WWE RAW 5/20/02
1. Matt & Jeff Hardy vs X-Pac & Big Show (w/Booker T)
X-Pac armdragged Jeff at the start. Jeff grabbed a headlock and
they did a criss cross. Jeff gave X-Pac a tilt-a-whirl headscissors. The
Hardys elbowed X-Pac, then gave him a flip splash/elbow combo after which
Matt gained a near fall. X-Pac fought back with a couple shots but Matt
clotheslined him. Matt punched X-Pac but Booker grabbed his leg and Show
clotheslined him from the apron. X-Pac gave Matt a kneedrop and tagged
Show. Show actually gave Matt a powerslam with decent speed. Show whipped
Matt hard into opposite corners and gave him a couple brutal chops. Show
knocked Jeff off the apron and hiptossed Matt. X-Pac gave Matt his usual
kicks in the corner followed by his bronco buster. In a new twist, X-Pac
punched Matt as he rode him. X-Pac stood on the middle rope but Matt
caught him off guard and powerbombed him to the mat. Jeff dropkicked X-Pac
and X-Pac missed a dropkick of his own. Jeff did his legsplitter on X-Pac
(okay, at least I didn’t call it whatamove) and both Hardys knocked Show
off the apron. Jeff gave X-Pac poetry in motion but Show then gave the
Hardys a double clothesline. Show tossed both Hardys across the ring but
missed a high kick on Matt and caught his leg in the ropes. Booker went to
kick Matt but missed and kicked Show off the ropes to the floor instead.
Matt gave Booker a cactus clothesline. X-Pac superkicked Jeff and gave him
an X-factor for a pin but Goldust came in, dressed as Elvis, and
distracted the ref. Jeff then rolled up X-Pac and pinned him at 4:22. A
decent match, with X-Pac carrying his team, and a weird ending to boot.
Certainly not a match that will make a best of Hardys tape. *1/2
2. WWE Women’s Title: Trish Stratus (c) vs Jacqueline
Jackie scored first with an armdrag. She grabbed a headlock and
tackled Trish on a criss cross. Jackie slammed Trish, armdragged her and
applied an armbar. Trish jumped up and landed some forearms. Trish missed
a roundhouse kick and Jackie gave her a legsweep for a near fall. Jackie
gave Trish a fairly hard dropkick that fans noticed for a near fall. Trish
fought back with elbows and a couple chops. She snapmared Jackie and
suplexed her for a near fall. Trish landed more elbows ad kicked Jackie
when she telegraphed a backdrop. Trish clotheslined Jackie for a near
fall. Jackie missed a corner splash and Trish gave her a bulldog for the
pin at 2:30 to retain the title. Too bad they ended early because they did
a nice job building the match early. A somewhat simple match, but solid.
Trish’s in-ring continues to grow on me, even though she’s certainly not
“good” yet. More enjoyable than the opener but not better. *
3. WWE European Title: William Regal (c) w/Molly Holly vs Bubba Ray
Dudley
Regal went after Bubba early and even tackled him. Regal landed a
series of forearms but Bubba gave him a backdrop. Bubba gave Regal a
clothesline, slam and a couple elbowsmashes for a near fall. Molly grabbed
Bubba’s leg and Bubba went after her. Bubba was supposed to run into a
Regal clothesline but Regal missed him completely in an awkward sequence.
