tazz held Storm in the corner, and DDP lit up his chest with two chops, Storm stumbled forward but walked straight into an elbow to the head and a back body drop from DDP. Page went for the cover, but Lance kicked out at two. "Tazz, Page and Kane are certainly an oddball group, but one that's worked extremely well so far.", noted Lawler. Storm kicked Page in the face and rolled backwards, getting the tag to Test. Test came in like a house on fire, colliding straight into DDP with a knee to the gut and a stiff European Uppercut. Test hit Page in the head with strikes, and then tried lift him up for the Pump-Handle Slam, but DDP fought out of it, bounced into the ropes, and clothesline Test all the way to the outside, taking himself over the ropes too. Christian and Storm took advantage of the situation, clubbing DDP in the back with shots, but Tazz soon came around to the front and evened the score, but by this point, Test had regained his composure and The Un-Americans has the numbers game once again, until Kane climbed to the top rope and came crashing down on top of everyone, putting his own body in the line and taking everybody else. With all 6 men down on the outside, Page started to stir first, grabbed the legal man, Test, and slid him into the ring. DDP went for a cover, but Test powered out. Page dragged Test over to his side of the ring, allowing Kane to tag himself in and go to work on Test. Kane lifted him up and dropped him down with a side slam. Kane got up and shot himself into the ropes, but Storm stuck his leg up and kicked Kane in the back, distracting "The Big Red Machine" and giving Test the chance to capitalise on the momentary distraction and change the complexion of the match. Test tagged in Christian, who climbed to the top rope and came flying off with a missile dropkick. Christian went for the cover, but Kane threw him halfway across the ring with a forceful kick out. Kane whipped Christian into the ropes, but once again, Storm distracted him and this time, Christian connected with the chop block. Christian then grabbed Kane's lower leg and twisted on it, pulling and bending the knee in directions it isn't supposed to bend. Christian stretched his arm out and tagged in Test, who showed a great display of athleticism, coming off of the top rope with a flying elbow and crushing the sternum of Kane. Test went for the pin, but Kane just barely popped the shoulder up. Test lifted Kane's head up, and rained down a bunch of shots to the head, and then put the boot's to his face. Michael Cole pointed out that "Kane is really taking a beating here. He needs to get the tag to either DDP or Tazz.". Test lifted Kane back up and seemingly had the 7ft behemoth on the ropes, but Kane ran forwards and paintbrushed Test with a big boot. Kane then tagged in "The Human Suplex Machine", Tazz. Tazz came running in and suplexed everybody. Storm got a belly to belly, Test got a German, and Christian got a Northern Lights. Storm came back in and must have been suplexed 8 times by Tazz. As Storm slowly stumbled to his feet, Tazz tagged in DDP, who came in and dropped Storm on his face with the Diamond Cutter. Page went for the pin, but Christian grabbed him by the ankles and sent him into the barricade outside. As Christian had Page cornered, he turned to the camera and mocked Page, mimicking his signature facial expression. Christian used his boot to choke DDP on the outside. Christian then slid Page back under the bottom rope, and DDP wisely rolled over to his corner as fast as he could and got the tag to Tazz. As Storm crawled up to his feet in the corner, Tazz grabbed him from behind and locked in the Tazzmission. The longer Tazz held the submission in, the limper Lance's body went. Storm tried to fight it at first, but after a while, his arms dropped, and he was clearly out on his feet. The referee raised Storm's arm up twice and he failed to respond, but from out of nowhere, Test almost decapitated Tazz with the big boot. A basically knocked out Storm fell on top of him and the referee counted the pinfall, giving the Un-Americans the victory.

Winners: Storm, Christian and Test (9:11)

Christian and Test pulled Storm's lifeless body out of the ring and to the outside. Test reached under the ring and pulled out a Canadian flag. As Storm came around to himself, Christian and Test lifted him up onto their shoulders and carried him up the ramp as Storm waved the Canadian flag. Tazz, DDP and Kane looked on in disappointment.

"The Un-Americans stole this one after that huge big boot from Test!".

Backstage, Chris Jericho is seen walking down the hallway to Mr. McMahon's office.


Intercontinental Championship - Val Venis vs Rob Van Dam vs William Regal

Val Venis came out to the ring first, with the fans giving him a huge ovation.

"The ladies kind of take a shine to ol' Val, don't they?"

Venis got in the ring and started to talk, not before removing his towel.

"HELLLOOOOOOOOOOO LLLLAAAADDDDIIIIIIEEEEESSSSSS! Hahahaha. We are out in the Skydome, right here in Toronto! And, uh, speaking.. of.. Skydomes.. Ladies! The Big Valbowski has got a dome that can take you sky high! Hahahaha."

Surprisingly, Regal was the second to make his way to the ring, to loud boos.

"Regal certainly has not endeared himself to fans, even more so since he aligned himself with those damn Anti-Americans."

The final man to make his way to the ring was Rob Van Dam, to absolutely deafening cheers.

"And here comes, in my view, the greatest competitor never to be World Champion, he is certainly one of the most popular young superstars in all of the WWF! Rob Van Dam is here ladies and gentlemen."

The match began with all 3 men seemingly getting ready to lock up, but Regal instantly rolled to the outside and pointed to his head. Van Dam took exception, and came flying over to the top rope with a Topè. RVD slid him back in the ring, and this allowed Venis to come on the offensive. Blasting Regal with strikes and chops in the corner, and then sending the Intercontinental Champion right into a spinkick from RVD, knocking him senseless. Regal then rolled to the outside once again to regain his composure, leaving Venis and Van Dam in the ring alone. The two challengers locked up, with the more powerful Valbowski taking the advantage, shoving RVD onto his back. Van Dam got up and teased a Greco-Roman Knucklelock, but instead connected with a roundhouse to Venis. With Val on the ropes, RVD grabbed him and whipped him into the ropes, first going under him, then over the top with a leapfrog, but before Van Dam could connect with the dropkick, Venis ploughed through him with a clothesline. Val went for the pin, but RVD popped the shoulder up. Venis lifted him up and put him into the corner, and connected with a number of different shots, including punches, kicks and chops, sending RVD reeling. Van Dam fell down to the mat, but Regal, from the outside, grabbed him by the ankles and dragged him towards the ring post, causing his groin to crash against it. Regal then grabbed RVD's ankles once again, twisted on the ankle, and locked in a figure four on the ring post. As Regal pulled and pulled on the hold, Venis came to the outside, but Regal wisely got up himself and managed to dodge the attempted shot by Venis, and instead turned around and sent The Big Valbowski straight into the security wall with an Irish Whip. Regal then waved to the crowd, but Venis came up from behind and sent him back into the ring. Regal, on his knees, begged for forgiveness and pleaded with Val not to hit him, but Venis didn't care and hit Regal right in the face with a big boot. Val went for a cover, but Regal got his foot on the bottom rope. Venis, getting a little frustrated, got up, but when he turned around, RVD came flying off of the top rope with a springboard kick, catching Venis right in the face and knocking him into the ropes. As Val bounced off of them, Van Dam hit him with a monkey flip, sending Venis out of the ring. By this time, Regal was getting back to a vertical base, but was standing with his chest against the ropes and reaching into his tights. "What the hell is Regal doing?" asked Michael Cole, to which The King replied "Well, you know, maybe he had an itch.". It turned out that Regal had pulled out a set of brass knuckles from his tights and went for a shot on Van Dam, but the quick challenger was able to duck it, and once he realised what Regal had in his hand, kicked him right in the hand to sent the knucks flying to the outside. Regal's face dropped, and he went for a wild swing on RVD, but Van Dam ducked it and instead swept the legs of Regal. With Regal down, Van Dam called for some Rolling Thunder and did his signature taunt, however, after the first roll, Venis got in the ring, and when RVD tried the second roll, Venis caught him, lifted him up, and dropped him right on his back with a powerbomb. Val didn't go for the cover, but instead climbed to the top rope and called for the Money Shot. JR exclaimed "Is The Big Valbowski about to win the Intercontinental Championship?!". But before Venis could fly off of the top rope, Regal ran over and pushed his ankles out, dropping Venis in a very compromising position on the top rope and causing him to fall to the outside. Regal then looked over at a prone Rob Van Dam, and called for something from the back. As the camera panned to the stage, Test came running down the ramp with a chair and got into the ring. Michael Cole remarked "Oh, come on! Do these damn Un-Americans really have to stick their noses in everybody's business?". Test lined Van Dam up for the chair shot, but when Regal pushed him, Van Dam ducked and Test instead crushed the skull of Regal with a chair shot. Before he could realise what he'd done, Test was sent out of the ring after Van Dam grabbed the chair, threw it at him, and cracked him in the face with the chair by kicking it. Van Dam then saw the opportunity, climbed to the top rope, and came flying off of it with the Five Star Frog Splash for the victory and the Intercontinental Championship.

