TJR Retro: WWF Raw Deal 06/12/00 Review (The Rock vs. Kane)
The King of the Ring pay-per-view was less than two weeks away and there was no official main event for the show yet going into this episode of Raw. By the end of the show, we would know a lot more.
The synopsis for this episode on WWE Network is: “CEO Linda McMahon makes a huge announcement about King of the Ring. The Rock battles Kane in a No Holds Barred Match. Plus, Y2J and more!”
It was noted in the Wrestling Observer in the week of this show that the WWF was going to ban moves where a wrestler could land on their head. That did not include DDTs or Tombstone Piledrivers, but you may recall that The Undertaker started using the Last Ride Powerbomb as a finisher. Rikishi used a sitout piledriver called the Rikishi Driver that ended up banned because of this. The cause may have been the brutal DDT that Dean Malenko used on Scotty 2 Hotty in their great match at Backlash in late April. It was a rough landing for Scotty, but he wasn’t hurt by it. It was also noted that Tazz was told to limit his suplexes and Saturn had to change his finisher from a brainbuster to a top rope elbow. It was good to see WWE limiting some dangerous moves, but they still allowed chair shots to the head because at this point in history there wasn’t enough information about concussions and the damage they caused.
Also in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that week: “NCAA heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar signed on Thursday a developmental deal and will start with Ohio Valley Wrestling during the latter part of the summer.” I think that was a pretty good signing. Just saying.
Check out our WWF TV in 2000 archives in case you missed anything (Raw, Smackdown and PPV reviews) from earlier in the year. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport and tweet me to talk about this show or anything else. Let’s get to it.
WWF Raw #368
June 12, 2000
From the Kiel Center in St. Louis, Missouri
This edition of Raw is rated TV-14 with the dreaded “S” for Sexual Content.
There was a video package summarizing the issues between The Rock, The Undertaker and Kane in their quest to get the WWF Title from Triple H over the previous few weeks. The Raw intro video aired.
The pyro went off in the arena and the crowd in St. Louis was very loud with signs everywhere. The announce team was Jim Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler as usual.
Let’s Hear From The Rock…and others
The Rock made his entrance to a huge ovation from the crowd. Every time I watch one of these shows it feels like it gets louder every week. Rock took his time to speak and the fans were very vocal in their support for him.
Rock started with his “finally The Rock has come back to St. Louis” line to a huge pop. Rock ranted about everything coming after him and called Stephanie a “50 cent slut” during the promo. Rock told Undertaker, Kane and Triple H (and his “three-foot nose”) to just bring it. Catchphrases are good.
Kane made his entrance as he stepped over the top rope to get into the ring with Rock. Kane: “Just bring it, huh? Consider it brought.” That led to The Undertaker making his entrance on the motorcycle. They were interrupted by the Raw theme song…wait a second…that is Linda McMahon’s music.
Linda McMahon aka the Mrs. Excitement (I just came up with that name) entered to a good pop. The fans know that every time Linda shows up, there’s some big announcement that is usually good for the babyface wrestlers. Linda went into the ring.
Linda asked Rock, Taker and Kane what they were doing. She said the McMahon-Helmsley faction was sitting back there laughing at them. Linda asked if they were going to get sucked into that old divide and conquer strategy. Linda told them they had to be united. Linda said that they need to join forces until at least King of the Ring in two weeks. Lawler: “What’s for supper? She needs to be at home!” Women’s evolution huh? Anyway, it was interruption time.
Vince McMahon entered on the stage with Shane McMahon along with WWF Champion Triple H and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, who was still the Women’s Champion.
Vince asked Linda who the hell she thinks she is. Vince said that Linda wants to be Mother Teresa because she wants to do good for everybody. Vince said that Linda might fancy herself as a modern-day Joan of Ark. Fans chanted “Asshole” so Vince told them to shut up. Vince said maybe Linda thinks of herself as an attractive Janet Reno. Vince said that Linda was a meddlesome, goody two shoes, castrating shrew of a wife. Another “Asshole” chant started again. He asked Linda what she meant about joining forces.