Regal scored with a kneelift and threw Bubba down neck first onto the
middle rope. Regal gave Bubba several kneelifts but both men ran into each
other near the corner. Bubba fought back with punches, a slam and a
clothesline. He then gave Regal the flip-flop-n-fly bionic elbow. Bubba
hit a sidewalk slam for a near fall and then went to get a table. Brock
Lesnar ran out and attacked Bubba for the DQ at 2:43. This was based on a
previous angle that was just as worthless as this match. Oh yeah, Regal
knocked out Bubba with the power of the punch. A bad match, and it just
seemed like they didn’t have much chemistry out there. 1/2*
4. Matt & Jeff Hardy vs Booker T & Goldust
Booker gave Matt a kneelift and a couple forearm smashes. Booker
scored with a leg lariat on Matt. Goldust gave Matt a hip attack aka
butt-butt. Goldust charged the corner but ran into a boot from Matt and
Matt took him down. Matt dropped Booker neck first across the top rope on
the apron. Goldust attacked Matt with punches. X-Pac came out and hit
Goldust, and Matt rolled him up for the pin at 1:05. This is so totally
great bush-league material. Things have really gone downhill. NR
5. Jerry Lawler vs Raven
Raven slammed Lawler and gave him a couple elbowsmashes. Raven
backdropped Lawler and clotheslined him. Raven kicked Lawler in the corner
and choked him. Raven punched Lawler and Lawler took a bump over the top
rope to the floor, showing he’s still got some gas in the tank (or
whatever one would call that gut of his). Raven rammed Lawler’s head into
the turnbuckle, but Lawler no-sold those shots. Lawler pulled the strap
down and landed several punches as fans popped. Lawler dropkicked Raven
and landed more punches. Lawler rammed Raven 5 times into each top
turnbuckle in the ring. Lawler went up for his top rope fistdrop but Raven
rolled out of the ring and retreated to the back as Lawler won via
countout at 3:09. Enjoyable for what it was, but by no means any good. On
a good show this would be fine, but on a show like this it just didn’t
help at all. *
6. WWE Title: Undertaker (c) vs Rob Van Dam
Van Dam knocked Undertaker off the apron by dropkicking his legs
and then hit a tope. Van Dam choked Undertaker with his shirt and threw
him into the ring. Undertaker missed a high kick and crotched himself on
the top rope. Van Dam hit a top rope superkick for a near fall. Undertaker
landed an elbow but Van Dam gave him his step over spin kick for a near
fall. Van Dam clotheslined Undertaker out of the ring and Undertaker hit
the announcers’ table. Undertaker fought back with an elbow and a
headbutt. Van Dam whipped Undertaker into the barricade and legdropped him
on the barricade as well. Back in the ring Van Dam got flashy and
Undertaker caught him with a clothesline out of the corner. Undertaker
attempted a last ride but Van Dam countered with punches and fell on top
of him for a near fall. Van Dam landed some weak strikes but Undertaker
fought back with a high kick. Undertaker removed one of the turnbuckles.
He gave Van Dam some punches and pummeled him in a corner. Undertaker
whipped Van Dam into the corner with the exposed bolt and clotheslined him
against the corner. Undertaker landed some Nash-like kneelifts in the
corner and followed with more punches. Undertaker whipped a bleeding Van
Dam into the corner and attempted a chokeslam but Van Dam countered with a
kick to his face. Undertaker slammed Van Dam but missed an elbowsmash and
Van Dam dropkicked him three times for a near fall. Van Dam landed a ton
of weak punches and Undertaker tossed him into the corner and landed
punches of his own. Van Dam whipped Undertaker into the exposed bolt and
spin kicked him. Van Dam hit a rolling thunder splash and supposedly
pinned Undertaker to win the title but Undertaker’s foot was on the rope
and Ric Flair came out and made that point, then the match was restarted.
Undertaker quickly kicked Van Dam and gave him a last ride powerbomb for
the pin at 7:13 to retain the title. That was just a slap in the face.
Imagine a terribly executed Dusty finish in 2002?!! Just have Undertaker
win clean- it wouldn’t hurt anybody, well except for those who still give
a damn about workrate. The match was decent, entirely due to Van Dam as
Undertaker virtually sleepwalked through the match except for a few bumps
early on. Undertaker has never been this bad on offense, or at least for
as long as I can remember. And to think this was the best match on RAW.
Depressing. *1/2
Best Match: The Rob Van Dam show: I won’t even acknowledge his opponent
for this distinction, as Van Dam did all the work.
Worst Match: Regal vs Bubba: This was genuinely disappointing, kinda
like a train wreck. Regal seems prone to such matches when in with the
wrong opponent.
Overall: RAW is SKITS-ophrenia!!!!!!!! Enough said. Bad show.
WWF
TV REVIEWS MENU
HOME