Winner and new Intercontinental Champion: Rob Van Dam (8:45)

The crowd cheered for Van Dam as he walked back up the ramp. A disgruntled Test helped Regal to the back, and when the camera zoomed in on him, Regal could be seen crying.


Winners Take All Tag Team Match: Trish Stratus and Billy Kidman vs Mighty Molly and The Hurricane

"STAND BACK! THERE'S A HURRICANE COMING THROUGH!" played throughout the arena, as the heroic duo of Mighty Molly and The Hurricane appeared on the ramp.

"Well, these two certainly didn't seem very heroic this past Friday night on Raw, as you'll see here folks, Molly provided the distraction as Billy Kidman was going one on one with Tajiri, which caused Stratus to come down, which allowed The Hurricane to come in from behind and Chokeslam Billy, causing Tajiri to steal a victory from Kidman."

Billy Kidman was the next to come out, looking focused and determined to become the first ever WWF Cruiserweight Champion.

"Kidman was a mainstay in WCW's Cruiserweight division, and is certainly no stranger to Cruiserweight gold, winning their Championship a number of times, but he's got his work cut out for him tonight."

Trish Stratus was next to come out, decked out in Canada inspired gear to an absolutely deafening reaction.

"What an ovation for Trish Stratus! These fans here in Toronto sure love their hometown girl and Women's Champion."

Kidman and Stratus sprinted down to the ring, and the match began with Kidman and Hurricane and Molly and Trish brawling. Kidman sent The Hurricane flying with a Hurricanrana, sending him out of the ring. Kidman saw the opportunity, and absolutely took the crowd's breath away with a springboard shooting star press to the outside. "Oh my god! Kidman putting his own life on the line in order to become the Cruiserweight Champion!". Billy got back up and bought Hurricane into the ring, and went back on the offensive, bringing Hurricane down to the mat and locking in a rear chinlock, until Hurricane got up and broke free. Hurricane reached out for the Greco-Roman Knuckle-Lock, and Billy did the same, with both men locking up. Hurricane started to gain the advantage, and bought Billy down into a bridging position, and climbed on top of Kidman. Billy managed to keep his body bridged up, until Hurricane connected with kicks to the thigh and caused Billy to hit the mat and his shoulders to go down, but Billy bridged out before three. Billy showed incredible strength when he got back up to his feet from the bridge, and both him and Hurricane broke out of the hold. The Toronto fans applauded them, and both men went into a collar and elbow tie up. Hurricane whipped Billy off into the ropes and went down on his back to try and dropkick the knees of Billy, but Kidman wisely rolled through Hurricane's legs and landed on his back. Billy got back up and hit Hurricane straight in the jaw with a dropkick, sending the Heroic Superstar into retreat and forcing him to tag in Molly. As per the rules, Billy tagged in Trish, and the women went at it. They locked up, and Molly backed Stratus into the corner, but the referee forced her to release after the count of 4. Molly released it, but took a cheap shot at Stratus with a forearm to the face. This lit a fire under the Women's Champion, who jumped on top of Molly with a Thesz Press and rained down shots. Trish lifted her back up and hit Molly with a series of knife edge chops, and then hiptossed her across the ring. Molly got up, and almost ran into a clothesline from Stratus, but ducked it, went behind, and threw her overhead with a German Suplex. "Very impressive Suplex from Molly." Molly went for the cover, but only got two before Trish was able to kick out. As the Women's Champion sat up, Molly moved over and raised Trish's arm into the air, and drove her elbow into the shoulder, slowly wearing down Stratus. Trish used her free arm to wrap it around Molly's head and bring her forward with the snapmare, and then pulled her arms back and drove the knee into the spine, and just like that, Trish was back on the offensive. Molly tried to get her leg to the bottom rope, but was too far away, and Stratus remained in control. Molly was able to use her feet however and turn herself over on to her front, get to a vertical base and kick Stratus in the gut. Molly wasted no time in grabbing Trish in a front chancery and dropping her right on her head with a DDT, and then tagged in The Hurricane, which forced Stratus to roll over and tag in Billy. Kidman came in and immediately went after The Hurricane, but the masked superstar quickly avoided whatever Billy was attempting to do and sent him into the ropes. Kidman ran into the other set of ropes, but just as he did, Molly lowbridged them and sent Kidman crashing over the top and to the outside. With Billy down, The Hurricane ran up onto the top rope and flew off with a cross body. With Kidman down, The Hurricane climbed up onto the Spanish announce table and struck his signature pose. "The Hurricane is wasting valuable time here". Kidman got back up, and Hurricane was still up on the table, so Billy grabbed him by the ankles and swept him off, causing the back of Hurricane's head to bounce off of the announce table. "My god, that was a horrible bump for Hurricane. That could cause a concussion". Kidman rolled Hurricane into the ring, got up on the apron, and shot himself over the top rope with a Hilo. Kidman went for the cover, but The Hurricane kicked out at 2. Billy lifted Hurricane back to a vertical base, but Hurricane was playing possum, as he pushed Billy away and then hit him with a Hurricanerana. With Kidman down, Hurricane looked to keep him there by locking in a rear chinlock and keeping him grounded. Kidman was kept down on the mat for a decent while, as Hurricane transitioned from hold to hold, but the resiliency of Billy came into play, and he got up to his feet, elbowed The Hurricane in the gut and hit him with an enzuiguri. Billy then tagged in Trish who took control of Mighty Molly immediately, taking her down with a number of clotheslines. Trish went for the Chick Kick, but Molly ducked it, went behind Stratus and hit her with a back suplex, and just like that, Molly was in control. Trish got up to her feet and Molly came after her again, but Trish used her feet to kick her in the gut, grab her in a headlock and hit Stratusfaction! Trish crawled for the cover, but Hurricane pulled Molly out of the ring and prevented Stratus from going for the cover. Trish tagged in Billy which prompted Hurricane to come into the ring and go after Kidman. Billy jumped over him and ran into ropes, but Molly grabbed him by the ankles to distract him. The referee tried to stop her, but with the ref's back turned, Hurricane came up from behind, hit Kidman with a low blow and rolled him up to steal the win and both titles.

Winners and new Cruiserweight and Women's Champions: The Hurricane and Mighty Molly (9:27)

As Kidman and Stratus looked on in disappointment, The Hurricane and Molly celebrated on the ramp with their new Championships.

Stone Cold and The Undertaker are shown getting ready for their match in a split screen.


Edge vs Booker T

Booker T was the first to make his way to the ring, to boos from the crowd.

"Booker T certainly hasn't been in the best mood this weekend as we'll show you here folks, because this past Friday night when he and Undisputed Champion Chris Jericho teamed up to go against their opponents here tonight Edge and The Rock, and Jericho literally walked out on Booker and left him for dead pretty much, but he can't let that play on his mind here tonight against this man."