Linda said that these three men are going to join forces as one half of a six-man tag team match at King of the Ring. Linda added that the other half of the six-man tag are Triple H, Shane McMahon and Vince McMahon. Vince: “We accept! We accept!” Vince said they won’t be embarrassed. He said he didn’t care what match she makes tonight, tomorrow night or any other night.
Linda said that if that’s the case, how about Triple H defends the WWF Championship against an opponent of Linda’s choosing. Vince said you’ve got it. Hunter was not happy about it. Linda had another idea for a championship match saying that Stephanie will put her Women’s Title on the line. Linda said it will be Stephanie against Lita and if any member of the Faction interferes in that match at all then Stephanie will be disqualified while Lita will win the championship. Vince told her to go away and play CEO.
Linda said she doesn’t play CEO, she is the CEO. The fans cheered loudly. Linda said that Shane will see action and Vince McMahon will wrestle in tag team action against The Dudley Boyz. Vince did the “gulp” in the throat reaction. JR was happy about it and so were the fans. Linda said it would be a Tables Match. After 19 minutes, the talking ended.
Analysis: That was a fun and informative opening promo segment. Linda’s promo delivery sucks, but it was nice to see something different with a babyface promo instead of the usual heel promos we saw all the time. The crowd reacted to Linda in a big way because they know whenever she was there, she was there to do a babyface announcement to counter what the heels were doing.
(Commercial)
Linda was shown getting into a limo when Hunter and Steph went up to her. Hunter called her “mom” and Linda wasn’t interested. Linda told Hunter he’ll find out who his opponent is in due time while Stephanie needs to get changed because she is up next.
King of the Ring Qualifying Match: X-Pac (w/Road Dogg and Tori) vs. Dean Malenko
Pre-match notes: X-Pac was a heel. Malenko, who was the Light Heavyweight Champion, had two ho’s with him to try to make him more of a face, but he was mostly a heel.
X-Pac tried a dropkick, Malenko held onto the ropes and Malenko slapped on the Texas Cloverleaf, but X-Pac crawled to the ropes. X-Pac with an elbow to the face followed by a spin kick. X-Pac missed a bronco buster because Malenko moved and Malenko hit a jumping kick to the face followed by a powerslam. Road Dogg pulled Malenko’s leg when Dean tried a pin, the ref saw it and did nothing. Tori and Dogg on the apron, the ref was distracted by Tori, so Dogg with a punch and X-Pac with the X-Factor for the pin at 2:01.
Winner by pinfall: X-Pac
Analysis: * This is the kind of match that should get more time, but it was rushed. That’s probably because the opening segment ran long. The finish was obvious with X-Pac getting help from his friends.
Lita was shown stretching backstage because she was facing Stephanie McMahon for the Women’s Title. Stephanie McMahon was shown in her office with Triple H and she was complaining about the match. Hunter didn’t know what she should do, so she was mad at him for it.
(Commercial)
Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley made her entrance with the Women’s Championship on her shoulder. The stipulation is that nobody from the McMahon-Helmsley Faction can interfere. Stephanie said that this is not fair. She said she has been Women’s Champion for 74 days and she has carried this title with dignity, honor and pride. She said that despite that filthy name that the fans call her (“slut” chants from that), she knows she really has our support and the fans want her to remain the Women’s Champion. The fans booed.
Lita made her entrance to a good pop. She had a very generic theme song at this point.
Women’s Championship: Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley vs. Lita
Lita did a hair whip to send Stephanie across the ring followed by a dropkick, so Stephanie went to the apron and Lita knocked her off the apron. Stephanie faked a left knee injury. That led to referee Teddy Long checking on the knee on the floor. Kurt Angle ran down to the ring and he gave Lita the Olympic Slam. Angle bailed to the floor where Long wouldn’t be able to see him. Stephanie went back into the ring and pinned Lita for the pinfall win at 1:15.
Winner by pinfall: Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley
Analysis: 1/4* I’ll give the quarter star for the perfect Angle Slam. Cheap win to keep the title on Stephanie even though she didn’t do anything in the match.
Post match, Angle hugged Stephanie and then they did a celebratory pose together. Angle hugged Stephanie again. I think because the referee Teddy Long told them to do it again, which led to this visual of Triple H watching backstage and he was not happy about it.
