WWE Raw 6/17/02
1. King of the Ring Quarterfinal: Rob Van Dam vs X-Pac
X-Pac armdragged Van Dam. He took Van Dam down and taunted him on the mat. They traded armringers. Van Dam gave X-Pac some terribly weak kicks and a much more solid spinning mule kick. Van Dam landed some elbows but X-Pac raked his eyes. Van Dam monkey flipped X-Pac and clotheslined him out of the ring. Van Dam hit a moonsault bodyblock (I refuse to call it an Asai moonsault) off the apron and gave X-Pac a baseball slide kick. Van Dam dropped X-Pac onto the barricade and gave him a corkscrew legdrop off the apron. X-Pac tried a sunset flip back into the ring but Van Dam moved and hit a standing moonsault for a near fall. X-Pac caught Van Dam and powerbombed him. He spin kicked Van Dam for a near fall. X-Pac snapmared Van Dam and attacked his neck. Van Dam charged but X-Pac threw him out of the ring and hit a somersault plancha. X-Pac chopped Van Dam and kicked him in the corner. X-Pac missed a bronco buster and Van Dam clotheslined him. Van Dam gave X-Pac a stepover spin kick. Van Dam countered an X-factor and hit a rolling thunder splash for a near fall. X-Pac ran into a boot but knocked Van Dam off the top rope into the barricade with a dropkick. Booker T ran in and gave X-Pac a bookend. Van Dam then hit a five star frog splash and pinned X-Pac at 6:01. Hot opener. Aside from a couple weak spots from Van Dam, this was the best opener from Raw or Smackdown in a long time. **1/2
2. Jeff Hardy vs Raven
Undertaker came out near the entrance to watch. They exchanged blows early. Raven took Jeff down but Jeff scored with a tilt-a-whirl headscissors. Jeff gave Raven a flying forearm and clotheslined him out of the ring. Jeff ran across the barricade and clotheslined Raven at ringside. Raven threw Jeff out of the ring and gave him a Russian legsweep against the barricade. Raven gave Jeff a top rope knee drive for a near fall. Raven whipped Jeff into the corner and clotheslined him. Raven hit a kneelift for a near fall but Jeff fought back with a jawbreaker. Jeff gave Raven a nice reverse kick out of the Tiger Mask playbook. Jeff spin kicked Raven and clotheslined him. Raven missed a dropkick and Jeff gave him a legsplitter for a near fall. Jeff did a weird headscissors spot where he did one and drove Raven’s head into the turnbuckle. Raven crotched Jeff on the top rope but Jeff countered a superplex and dropped Raven to the mat. Jeff then hit a swanton and pinned Raven at 3:48. Another nice match. Nice to see Raven in a worthwhile match for a change. **
3. Chris Nowinski (w/William Regal) vs Spike Dudley
Spike attacked Chris before the bell and knocked Regal out of the ring. Spike pulled Chris’s shirt over his head and kept jumping on his body. Spike dropkicked Chris and elbowed him but Chris then threw him out of the ring. Chris whipped Spike HARD into the ring steps. He gave Spike a backbreaker for a near fall and choked him in the ropes. Spike countered a suplex but Chris blocked a rollup and gave Spike a stiff lariat for a near fall. Chris kicked Spike and whipped him HARD into the corner for a near fall. Chris attempted a superplex but Spike knocked him to the mat with punches and hit a top rope foot stomp. Spike speared Chris and hit a couple running forearms. Regal distracted Spike and Chris kicked Spike and gave him a full nelson slam for the pin at 3:21. When was the last time Raw started out with three enjoyable matches in a row? Very solid match, with Spike working his butt off and taking one of his better beatings while Chris looked very solid for a rookie. Actually, Chris looked as sharp as Maven has in recent months IMO. A perfect debut situation to make Chris look like a threat because Spike can take such a great beating, even with fairly simple moves. *3/4
4. Trish Stratus & D-Lo Brown vs Molly Holly & Crash Holly