Rob Zombie was shown on the Wrestlemania stage, performing his hit single and Edge's theme song, "Never Gonna Stop". Edge came running through the curtain to absolutely deafening cheers from the fans. Edge walked over and shared a hug with Zombie before running down the ramp and getting in the ring.

"My god what an ovation for the hometown boy, Edge. He might just be the most popular superstar in all of the World Wrestling Federation today."

"This match should be great ladies and gentlemen, as two of the brightest young stars in wrestling today, Edge and Booker T will go one on one for the second time this year, and you've gotta think that a win here tonight would catapult either Edge or Booker into Undisputed Title contention."

The bell rang, and both men started the match very cagey, until they got into a collar and elbow tie up, which they ended up breaking out of. They locked up once again, and again, they broke free. They locked up for a third time, and again, broke free. "A lot of people don't realise it, but at 256 and 268lbs respectively, both Edge and Booker T are very big men, and neither man wants to be overpowered by the other.". Both men moved around the ring a little, before going into the Greco-Roman Knucklelock. Booker used his leg to push Edge back over and sent him to the mat. Booker backed off into the ropes and seemed like he was gonna go for a knee drop, but Edge got up and sent him back off into the other set of ropes and hit him with a dropkick. Booker sat up as Edge got to his feet and the fans applauded. They locked up once again, and this time, Booker wisely transitioned into a side headlock, but Edge himself switched it around into a waistlock. Edge tried to take Booker over and bring him to the mat, but Book switched into a waistlock himself, bought Edge down to the mat, and span around into a front chancery. Booker bought Edge up, clubbed him in the back, sent him into the ropes, and bought him down across his knee with a tilt-a-whirl back breaker. Booker covered him, but Edge got the kick out. "It appears that Booker has taken control of this match early on". With Edge down, Booker T rolled him over and bent his arm back, pulling and wrenching on it. Edge had nowhere to go, so Booked continued to apply pressure to the arm and shoulder. Booker then stood up, but maintained his grip on the arm, and kicked Edge in the shoulder a number of times. Booker then dropped elbows on the upper arm and shoulder, and continued to stomp away. "Great ring psychology by Booker T". Booker dropped down to the mat, bent the arm of Edge and locked his arm in the position, pulling on Edge's arm. Edge crawled towards the ropes, but Booker pulled him back into the center of the ring. For a good amount of time, Booker kept Edge on the ground and continued to work on his shoulder. When Edge finally started to mount some offence again, he bounced Booker T's head off of the top turnbuckle a number of times. Booker T swung wildly and missed with a clothesline, allowing Edge to turn him around and bring him down on the back of his head. Edge hooked the leg but Booker kicked out. Edge got back up to his feet, walked over to the other corner, and the fans knew exactly what was coming next. Edge kneeled down and signalled for Booker T to get up so he could hit him with the spear. Edge ran, but Booker just barely had the wherewithal to move at the last second and cause Edge to go shoulder first into the turnbuckle. With Edge folded in half, Booker ran into the ropes and hit him with the scissors kick! Booker went for the cover, and almost had it, but Edge used his long legs to touch the bottom rope. "Frustration might be starting to set in for the former 5 time WCW Champion. He really thought he had Edge beat right there". Booker wasted no time and got Edge back up to a vertical base. Booker put his arm over Edge's shoulder and went for the Book-End, but Edge hit him with elbows to the side of the head, pushed him away, and planted him with the Edge-Ucution! With both Edge and Booker laid out on the mat, the referee started his count and got to 8 before Edge and Booker got back up. They met each other in the middle of the ring, and started to exchange shots. Edge hit Booker, and the fans responded with "YAY!", but when Booker hit Edge, they responded with a resounding "BOO!". A groggy Edge and Booker extended roughly 10 shots in the middle of the ring, before Edge got the upper hand and started to back Booker T on the ropes. Edge span Booker T around, put his arm over his shoulder, and came crashing down with a slingshot back suplex. Edge got back up, and grabbed Booker's ankles, possibly signalling that he was going for a submission, but before he had the chance to lock it in, Booker got his hands on the bottom rope and Edge was forced to let go. With Booker still down, Edge started to seize the opportunity himself, and hit Booker in the knee and quad with stomps, elbows, punches, knees, and just about everything you can imagine. Edge pulled Booker into the middle of the ring and rolled him over into a half crab, applying more pressure to the leg and lower back of Book. "Edge is basically saying "Whatever you can do Booker, I can do better". So in response to Booker attacking Edge's shoulder and trying to take the spear out of the equation, Edge is focusing his offence on the leg of Booker T to make sure that he can't use the scissors kick". Edge held onto the submission for a while until Booker stretched and barely made it to the rope. Booker wisely moved underneath the bottom rope and clutched his knee, even going as far as to roll down his knee pad to allow movement in his leg. Book used the ropes to get back to his feet, and when Edge came back over, he dropped down pulled his throat across the bottom rope, sending Edge back into the ring and to the mat. Booker sat on the apron and pointed to his head before rolling back in and grabbing Edge's arm again, but this time, he trapped Edge in an armbar. "I haven't seen Booker used this much technical offense in a long time, folks, but that just goes to show you how much he wants to beat Edge here tonight". Booker surprisingly released the hold, possibly thinking that he'd done enough damage. He got up and waited for Edge. When Edge got back up, Booker backed into the ropes and went for another scissors kick, but Edge ran and jumped into him with an incredible mid air spear! "OH MY GOD, JR! DID YOU SEE THAT? Edge may have just ripped poor Booker T in half with that spear!". Edge went for the cover, but he got up at 2. "What is Edge doing?". Edge instead got up, grabbed Booker T by the ankles, and turned him over into the sharpshooter to a huge pop from the crowd. Booker T tried to fight back, but he eventually was forced to tap out.

Winner: Edge (14:27)

Edge, broken down, battered, and clutching his shoulder, had his arm raised in the air, and climbed to the top rope in celebration of a hard fought victory. When he got down, Booker T was behind him, and he extended the hand. Edge was clearly skeptical after what Booker pulled at No Way Out, but to the surprise of many, Edge extended the hand, and Booker raised his arm in the air and left. "Lot of class right there from Booker T, folks".


TLC Match for the World Tag Team Championships - Billy and Chuck vs The Dudley Boyz vs The APA vs The Hardyz

The APA, the brawlers of the match, were first to make their way to the ring, followed by D-Von, Bubba Ray, and Stacy, who had their theme song performed live by Saliva, followed by the most popular team in the match, Matt and Jeff Hardy, followed by Billy and Chuck, the least popular team in the match.

