| Raw kicked off with Kane battling the Big Show. Big Show countered Kane's Top Rope Clothesline into a Chokeslam, but the Big Red Machine kicked out and hit his own Chokeslam to beat the Big Show 1-2-3. The APA told Ric Flair that the nWo was no good. Goldust also had another "Shattered Dreams" production. Y2J said that he was going to grant Maven a title shot because he was sick of hearing people complain because Maven was never officially eliminated. Y2J was looking forward to No Way Out, where he will either face Kurt Angle or Stone Cold. William Regal was being searched before his IC Title defense when Rob Van Dam jumped him to start the match. Regal hit a low blow in front of the ref and got DQ'd, but was saved from RVD by the Dudleyz. Edge came to help RVD, but was taken out with Regal's brass knuckles and RVD received a 3D from the Dudleyz. Flair told Stephanie that he hadn't gotten hang of when to bow to the Princess, but said that Vince, not Flair, booked Triple H against the Bookerman tonight. The Godfather and DDP teamed up against Christian and Lance Storm, and Page won it with a Diamond Cutter to Storm. After Vince arrived in his limo, Flair came to the ring and showed a clip of some great WWF moments, and then told Vince to come out so they could talk about the nWo. Flair said that if Vince wanted to beat him up, fine, but just don't hurt the company. Vince said all he wanted was for Flair to sell his stock to Vince so Vince would again have 100% ownership of the WWF. Vince said that if Flair didn't sell the stock back, Vince would see him in Hell because Vince would be the last one standing in the killing fields of the nWo. Maven received a chance to shock the world a second time in his match against Y2J. Early on, Jericho exposed a turnbuckle, but Maven catapulted Jericho right into it. Jericho kicked out of 2 rollups by Maven and locked in the Walls of Jericho; Maven got to the ropes once, but tapped out when Y2J pulled him back to the middle of the ring. The Undertaker came down and started assaulting Maven while Y2J gleefully commented from the announcer's table. Backstage, the Coach tried to interview a very annoyed Undertaker, who promised to make the Rock pay for his comments while also making Maven pay until the Undertaker decides that Maven has paid enough. Stephanie tried to convince HHH how dangerous Booker T was, but HHH said that he was unstoppable, and could do just fine by himself. The APA and Trish faced off against Jazz, Billy and Chuck. Chuck powerbombed Trish for the 1-2-3. Kurt Angle told Michael Cole that he was going to win by one of two ways: 1- Stone Cold gets himself DQ'd or 2- Austin taps to the Ankle Lock. Booker T faced off against Triple H, and there was an even battle until Triple H got a Diving Reverse DDT on the outside by Christian with Booker distracting the ref. Triple H then had to save Stephanie, who had run down to get Christian off of the apron, but wound up being hit from behind, collided with Steph and then got rolled up by Booker to end the match. HHH blew off Stephanie the way up the ramp, and handed her her suitcase at the door to the locker room. Stone Cold met with Kurt Angle to determine the #1 Contender for No Way Out, and Angle started in control despite being taunted by the crowd. Austin hit a Spinebuster, but Angle hit a series of German suplexes. Kurt Angle hit a low blow on Austin and grabbed a chair. Austin got the chair and prepared to hit Angle, but stopped so he wouldn't get DQ'd. After the ref got knocked down, Angle hit 7 or 8 chairshots on the Rattlesnake, but only got a two count. Angle locked in the Ankle Lock, but Austin got to the ropes twice. Austin then received an Angle Slam, and Kurt started celebrating because he didn't see Austin's foot on the ropes. Angle turned around and walked into a Stunner that gave Austin the #1 Contendership position against the Undisputed Champion at No Way Out. The current champ, Y2J, rushed out to attack a limping Austin, but got a Stunner of his own from the Rattlesnake. |
| Smackdown! kicked off with Tazz battling Chris Jericho in a non title match with special guest ref Jackie. Tazz hit a couple of suplexes and locked in the Tazzmission, but Jericho hit a low blow and then the BREAKDOWN (Sarcasm) to win the match. Jackie got in Jericho's face, and he put her in the Walls of Jericho. Ric Flair headed for the ring. The APA was busy playing cards before LL Cool J and Chris Klein, stars of the new movie Rollerball, showed up. They completely stopped playing when Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, another star in the movie, came in. A very emotional Ric Flair came down to the ring; there were tears in his eyes as he stepped to the microphone. Flair said he had made a decision for the fans and the superstars; he had come to say good-bye. He thanked the