Analysis: The storyline was that Stephanie and Kurt flirted with eachother, so Hunter was becoming jealous of it. The slow build of the angle was really well done.
Shane McMahon went up to Hunter and said he needs him for something. Angle kept hugging Stephanie with JR wondering how many times they are going to hug.
The guys in the McMahon-Helmsley Faction went into the locker room and they attacked Kane. They sat Kane up, took the mask off and Patterson took a picture of it. Obviously, we could not see the face.
(Commercial)
They replayed the attack on Kane in the locker room. As you can see above, Patterson took a picture of Kane without the mask on. That’s a key storyline point for later.
The McMahon heel group were in the office again. Shane told Vince that Patterson and Brisco were out getting the photos developed. Vince said that tonight, Kane is on their side because if he’s not then they will expose Kane’s face to the world. Later on Raw, it’s The Rock vs. Kane in a No Holds Barred match. JR complained that it was blackmail.
Analysis: That set up the main event for later in the show.
Too Cool made their entrance. They showed the clip from Smackdown last week where Val Venis and Rikishi got into a wild brawl that was great. T&A entered with Trish Stratus, who looked amazing as usual.
WWF Tag Team Championships: Too Cool (Grandmaster Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty) vs. Test & Albert (w/Trish Stratus)
Pre-match notes: Too Cool were the face champions and T&A were heels.
Sexay with a running forearm on Albert, Test with a knee to the back of Sexay and Albert with a press slam on Sexay. Albert with a clothesline on Sexay followed by a hard whip into the turnbuckle. Sexay with a boot to the face. Scotty tagged in with punches for Albert and Test, dropkicks for both guys and Sexay sent Albert over the top rope. Test with a gutwrench Powerbomb on Scotty, but Sexay hit a Hip Hop Drop leg drop off the top to the back of Test’s head. Sexay with a kick on Albert to the floor. Test gave her boot to Test and Test hit Scotty in the head for a two count. I’m pretty sure Albert was still legal. Scotty with a bulldog on Test and when Scotty went for the Worm, Val Venis attacked Scotty from behind for the DQ at 2:32.
Winners by disqualification: Too Cool
Analysis: *1/4 It was fine for the time given with Venis’ attack being done to get him more heat since he was a heel aligned with Trish. The nearfall after the boot to the face was good.
Post match, Venis hit Sexay and Scotty with the ring bell to the face. Test and Albert hit slams on Scotty and Sexay. The fans chanted “Rikishi” and that led to Rikishi running down to the ring. Huge pop! Rikishi with superkicks for Test and Albert followed by running backsplashes against the turnbuckle. Rikishi grabbed Val, so Trish went into the ring with punches to Rikishi and Val went back in the ring, so Rikishi looked at him. That led to Albert saving Trish as the heels retreated.
Analysis: This angle was really working because the crowd was hot for this. Venis was elevated as a heel with this new group while it gave Rikishi a rival that he needed.
The Dudley Boyz were shown walking backstage with a table. Vince and Shane were also shown walking backstage for their match.
(Commercial)
Vince and Shane McMahon made their entrance looking ready to go. Vince was wrestling in a sweatshirt and jeans. The Dudleys were next as they brought a table with them.
Tables Match: Vince and Shane McMahon vs. The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley)
Pre-match notes: Vince and Shane were the heels obviously while the Dudleys were faces.
The McMahons tried an attack before the bell, but the Dudleys were in control with punches. Bubba slammed Shane’s head into the announce table while D-Von did the same to Vince at the same time. The Dudleys whipped Vince into the steel stairs. Lawler: “Those are his (Vince) stairs!” Bubba worked over Shane with punches in the ring. Bubba with a running splash on Shane against the turnbuckle. D-Von with a body slam on Vince on the floor with Lawler reminding us that Vince is 54 years old. Bubba hit a superplex on Shane and D-Von hit a leg drop off the middle ropes to Shane. Bubba with a body slam on Vince and D-Von hit the diving headbutt to Vince’s grapefruits. The Dudleys hit 3D (Dudley Death Drop) on Shane and Bubba said he’s going to get wood. Bubba and D-Von each brought a table into the ring. Shane was set up on a table while Bubba set up Vince for a Powerbomb, but DX (Road Dogg, X-Pac and Tori) went down to the ring for the save. Bubba and Vince fell off the top onto the floor. That was a rough landing for Vince because he went from the top right onto the floor and he landed on his side. X-Pac hit the X-Factor on D-Von. Road Dogg put D-Von through the table with a Powerbomb. Bubba was placed across the table, Tori jumped off, she overshot it and even though she landed on Bubba on the table, the table did not break. Ouch. Rough landing for Tori. Bubba got back into it with punches and the referee called for the bell for some reason. I don’t know why. There’s no DQ in a Tables Match. Anyway, they put Bubba on the table again and Tori did another splash off the top and put Bubba through the table for the win at 5:38. JR: “DX saved the McMahons ass.” Pretty much.