The match began with all three challengers targeting Billy and Chuck, looking to take them out of the equation. With Billy and Chuck gone momentarily, the challengers were left to battle amongst themselves. Matt Hardy was turned inside out after a huge Clothesline From Hell from Bradshaw. D-Von and Faarooq brawled in the corner, as did Bubba Ray and Jeff Hardy in the corner. On the outside, Bradshaw grabbed a ladder and simply threw it in the face of Matt Hardy, before sliding it into the ring and getting in himself. Bradshaw tried to set the ladder up, but he was stopped by Bubba Ray, who hit him with a shot from behind, then lifted him up and dropped him back first with a side slam onto the ladder. Jeff Hardy then came crashing down on top of Bradshaw with a running senton. D-Von and Faarooq continued to brawl, until Faarooq whipped him D-Von into the ropes, and D-Von came flying back into him with a clothesline. Bubba and D-Von were the only ones in the ring and started to set up the ladder, but they were stopped by Billy and Chuck, who pulled them off and finally got some offence in. The deceptively powerful "Chuckie" planted D-Von with a Spinebuster, as Bubba and Billy went after each other in the corner. On the outside, Matt Hardy was back up, as was Jeff Hardy, and they grabbed another ladder and drove it into the face of Bradshaw. Matt and Jeff got back into the ring, and both Hardy Boyz began to help Bubba and D-Von against Billy and Chuck. The champions were suddenly on the defensive, and Hardy came flying into Billy in the corner with the plancha. Billy fell down, and Chuck tried for a back suplex on Jeff, but Matt Hardy grabbed him from behind, span him around, and both him and his brother sent him Chuck into the corner and stomped away on him. Chuck stumbled forward, Matt connected with the side effect, and Hardy flew onto Bubba, Billy, Bradshaw and Faarooq on the outside with the slingshot arabian press. Matt Hardy then threw Chuck to the outside and started to climb the ladder himself until D-Von pulled him off and dropped him throat first across the top rope with the flapjack and then hitting him with the corkscrew back elbow. Matt Hardy fell down, but before D-Von could capitalise, Jeff Hardy came back in, ducked the attempted clothesline from D-Von, and connected with the Whisper In The Wind. Hardy got back up, but he was caught by Bubba Ray, who hit him with the Bubba Bomb. Bubba was then hit with the Dominator by Faarooq, who was hit with the Fame-Asser by Billy, who was hit by the clothesline from hell from Bradshaw, who was hit with a Superkick from Chuck, and everybody in the match was down. The first to get back up was Jeff Hardy, who was soon joined by Chuck. Chuck hit Hardy with shots to the head, and whipped him off into the ropes for something, but Hardy ducked, went behind, swept the leg, turned him over, and hit Chuck with a double leg drop to the groin. Jeff then started to set up the ladder, and Bradshaw started to climb up the other side. Hardy and Bradshaw brawled with each other on top of the ladder, and it appeared that Bradshaw was taking control, but Hardy managed to knock Bradshaw's head against the top of the ladder and hit him with a forearm shot to the head and knock him off. Hardy reached for the titles and got his hands on one, but the ladder was literally swept out from under him by D-Von. D-Von and Bubba backed into their respective corners, and ran into the center of the ring, with D-Von grabbing Hardy's legs and Bubba Ray pulling his head down for a devastating 3D, planting Jeff in the center of the ring. D-Von and Bubba Ray got back up, as did Billy and Faarooq. As D-Von and Bubba were battling with Billy and Faarooq, they were oblivious to the fact that Matt Hardy had grabbed a ladder and bought it into the match. Hardy grabbed the ladder and started to put it to work, sandwiching Faarooq and Bubba in the corner before whipping D-Von into it and connecting with a Stinger Splash. Billy went for the fameasser again, but Hardy avoided it and attempted to hit Billy with a DDT, but Billy moved this time and hit Hardy with the One And Only. On the outside, Bradshaw set up a table, and as Billy started to climb the ladder, Bradshaw got into the ring and grabbed him on his shoulders. With Billy on his shoulders, Bradshaw stood and called for Faarooq. Faarooq climbed up the ladder, and jumped into Billy, sending himself and Billy to the outside and through the table after a devastating Doomsday Device. As Bradshaw grabbed his breath and started to get up the ladder, Stacy Kiebler got up on the apron and distracted Bradshaw, calling him over and lifting up her shorts, but the rough Texan just slapped her across the butt, planted a kiss on her face, and pushed her off of the apron. Bradshaw then scaled the ladder, until Jeff Hardy again put his own big on the line, jumping from the top rope and dropkicking the ladder, sending it and Bradshaw into the corner. Hardy grabbed the ladder again and started to scale it, until he was joined by Chuck. Chuck nailed Hardy in the forehead with punches and tried to push him off, and Rico came in to try and give him the advantage by hitting Hardy with a chair, but before he could, Matt Hardy hit him with the Twist Of Fate to take him out of the fray. Chuck continued to brawl with Jeff Hardy atop of the ladder, but Jeff hit him with an elbow to the side of the head, and then grabbed him by the head and jumped off of the top of the ladder with the Twist Of Fate. As Hardy and Chuck lay there motionless, Matt Hardy was able to climb the ladder and grab the titles to give his team the victory.

Winners and new World Tag Team Champions: Matt and Jeff Hardy (11:09)

Chris Jericho is shown backstage, warming up in front of both of his titles.


Street Fight - Vince McMahon vs Ric Flair

McMahon was first to make his way to the ring. The crowd loudly booed him as he confidently strutted down the ramp, and, as The King put "looked jacked". McMahon stood in the ring, basking in the crowd's boos, as Flair's music hit, and he came out to cheers from the fans.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the legendary career of Ric Flair all comes down to not only this night, but to this match. His entire career rests on this match, folks. If Flair loses, he will be forced to leave the WWF forever."

Flair and McMahon stood in the ring, nose to nose, staring each other down, as the referee stood in the middle of them and rang the bell. Flair and McMahon stared at each other, and started to come to blows. Flair backed Vince into the corner, but McMahon rolled to the outside in retreat, soon being joined by Flair, who busted him wide open by bouncing his head off of the ring post. "We're barely two minutes into this match, and already, McMahon is donning the crimson mask!". Flair continued the onslaught, with forearms shots to McMahon's head, sending him back first into the steel steps, and knocking him senseless with a steel chair shot to the head. Ric was dominating Vince, and dropped him throat first across the barricade. Flair then hit McMahon in the chest with chops to the chest, as Flair started to get confident, McMahon hit him with a low blow, halting his momentum there and then. Flair dropped to his knees, and McMahon got back up and began his own offensive onslaught, raining down shots on Flair's head, and bouncing him face first off of the Spanish announce table, and then lifting him up onto the table. Vince continued to punch Flair in the face, and then lifted him up in position for something. Vince tried to fly him up, but Flair countered it with a back body drop through the other announce table, sending Vunce crashing through it and falling down himself. Ric slowly got up, and sent a limp McMahon crashing into the barricade spine first. After punching him a few more times, Flair sent McMahon back into the ring, and bought in some weapons, including a trash can, a kendo stick, two chairs, and a table. Flair got back in, saw McMahon was on his knees, put the trashcan over his head, and smacked the kendo stick against it. Flair then tried to hit McMahon over the head with the trashcan even more, but Vince was able to block it, get up, pull the trash can away, and use it to his advantage, striking Flair over the head with it. Ric fell to the floor, McMahon got up, and Vince could be heard yelling "Come on Flair, come on, do it for David!", mocking him and brushing his boot across Flair's face. McMahon then got down on his knees and slapped him around the face a number of times, and then bounced his off of the bottom turnbuckle, a chair, and the table. McMahon started to get arrogant, and continued to mock Flair. Vince pulled Flair up by the hair and slapped him again, but this time, Ric started to fight back, striking Vince, grabbing him in a headlock and hitting his signature strikes to the head. Flair set the table up, and continued to attack McMahon, kicking him in the gut and dropping him headfirst with a DDT on a chair. Flair slowly got back up, and lifted Vince back up to his feet, but McMahon pushed him away, and then used his ankle to trip Flair over and bounce his face off of the table. Flair fell down, and McMahon got back up. He continued to taunt him, again slapping Flair and brushing his boot across his face. Flair was in for a surprise, however, when he turned around, and Arn Anderson of all people got into the ring and planted McMahon with a vintage Double A Spinebuster through the table. Anderson rolled out of the ring, and Flair got back up after a while, ready to go on the offensive once again. Grabbing McMahon in the middle of the ring, and locking in the figure four leg lock. Vince flailed for a short while, but soon, he was fading away, and fell down to the mat, but had the wherewithal to kick out at two. Vince got to the bottom rope after a while, and Flair was forced to break the hold. As he walked over to McMahon, Vince hit him with another low blow, this time using his foot. Vince got back up, and use the chair to absolutely debilitate Flair, with vicious shots to the back, head, and gut, causing "The Nature Boy" to flop to the mat. Vince then flipped Flair the bird, grabbed the Kendo Stick, and continued to wail on Ric, striking him all over. Vince threw the kendo stick down, and could be heard yelling again. "Come on, Ric, you son of a bitch!". "The Genetic Jackhammer" then grabbed Flair's ankles and tried for a Figure Four of his own, but Ric pushed him away with his foot, got back up, and hit McMahon with a back suplex, followed by a high knee, a chair shot, and finally locking in the figure four to beat McMahon and retain his job.