I think this will end the streak. Crash kicked D-Lo but D-Lo caught him and gave him a flapjack slam. D-Lo slammed and legdropped Crash for a near fall. Trish gave Molly some elbows and clotheslined her. Trish dropkicked Molly and landed more elbows. Trish kicked Molly for a near fall and elbowed her but Molly fought back by slamming Trish to the mat by her head. Molly grinded Trish’s face into the mat, stomped her and elbowsmashed her. Molly gave Trish a backbreaker but missed a top rope somersault Thesz press. D-Lo gave Crash a leg lariat and a slam into a side slam or Rock bottom of sorts for a near fall. Trish tackled Molly and both women tumbled out of the ring. Crash kicked D-Lo but D-Lo gave him a sky high for the pin at 2:48. Okay for what it was, but the lack of continuity with the mixed tag aspect hurt. *1/4
5. Undertaker vs Matt Hardy
Matt kicked Undertaker in the crotch and punched him in the corner. Undertaker whipped Matt into the opposite corner but ran into a boot. Undertaker recovered and clotheslined Matt. Undertaker legdropped Matt on the apron but Matt countered a last ride with punches and DDTd Undertaker for a near fall. Undertaker whipped Matt into the corner and gave him a snake eyes. Undertaker missed a clothesline but caught Matt and chokeslammed him for a near fall when Jeff came out and pulled the ref out of the ring. Jeff attacked Undertaker but Undertaker fought back. Matt clotheslined Undertaker and Jeff went for a swanton but Raven came out and pushed him off the top rope onto the barricade. Undertaker countered a twist of fate and gave Matt a high kick. Undertaker gave Matt a last ride and pinned him at 2:12. Fine while it lasted because both men worked hard, but too short to carry much value. *1/4
6. King of the Ring Quarterfinal: Booker T vs Brock Lesnar (w/Paul Heyman)
The entire NWO came out, then Goldust came out as well in a weird scenario. Brock attacked Booker before the bell and gave him some shoulderblocks in the corner. Brock missed a clothesline and Booker landed a series of punches and chops. Brock gave Booker an overhead belly to belly suplex and clotheslined him out of the ring. Booker fought back but Brock whipped him into the ring steps. Brock shoved Booker back first into the apron. Brock rammed Booker into the corner and gave him more shoulderblocks. Heyman confronted Goldust as Booker clotheslined Brock. Brock blocked a kick and powerslammed Booker for a near fall as Goldust shoved Heyman. Booker attacked a distracted Brock and gave him a side kick. Booker kicked Brock and hit a scissors kick before doing a spinaroonie. Booker elbowed X-Pac off the apron and knocked Show off the apron as well. Brock caught Booker and gave him an F-5 for the pin at 3:23. The F-5 is the same move I had previously called the Brockbuster. Afterwards the NWO attacked Booker and Goldust. Solid match, but somewhat disappointing because it was short for a supposed main event. Brock definitely didn’t work as well as he has with Bubba Ray Dudley, but he seems to be settling into a mode of solid to good work, and I think he definitely has more in-ring potential than Goldberg did. *1/2
Best Match: Van Dam-X-Pac: Great for an opener, and both men worked very close to their potential. Nice to see X-Pac still capable of a hot match.
Worst Match: Trish/D-Lo-Molly/Crash: This beats out Undertaker-Matt Hardy by a hair because it wasn’t as relevant from a storyline standpoint.
Overall: Make no mistake, this show was more about damage control than the wrestling content. Rock’s return was the definite highlight, while the other most noteworthy events didn’t take place within an actual match. Considering the focus wasn’t on presenting quality wrestling, I was very pleased with the output of tonight’s lineup. Sure the quality tailed off towards the end, but that’s when the non-wrestling stuff got real interesting. The first half action-wise was the best on Raw in a long time. Overall, this was a good show with only a few brief segments I didn’t enjoy. In other words, call it consistently solid.
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