Winners: Vince and Shane McMahon
Analysis: **1/4 It was an entertaining match with the obvious ending where the McMahons got help from their heel allies to get the win. The Dudleys dominated the first few minutes, but I didn’t expect them to get the win here. There was the mistake with the bell ringing and the table not breaking on the first try. They managed to get it right. This also added to the DX feud with the Dudleys.
(Commercial)
They replayed the ending of the match before the break.
Triple H was in the parking lot with Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco where they tried to motivate Bull Buchanan by saying The Undertaker wasn’t in his league. The Undertaker’s motorcycle was there and it happened to have the keys in it, so Undertaker cased after him. The Undertaker went up to a car in the parking lot, tossed somebody away (I think D-Lo Brown) and Undertaker chased after Bull. Hunter laughed about it with Patterson and Brisco. Hunter said he had to go get ready for his match. Meanwhile, Crash Holly attacked Hardcore Champion Brisco from behind. Brisco managed to get away.
Gerald Brisco ran out to the ring (with the Hardcore Title around his waist) with Crash going after him in the ring. It’s a Hardcore Title match.
Hardcore Championship: Gerald Brisco vs. Crash Holly
Crash knocked Brisco down and then he tossed weapons into the ring. Brisco hit Crash in the ribs with a broom and in the back. Brisco tossed Crash out of the ring. Crash whipped Brisco into the announce table. Brisco whipped Crash into the steel steps. Brisco set up a chair against the turnbuckle. Brisco with a trash can lid to the head as Patterson went to the ring. Crash whipped Brisco into the chair. Brisco kicked Crash in the ribs and Patterson accidentally hit Brisco in the head with a trash can, so Crash punched Patterson and Crash pinned Brisco to win back the Hardcore Title at 2:28.
Winner by pinfall and New Hardcore Champion: Crash Holly
Analysis: 1/2* It was okay for a comedy match with Crash avoiding the double team attack for the win.
Post match, Brisco shoved Patterson when Patterson tried to apologize to him. They shook hands and hugged with the fans booing. Patterson did the DX “suck it” gesture when Brisco turned his back.
Analysis: They would have issues after this and it led to a match that I don’t want to watch at King of the Ring 2000, but I will do it when I get to that show in the reviews.
Crash was shown in the parking lot driving away with the Hardcore Title.
Triple H was shown backstage with Stephanie. Hunter complained about how he doesn’t just get in the ring with guys, he likes to study what they do and he said Linda is out of control.
(Commercial)
Triple H entered with the WWF Championship along with wifey Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley. The story was that Hunter had no idea who his challenger would be in this match.
The challenger for Triple H was…Chris Jericho. Huge pop. Hunter wasn’t happy. Lawler complained about it not being fair.
Analysis: The reaction for Jericho was great. Fans remembered the great match they had on Raw two months earlier where Jericho won the WWF Title briefly, but it didn’t count due to a fast count from referee Earl Hebner. Jericho was also one of the most popular guys in the WWF, so it was the right choice.
WWF Championship: Triple H (w/Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley) vs. Chris Jericho
Pre-match notes: Hunter was the heel WWF Champion and Jericho was the face challenger.