Winner: Ric Flair (11:21)

"Well, coming up next, ladies and gentlemen, you're not gonna see a better match anywhere else on the planet. Two of the very best in the business today, Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit are about to go one on one in a rematch from last years Wrestlemania."


Chris Benoit vs Kurt Angle

Benoit first made his way to the ring, to cheers from his home countrymen.

"To Benoit, this isn't about just winning. This is about getting retribution for losing last year and proving once and for all that he is indeed the better man".

Angle then came out, and as usual, the fans loudly chanted "YOU SUCK!" to the tune of his theme song.

"Angle might not be popular, but you've gotta give him credit where credit is due. He has proven on more than one occasion, in my view at least, that he is the best technical wrestler in the planet right now".

Benoit and Angle circled the ring, and finally locked up after about 20 seconds of staring each other out. They each tried to overpower one another, but Angle switched into the side headlock. Benoit tried to send Kurt off of the ropes, but Angle wisely flipped Benoit over, whilst still in the headlock, and down onto the mat. As Angle wrenched on the headlock, Benoit used his legs to wrap them around Kurt's head and trap him with the leg scissor. Angle kipped up, and both men got up and stared each other out again. Benoit ran for Angle, but Kurt used Chris' own momentum against him, went behind into the waistlock, and flipped him over onto his gut on the mat. Kurt span around into the front facelock, and then slapped Benoit's head a few times for good measure, which only seemed to make the already intense Rabid Wolverine even angrier. Kurt this time went for the clothesline, but missed, and Benoit hit him with the first German Suplex of the match. Chris maintained his grip and hit Angle with another, and a third, and a fourth. Benoit released on the fourth, but went straight to the arm of Kurt, laid it out on the mat, and came crashing down on top of it with a series of knee drops. "Benoit is a master of psychology, which is just one of the things that makes him so dangerous in between those ropes". Benoit turned Angle over and held onto the arm, but also dug his knee into Kurt's spine and pulled Angle's arm in the opposite direction, towards him, which could easily have torn Angle's shoulder out of place. As he held the arm in position, Benoit struck Kurt in the arm with elbows to the bicep and then began brushing his boot across Kurt's head, punking him out. Angle started to get back to a vertical base, and pushed Benoit away. Chris came back towards him going for the belly to belly, but Kurt held onto Benoit, and flipped over to the mat, and then began to target the ankle. Kurt held it in place and twisted on it, obviously trying to wear it down for the Ankle Lock. "If there is one man as good at targeting a body part and weakening it as Chris Benoit, it is without a doubt Kurt Angle". Angle continued to transition into different lower leg holds on Benoit, clearly wearing him down. Benoit finally rolled through and back to his feet after an attempt at the ankle lock early from Angle, and got back to his feet. Angle ran towards Benoit, but Chris caught him with the drop toe hold and jumped forward into the Crippler Crossface, but Angle had it scouted and rolled under the bottom rope and to the outside before Benoit could capitalise. As Angle regained his composure on the outside, Benoit ran through the ropes and came crashing into him with a suicide dive. Benoit picked Angle up again, and tried to whip him into the barricade, but Kurt turned it around and it was Benoit who got sent into the security wall. As Benoit leaned against it, Angle walked towards him and lit his chest up with a series of chops before rolling him back into the ring. Kurt went back to the leg, dropping his knee against the shin and twisting it in uncomfortable to look at ways. With Benoit in the center of the ring, Angle tried for the figure four, but Chris used his leg to boot Angle away, and when he bounced off of the ropes, Benoit grabbed him by the waist and threw him overhead with another German. Benoit tried for another, but this time, Angle span around and threw Benoit with a German of his own. Angle tried for another, but Benoit went behind and suplexed him. Benoit maintained his grip and went for the third German, but Angle turned around and hit Benoit with the release German. Both men used the ropes to get back up to their feet, and met in the center of the ring. Angle went for a shot to the face, but Benoit used Kurt's arm against him, took him down to the mat and locked in the armbar. Benoit had Kurt caught in the center of the ring with nowhere to go, and no matter how hard Angle tried to get to the bottom rope, Benoit was simply too strong and kept him where he was. After a little while of having him trapped in the hold, Benoit bent Angle's arm backwards so his hand was on the mat, and then stomped the top of his elbow. Benoit continued his assault on Kurt's arm, until the referee forced him to break after wrapping his elbow around the bottom rope. That momentary rest was just enough for Angle, as he was able to trip Benoit, forcing his head into the turnbuckle, and then going behind with a German Suplex, followed by another, and another, and another, and another. After 7 Germans, Angle released. With Chris down, Kurt grabbed the leg, and bought his entire body weight down on the ankle and shin with a splash, followed by an elbow, and numerous stomps. As Benoit slumped against the bottom rope, holding his ankle in agony, Angle started to taunt him, adding insult to injury. Kurt lifted Benoit up by the hair and started to taunt him, slapping him around the face and yelling at him. As Kurt continued to get more and more arrogant, Benoit grabbed him and threw him over his head and into the turnbuckles with a belly to belly, causing Kurt to land right on his surgically repaired neck. Benoit was the first of the two men to make it back to his feet, and walked over to a limp Kurt Angle in the corner, lifting him up to his feet and connecting with clubbing shots to the back, and throwing Angle back to the mat. Benoit then locked in a Cross-Arm Breaker in the center of the ring, applying further pressure to Angle's already weakened arm and shoulder. Chris managed to hold Angle in the ring for quite a long time until he finally started to get back up. Angle showed tremendous strength as he stood up, with Benoit hanging on his arm, and dropped him on his back with three fierce powerbombs. With Benoit down, Angle got back up, and started to stomp on Chris' ankle once again, dragged him into the middle of the ring, and locked in the Ankle Lock. Benoit had nowhere to go, especially after Kurt grapevined him. As Benoit struggled, Kurt was not relenting at all, and twisted Benoit's ankle to sickening extremes. Chris scratched and clawed, and after being in the Ankle Lock for a long time, made it to the bottom rope. Even after he was forced to release, Kurt continued the assault on Benoit's ankle, stomping on it and wrapping it around the bottom rope to further apply pressure. Kurt lifted Benoit up, started to slap him again, and went for a shot to the face, but Benoit used his momentum against him to bring him to the mat and lock in the Crippler Crossface. Almost seconds later, the roles were reversed, and Benoit had Angle trapped in the middle of the ring. Angle flailed around to try and make it to the rope, but the strength of Chris Benoit looked like it was too much, and Kurt was beginning to fade away. After a considerable amount of time in the Crossface, Angle finally got his hand on the bottom rope. With both men drained, they slowly got back up. Angle looked to be completely out on his feet, and Benoit looked to take advantage of that and went for a shot to to the head, but Angle was playing possum, went behind and hit him with the Angle Slam. It took him a while, but Kurt finally crawled to the cover, however, only getting two as Benoit managed to get the shoulder up. Angle seemed to get frustrated at this, got up, and started relentlessly stomping away at Benoit's ankle. As Chris screamed in agony, Kurt tried to lock in the Ankle Lock, but Benoit rolled through, sent Angle head first into the bottom turnbuckle, and when he turned around, Benoit locked him in the Crippler Crossface once again, but this time, Angle got his foot on the bottom rope not long after Benoit trapped him in it. Benoit was forced to break the hold, and got up to complain to the referee, but that was valuable time wasted, as Angle would pull Benoit down into the schoolboy and steal the win, echoing last year's Wrestlemania, with a handful of tights and his feet on the bottom rope.