fans, but said that he would never get in the ring again and hoped his family was proud of him, and went out with the crowd chanting "We want Flair!" European Champion Christian put his title on the line against Diamond Dallas Page, but DDP shocked him by hitting a Diamond Cutter to win the match. DDP walked out through the crowd as Christian lay in the ring with disbelief. A joyous Vince McMahon was informed by the Coach that Flair had agreed to sell his stock, and Vince decided that Flair would sign the papers in the ring, and walked off to his dressing room with his three lawers right behind him. Goldust said that the whole world would find out who he has been talking about. JR and Stephanie had sat down for an interview, and JR told Steph that some people believed she had been in a downslide ever since the Alliance lost. Stephanie said she had accomplished a lot, but would be a success right now if she hadn't listened to Shane. JR then moved on to what happened on Raw between Steph and her husband HHH. Steph said that he was very emotional and she forgave him for it. JR then asked whether she had cheated on HHH or if he had on her, and she forcefully denied it. She said that she would show the world how strong their marriage was. Booker T interrupted the APA party, and asked LL Cool J why he (Booker) wasn't the star, and he responded that there wasn't a scene where the main character got beaten up in a grocery store. A furious Booker challenged the APA to a tag match later that night. Ric said good-bye to Earl Hebner. The Dudley Boyz faced off against Edge and Rob Van Dam with William Regal helping with the announcing. After recovering his brass knuckles from Stacy, he watched RVD hit a Five Star Frog Splash on D-Von, Buh Buh powerbomb RVD, and Edge spear Buh Buh before trying to take out Edge with the knuckles, but missed and Edge hit the Edgecution on Buh Buh to end it. Test volunteered to be Booker's partner so he could impress Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. When Lillian Garcia asked Kurt Angle how he felt about losing a shot at the Undisputed Title, Kurt interrupted her by saying that he isn't a loser. He said that he had beaten HHH but HHH hit him from behind, and that he would get some revenge by going Olympic on HHH tonight. Ric Flair said good-bye to the Rock, and the Rock thanked the Nature Boy for all the memories. The APA plus the Rollerball stars faced off against Booker T and Test. Faarooq was double teamed, but Test's Big Boot hit Booker, and Bradshaw Clotheslined Test to Hell to end it. McMahon's lawyers told him it was a good contract. Kurt Angle and the Undertaker teamed up to face HHH and the Rock. Kurt hit HHH from behind to start the match and started hitting German Suplexes on the Game. The Rock and Undertaker brawled, but the Undertaker hit HHH with a chair to end the match in DQ. The Rock then Rock Bottomed the Undertaker through the announce table, but Kurt put HHH in the Ankle Lock for almost a minute. Arn Anderson tried to convince Flair to reconsider, but Flair slowly continued to the ring. An ecstatic Vince headed out to the ring with his lawyers behind him. Vince said that he hadn't wanted to do this in public to humiliate Flair, but to show the fans that Flair didn't care about them as much as he, Vince, did. According to McMahon, people like Flair always lost to people like Vince in real life. Vince said it was a "damn shame" that the nWo (who had signed conditional contracts) wouldn't come into the Federation because of a clause Flair had added, but was happy that Flair would be gone. Next, McMahon introduced Flair, who had come to "sign his life away." Flair and his lawyer came to the ring, but Vince stopped it and told Flair that it was sad for Flair's last "WOOO" to be heard in Norfolk, Virginia. Flair and Vince sat down, but Flair stood up. Vince told Flair that he should listen to his conscience and not the fans because only his conscience knew what was right for the entire World Wrestling Federation. Flair sat down and signed his first name, but stopped when he heard the Glass Breaking of the Texas Rattlesnake! Stone Cold came down and ripped the mic out of Vince's hands. Austin got a "Hell Yeah!" for the idea of Flair ripping up the contract and telling Vince and the nWo to got to Hell, but Vince attacked Flair but got knocked down by a right from Flair. McMahon walked into a Stunner and Flair ripped up the contract as the crowd went crazy, bananas, and wild all at once. Flair and Austin shared a beer as Smackdown! went off the air. |
| January 28, 2002 |
| January 31, 2002 |
| Left: Austin struggles in the Ankle Lock; Middle- Rock Bottom through the table to the Undertaker; Right: Ric Flair rips up the contract over Vince McMahon after a Stone Cold Stunner by Austin |
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