Winner: Kurt Angle (15:37)

As a dejected Benoit looked on, Angle scurried up the ramp and celebrated his victory. "That was an incredible match until Angle realised that he doesn't have what it takes to beat Benoit cleanly and cheated to win", remarked JR.

Vince McMahon and Ric Flair were shown preparing for their match later in the evening in a split screen.

We were treated to a performance of "Tear Away", one of the official Wrestlemania X8 theme songs, by platinum selling band, Drowning Pool.


Last Man Standing - Stone Cold Steve Austin vs The Undertaker

Austin first made his way to the ring to the usual loud, raucous reaction from the crowd. All business, he got into the ring.

The Undertaker was next to come to the ring, riding a new motorcycle after Austin destroyed his other one. "9 men have stepped up, and 9 men have fallen down, at the hands of this man. Big Evil. Booger Red. The Deadman. The American Badass. The Undertaker. Tonight, he looks to add Stone Cold Steve Austin to his Wrestlemania graveyard, but Austin's not going to go down without a fight. Can Austin be the man to finally beat The Undertaker at a Wrestlemania?".

Both men got in each other's faces in the middle of the ring. The atmosphere could've been cut with a knife. The bell rang, and Austin and Undertaker came after each other, with clubbing blows to the sides of each other's heads. Austin gained control, backing away and jumping on top of 'Taker with a Thesz Press and continuing to rain down the shots. Taker fell back into the corner, allowing Austin to start stomping a mud hole on him and walk it dry. The Undertaker was firmly on the defensive early on, as Austin continued to bring the fight to "The Deadman". Undertaker was back up, and Austin continued to punch Taker in the head, until the 12 year veteran connected with a knee to the gut and a clubbing blow to the back, followed by a stiff uppercut, sending Stone Cold down. Undertaker used the short amount of time he had to get his breath back, and then set Austin up in the corner, come in with the flurry of strikes, and finally hit Old School, and just like that, the match was in The Undertaker's favour. As Austin rolled to the outside, Undertaker joined him, bouncing his head off of the barricade and then smashing him over the skull with the steel steps. Undertaker threw the steps into the ring, then grabbed Austin and sent him crashing into the security wall. Undertaker charged towards Stone Cold, but Austin moved at the last second, and Undertaker was sent crashing through the wall and into the timekeepers area. As Undertaker stumbled to his feet, Austin grabbed the bell and clocked Undertaker over the head with it, causing him to slump over the Spanish announce table. Austin then continued to strike him, and sent 'Taker back first into the steel steps. Undertaker continued to stumble around the ringside area, and until Austin once again jumped on him with the Thesz Press and connected with the repeated punches to the head. Stone Cold got back up, and sent his 7'0 tall adversary under the bottom rope. Undertaker got on his knees, and Austin continued to stomp away at his midsection. With Undertaker on the defensive, Austin lifted him back up to his feet and pushed him into the ropes, but Undertaker came back at him with a big boot, knocking "Stone Cold" down. Undertaker then wasted no time in again going after Austin, lifting him up, sending him into the corner and connecting with elbows to the side of the head, then lifting him up over his shoulder, and hitting Austin with Snake Eyes. As Stone Cold used the ropes to get back up to his feet, Undertaker grabbed a number of weapons from under the ring and threw them in. Undertaker climbed back through the ropes, grabbed a chair, and struck Austin over the back with it. Stone Cold fell into the corner, and Undertaker began throwing soup bones, followed by a stiff throat thrust and a knee to the midsection. Austin fell down, and Undertaker again hit him over the back with a chair shot. "Austin can't let The Undertaker do what he's doing - wrestling this match at his own slow, methodical pace". Undertaker lifted Austin back up to his feet, and connected with more shots to the face and body, causing the now bloody "Stone Cold" to just fall through the middle ropes and to the outside from fatigue. Undertaker joined him on the outside, and set up the other announce table, removing the monitors. Stone Cold threw Austin on top of it, and climbed up himself. Undertaker lifted Austin up and attempted the chokeslam, but Austin fought back, connecting with elbows to the side of the head, pushing Undertaker off of the table and jumping on top of him with punches. Austin then got up, positioned Undertaker against the barricade, chopped him a number of times, punched him a number of times, and flipped him the bird before hitting him with another shot to the head. Undertaker stood slumped against the barricade and then fell forward straight into a stunner from Austin. Stone Cold backed away, and the referee started to count, but Undertaker barely got back up at 8. Austin then dragged Undertaker to the ramp, and bounced his head off of the Undertaker's own bike, before kicking it over, showing zero respect towards The Deadman, and splitting his head open. Undertaker got back up slowly, and blocked an attempted shot by Austin with one of his own, but Austin retaliated with shots of his own, and both men were exchanging punches on the outside, all around the ringside area, and Undertaker got the advantage, hitting Austin with three powerful shots and then bouncing his head off of the other set of steel steps. Undertaker ripped him off, positioned him on the ring apron, and hit Stone Cold with the guillotine leg drop. Undertaker made it clear that he wasn't endearing himself to the fans, with a very profound gesture, symbolising "up your's". The Deadman got back in the ring, and continued to bring the fight to Stone Cold. Austin, on the ropes, was the victim of a chair to the head, punches to the body, and finally a chokeslam, as Undertaker backed away and allowed the referee to begin his count, but Austin got up at 9. Undertaker tried to go after Austin again, but Stone Cold managed to get Undertaker in the drop-toe-hold into the middle rope, and then clobber him across the back with another chair shot, followed by the Outlaw Attack, followed by a short arm clothesline from Austin. Undertaker got back up at 6, leaving Austin frustrated. Stone Cold walked towards Undertaker, but 'Taker's veteran instincts kicked in, and he was able to poke Austin in the eye, push him into the corner, and come flying in with a stinger splash, and a clothesline, before throwing Austin to the outside again, but this time, Undertaker showed incredible agility, flying over the top rope and putting his body on the line with a Topé onto Stone Cold, taking down both men, but Undertaker got up first, and, strangely, bought Austin back to his feet and dragged him back over to the announce table. While Undertaker was dragging him over, however, Austin recovered and hit Undertaker with a sharp elbow and a forearm shot to the face. Undertaker rolled onto the announce table, as did Austin, and Stone Cold lifted 'Taker up, but before he could hit him with a stunner, Undertaker grabbed him by the throat, and put himself and Austin straight through the announce table. As both men lay motionless on the mat, the referee counted them all the way to 9 before they both got back up and rolled into the ring. Undertaker stomped Austin in the head, as "The Bionic Redneck" used the ropes to get back up. Undertaker walked towards him, but Stone Cold connected with a Stunner. Austin took a long time to get back up, but he did, as did Undertaker, however, much later than Austin. Stone Cold punched Undertaker in the face even more, whipped him into the ropes, clotheslined him, hit his signature elbow drop, and when Undertaker got back up, went for a Stunner, but seemingly out of nowhere, The Deadman had recovered, and planted Austin on his head with a tombstone. Undertaker used the ropes to keep himself off, but lifted Austin up again, and dropped him with not one, but two tombstone piledrivers, leaving Austin down for the ten count, and giving Undertaker his tenth consecutive victory at Wrestlemania.

Winner: The Undertaker (17:38)

A promo for the main event was shown.


WWF Undisputed Championship - Chris Jericho vs The Rock vs Triple H

The Rock was first to make his way to the ring, to cheers from the fans in Toronto. He was followed by the ever popular "Game", Triple H, and finally, the Champion, Chris Jericho came out to the ring, decked out in a Canadian flag jacket.

"Look at Jericho, pandering to these fans like that".

All three men were very cagey as the match began, but Jericho soon realised what The Rock and Triple H's plan was. Y2J begged for forgiveness, but it did nothing, as Triple H and The Rock would toss him around like a rag doll, leaving themselves to duke it out. With Jericho on the outside, The Rock and Triple H locked up. There was a power struggle from the outset, with neither man wanting to let the other get the upper hand, but The Game backed Rocky into the ropes until he was forced to break at the referee's count of four. Triple H released, and himself and The Rock began circling each other again. Triple H teased for the double leg, but The Rock moved. Rock and Triple H locked in the collar and elbow tie up again, but this time, The Rock backed Triple H into the corner, until, he too was forced to break at the referee's count of four. The Rock released, and then hit The Game with a knife edge chop, but Triple H retaliated with a chop of his own. Rock and Triple H locked up for a third time, and The Rock transitioned into a side headlock. Triple H then went into the waistlock, but The Rock grabbed him by the arm and twisted on it, until Triple H reversed it and did the same to The Rock. Rocky then went back to the side headlock, but was sent into the ropes by Triple H. The Rock went for the shoulder tackle, but Triple H didn't move. The Game then backed into the ropes and went for the shoulder tackle, but this time, The Rock didn't move. The Rock backed into the ropes again, but this time, Triple H was one step ahead and took him down with a clothesline. Triple H went for the cover, but The Rock kicked out. Triple H got up and backed off into the ropes, but his legs were swept out by Jericho, and he was then dragged under the bottom rope, punched in the face and whipped into the steel steps by the Undisputed Champion. Jericho then got back into the ring, ducked an attempted clothesline by The Rock, and then came flying off of the middle rope with a back elbow, taking Rock down. Jericho went for the cover, but Rock kicked out, and Jericho then trapped him in the rear chinlock. Rock got to his feet and connected with an elbow to the gut of Jericho to break himself free. Y2J tried to sweep the leg, but The Rock stayed on his feet and stomped Jericho on the hand. Y2J got back up and went for a shot to the head, but Rock ducked it and lifted Jericho up and over with the back suplex followed by the pinfall, but Triple H got in to break it up. The Game whipped Rocky into the corner and attempted for the clothesline, but The Rock moved out of the way and Triple H went shoulder first into the ring post. Jericho then connected with a dropkick to The Rock as he turned around, grabbed Triple H by the waist and threw him overhead with a bridging German Suplex, but The Rock just barely broke up the pinfall. Jericho got back up to his feet, but The Rock was there to connect with shots to the head. Rock ran back into the ropes and came towards Jericho, but Y2J was able to flip him over the top rope and to the outside. Rock landed on his feet, however, and Jericho saw it and went for a suicide dive, but The Rock moved, and Jericho saw that, and slid under the bottom rope instead. Jericho attempted another shot to the head, but The Rock ducked it, hit Jericho with the double leg, and sent him head first into the ring post with the slingshot. Rock got back into the ring and ran after Triple H, but The Game was there to take Rock down with a sharp elbow to the head and go for the cover, but The Rock was able to kick out. Triple H bought Rocky back up to his feet and went for the short arm clothesline, but The Rock ducked, pushed Jericho into the turnbuckles, and came flying into him with a Stinger Splash. On the outside, however, Jericho had grabbed both of his championship belts and was leaving, unbeknownst to The Rock, Triple H, and the referee. The challengers did notice Jericho leaving up the ramp after a while, and chased after him down the ramp. They both caught up with him, and all three men began brawling on the ramp. Jericho was knocked down by The Rock and Triple H, and both challengers then went after each other. The Rock gained the upper hand, stepped back, and ran towards Triple H, but The Game was one step ahead and sent him over the top with a huge back body drop on the ramp. As Triple H had his hands on his knees, trying to get his breath back, Jericho ran at him and knocked him down with a clothesline, taking him down on the ramp. Y2J then lifted Triple H up and bought him back into the ring. Jericho seemed to be more aggressive by now, and began viciously stomping away at Triple H, who was slumped over in the corner. Triple H slowly got back up with assistance from the ropes, and Jericho then kicked him in the thigh, punched him in the thigh, hit him with a low dropkick, and took him down with a chop block, now focusing his attack on the previously severely injured quadriceps muscle. Triple H held his leg in pain, as Jericho carried on stomping at the leg and trying to cause as much damage to it as possible. Triple H held on to his leg as he got up, and Jericho ran towards him, but this time, Triple H ducked, and connected with a high knee using his good leg. Both men were down on the mat, as Triple H tried to use as much time as possible to rest his leg and regain some energy. After a while, The Game got back up and walked towards Jericho, but Jericho was wise enough to boot Triple H in the leg as he walked towards him. As The Game favoured his leg, Triple H swept it out, got to his feet, and cockily pinned Triple H, placing just his foot on his chest and flexing his arms, but Triple H kicked out of it. Jericho ran into the ropes and was seemingly going for the Lionsault, but The Rock came back into the match and flying into Jericho with a clothesline. Jericho went down, and The Rock nipped back up to his feet, and called for Jericho to get up too. Y2J got up, and The Rock took him down with a series of clotheslines, an elbow, and finally, a Spinebuster. The Rock then stood in the center of the ring, above a limp Jericho, and removed his elbow pad, signalling for "The Most Electrifying Move In Sport's Entertainment Today", the People's Elbow, but as The Rock ran off of the ropes, Triple H caught him with a face buster, sending The Rock back, and then taking him down with a Spinebuster of his own. Triple H, now tapping into a second wind, got up and called for someone else to get up. Jericho answered the call, and slowly got to his feet. The Game kicked him in the gut and got him in position for the Pedigree, but before he could connect, The Rock grabbed him from by the hair, pushed him off and connected with the Samoan Drop. With Jericho and Triple H down, The Rock locked in the Sharpshooter on Triple H, doing further damage to his injured leg. As The Rock held the hold in for longer and longer, Triple H was visibly fading and appeared to be on the verge of tapping out, but in came Jericho with the WWF Championship, blasting The Rock in the face with it and forcing the hold to be broken. The Rock fell the the mat, and this prompted Jericho to go for the Lionsault, and he connected. This seemed to awaken The Rock however, as he moved into the corner and used the ropes to get up. Jericho walked over to The Rock, but Rock had him scouted and grabbed him for the Rock Bottom, but Jericho countered and hit the Rock Bottom himself. Jericho covered him, but this time, Triple H barely broke the pin before 3. Jericho rolled over and sat up, holding his hands on his head, wondering what he had to do to win. It was then that he eyed Triple H, getting up, but still holding his leg. Jericho ran towards him and tried to attack it, but Triple H moved, turned Jericho around campus and hit the Pedigree. Triple H slowly crawled to the cover, but Jericho got his foot on the bottom rope. All three men were then laying flat on the mat, broken, bruised, and battered. The Rock and Triple H first got up, and began exchanging shots in the middle of the ring. Surprisingly, The Rock was unflavoured in the exchange, being booed every time he got a shot in. The Game took control of The Rock in the exchange, getting him on the ropes after hitting him with a series of strikes. Triple H stopped for a second, but that second was all it took for The Rock to grab him and plant him with The Rock bottom. As The Rock crawled to cover The Game, Jericho grabbed him by the ankles, and trapped him in the Walls Of Jericho. The Rock was trapped in the center of the ring, screaming in agony with nowhere to go. As The Rock faded and faded, Triple H got back up and connected with a shot to the back of Jericho's head, sending him out of the ring. As Triple H stood up, StephanieMcMahon came running down the ramp, and got into the ring with a chair. "Now, would you please tell me what that Jezebel, Stephanie McMahon is doing in the ring?", exclaimed JR. Steph held the chair and hit Triple H in the back with it, but The Game brushed it off, turned around, grabbed Stephanie by the hair and dropped her with a Pedigree in the middle of the ring. Triple H stood up and celebrated, but turned into The Rock, who grabbed him and planted for another Rock Bottom. The Rock couldn't make the cover in time, however, and Triple H just kicked out. The Rock made his way back to his feet, and set Triple H up for The People's Elbow, but again, he was unable to hit it, as Triple H caught him in a Spinebuster before he could connect. The Rock rolled to the outside, and Triple H used the ropes to keep himself stable. Triple H turned around, and saw Jericho, again in the ring, this time with both Championships, but The Game ducked the attempted shot by Jericho, kicked him in the gut, and connected with the Pedigree to get the win and become the new WWF Undisputed Champion.

Winner and new WWF Undisputed Champion: Triple H (22:45)

"THE GAME! THE GAME! THE GAME! THE GAME! Almost a year of torment, suffering, and personal anguish, have all culminated in this, for that man, Triple H. The man thought his career was over. The man thought he was never going to wrestle again, but Triple H fought his way back, he went through months of gruelling rehabilitation, and he is once again at the top of the mountain as your new WWF Undisputed Champion.", said JR, as the sight of Triple H holding both Championships on the stage closed out Wrestlemania. "We thank your for joining us here on this historic night, goodnight everybody, and me and The King will see you tomorrow night on Raw, for the first ever WWF Draft!"



© 2002, World Wrestling Federation

[King Of Spice]

March 18th, 2002 | Molson Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

"Hello, everybody, and we welcome you to WWF RAW! Live from the Molson Centre in Quebec, and after a historic Wrestlemania last night, we're going to make history once again, with the first ever WWF Draft!"

"WOOO!" could be heard around the arena, as none other than "The Nature Boy", Ric Flair, walked out on stage, looking very proud after regaining his position as Raw General Manager the night before.

"WOO! Montreal, tonight, you are going to witness the first ever WWF Draft, and this means that the WWF Roster is going to be split into two halves for the first time ever, and yours truly, "The Nature Boy", had got the first pick, and let me tell you, I made sure to pick the very best I could, so that we have only the very best, right here on Raw".

A camera backstage showed the entire WWF Roster in a room, all sat on chairs and watching a television, awaiting their fate.

"I pick.. Stone Cold Steve Austin!"

The camera backstage showed Stone Cold watching the TV, getting up, and walking through the doors of the room, he then appeared on the stage, and joined Ric Flair.

"Well it looks like Ol' Stone Cold is gonna be stunning sons of bitches exclusive on Raw from now on, but that's alright, because I guarantee ya, I am going to raise more hell than I ever have before. Oh hell yeah!"

- Commercial Break -

Flair was still at the podium as went returned from commercial break.

"Seeing as I said earlier that I will only be having the very best that the WWF has to offer on Raw, I see no better choice for my second draft pick than the new Undisputed Champion, Triple H!"

A camera showed The Game backstage, nodding his head.

Big Show vs Raven
Big Show wins after a chokeslam (1:47)

Vince McMahon then came out on the stage, and stood at the podium.

"You see, I'm a man who believes in "fairness", and, it certainly would not be "fair" if only one brand had a World Champion, so, in the interest of fairness, Triple H, could you please come out here."

A camera showed The Game leaving the room and walking to the stage.

"Triple H, first of all, congratulations on a hard fought victory last night. You truly deserve to call yourself the Undisputed Champion. Second of all, however, I am stripping you of the WWF Championship."

McMahon ripped the belt off of Triple H's shoulder.

"Ladies and gentlemen.. This, is the WWF Championship. A Championship exclusive to Smackdown. And at Backlash, this Championship is going to be decided when SmackDown's first two draft picks, The Rock and The Undertaker, go one on one!"

The camera showed The Rock and The Undertaker standing up and staring each other down in the room, with other superstars in front of them to make sure they stayed calm.

Kurt Angle came down to the ring with a microphone.

"Last night at Wrestlemania, I did exactly what I said was going to do. I beat Chris Benoit for the second year in a row, and truly proved that I am the greatest WWF Superstar of all time. There is not a single person in that locker room that is better than me."

To the shock and loud cheers of everybody in the Molson Centre, Mr. Perfect's theme played and he got into a WWF ring for the first time in years.

"Kurt, you say that you're better than everyone else, but are you better than ..perfect?"

"Just who the hell do you think you are, coming down here and trying to steal my spotlight? You're god damn right I'm better than perfect."

"Then prove it, Kurt. Let's give these fans a dream match at Backlash. Kurt Angle. Mr. Perfect. One on one."

"You want me at Backlash? You got it!"

Angle dropped his mic, but suddenly, Perfect had grabbed him and thrown him overhead with the Perfect-Plex. The fans in Quebec continued to cheer for Perfect as we cut to a commercial break.

- Commercial Break -

Christian and Lance Storm vs Perry Saturn and Hardcore Holly
Christian and Lance Storm win after the unprettier from Christian (2:32)

Ric Flair returned on stage and announced his next two draft picks for Raw - Kane and Maven.

Kane vs Steven Richards
Kane wins after a Chokeslam (1:49)

Vince McMahon returned on stage and announced his next four draft picks - William Regal, Lance Storm, Christian and Test.

Ric Flair returned on stage and announced his next two draft picks - Chris Jericho and Booker T.

Chris Jericho came down the ramp with a microphone.

"Last night.. last night, a crime was committed in Toronto. Last night, I was robbed of my Championship. Last night, Triple H robbed me of what is rightfully mine! I should be the Undisputed Champion. Triple H doesn't deserve to hold that belt. Oh, boo-hoo, he went through months of pain, suffering, and rehab to get back here and climb the mountain. Wah. I couldn't care less. Because the fact of the matter is, Triple H, you're not as good as me. And I know it, but most importantly, you know it. You know that deep down, you will never, ever be the performer I am. I'm better than you in every aspect. Talking, wrestling, submissions, charisma, everything."

Jericho was interrupted by Triple H himself.

"Chris, you talk a big game, but, the real fact of the matter is, you just can't back it up. Last night, I showed everybody the real Chris Jericho, and exposed you for the real B+ player you are. Jericho, you're nothing but a phony. A little dog, in a big yard. And in this yard, one dog reigns supreme, and his name is Triple H."

"You wanna call me a phony? You wanna say that I can't back it up? We'll find out exactly who can back it up, "Hunter", when I invoke my rematch clause at Backlash, and we truly see who is better between us."

"Chris, I'll be happy to kick your ass again. But just know - me, and everybody else already knows who is better between me and you."

Jericho and The Game stood nose to nose in the ring, with Triple H holding the World Heavyweight Championship above his head.

- Commercial Break -

Test vs Rikishi
Test wins after a Pump-Handle Slam (3:11)

Mr McMahon and Ric Flair came out to announce their final two draft picks - McMahon choosing Kurt Angle and Edge and Flair choosing Rob Van Dam and Maven. We were then informed that our main event would be a match between Van Dam and Angle.

Intercontinental Champion Rob Van Dam vs Kurt Angle
Van Dam wins after a 5 Star Frog Splash (8:57)

As Van Dam celebrated in the ring after the match, a huge, hulking man in black tights with a large tattoo on his back jumped the barricade, got into the ring, grabbed Van Dam, put him on his shoulders and planted him in the middle of the ring with some type of move. As the giant stood up, Paul Heyman climbed over the barricade and grabbed a microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen.. BRRRRROOOOOCCCCKKKKKKK! LLLLEEEESSSSSNNNNAAAAARRRRR!"


© 2002, World Wrestling Federation.