Jericho with a back body drop. Hunter sent Jericho to the apron, which led to a missile dropkick by Jericho for a two count. Hunter caught Jericho in his arms leading to a stun gun move that sent Jericho throat first into the top rope. Hunter with a running knee to the face. Hunter with shoulder tackles into Jericho’s ribs followed by a knee to the ribs for two. Hunter with a delayed suplex followed by a knee drop for two. Hunter connected with a DDT for a two count followed by a sleeper. When Jericho got back up, Hunter hit him with boots to the face. Jericho came back with a hurricanrana off the top, which is also known as Frankensteiner. Jericho with a running forearm followed by a bulldog for two. Fans popped for that as a finish even though Jericho never wins with that. Hunter with a facebuster into the knee. Jericho went for the Walls of Jericho, Hunter kicked Jericho into the turnbuckle and Jericho bumped headfirst into Hunter’s groin. Stephanie tossed the title to Hunter while she distracted the referee, but Jericho came back with a spinning heel kick. Hunter rolled into position and Jericho hit a Lionsault into a pin, but the referee Mike Chioda was busy being distracted by Stephanie.
Jericho went over to the referee, Hunter attacked, Jericho moved and Hunter hit the referee with a forearm that was intended for Jericho. Stephanie went into the ring, Jericho put the Walls of Jericho on her and Hunter hit Jericho with the title belt. Hunter with a Pedigree on Jericho, Stephanie rolled the referee back in and Hunter covered Jericho for the win at 7:56.
Winner by pinfall: Triple H
Analysis: ***1/2 That was a really good match with Jericho showing a lot of babyface heart. The fans believed Jericho might win even though a win for Hunter was the obvious outcome. It could have been a finish where Hunter won clean and it wouldn’t surprise me, but I liked how they booked it where Hunter needed help to win. That told the fans that Jericho was a threat to Hunter, which helped set up their awesome PPV match at Fully Loaded in July. Long term booking on this show was so awesome. It’s forgotten in today’s WWE.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wual-LwTXZM
Hunter and Steph celebrated the win. Lawler pointed out that the McMahon-Helmsley Faction won all the matches that Linda put them in.
(Commercial)
Kane was shown in the locker room and he was mad about the attack from earlier in the night. A replay was shown of the attack on Kane.
Intercontinental Championship: Chris Benoit vs. Matt Hardy
Pre-match notes: Benoit was the heel Intercontinental Champion while Hardy was the face challenger.
Hardy with a clothesline as JR put over Benoit as a fighting IC Champion. Hardy hit a moonsault press off the top onto a standing Benoit for a two count. Hardy hit a leg drop off the middle ropes for two. Benoit with a clothesline to take control followed by a suplex for a two count. Benoit went for a belly to back suplex leading to Matt getting a pin attempt. Benoit hit a shoulder breaker to the knee. Benoit up top, he jumped off wit the headbutt and Hardy moved out of the way. Hardy with a spinning punch followed by Benoit sending Hardy into the top rope. Hardy to the apron where he gave Benoit a suplex from inside the ring to the floor. Ouch. Rough landing. That led to a small “holy shit” chant. They did a spot on the apron where Matt bounced off the ropes leading to a DDT on the floor. Hardy went up top, he jumped off with a moonsault, Benoit moved, Matt landed on his feet and Benoit drove Matt into the turnbuckle. Benoit with a superplex. Second straight match with a superplex. Benoit with two German Suplexes, Matt avoided a third and Benoit countered a Twist of Fate attempt into the Crippler Crossface. Matt tapped out to give Benoit the submission win at 6:05.
Winner by submission: Chris Benoit
Analysis: ***1/4 That was a good match with Benoit wearing down Hardy leading to the submission win. Benoit beat Jeff the previous week as well. It’s nice when they give time to championship matches like the last two matches on this show. They did a good job of booking Benoit as a strong IC Champion.
Jeff Hardy ran out for the save, he checked on Matt and Benoit hit Jeff with the IC Title to the face.
Edge and Christian were shown watching on a TV backstage. Christian was set for a match with Hardy, he said if Edge went to him at ringside then it would unethical and then said that of course he wanted Edge to go with him.
(Commercial)
Back from break, they showed Benoit’s win over Matt Hardy and then he attacked Jeff Hardy.
Jeff Hardy was in the ring with brother Matt with Jeff selling like he was dazed. Christian ran down to the ring for the match that is a King of the Ring qualifier. No five second pose to start.
King of the Ring Qualifying Match: Christian (w/Edge) vs. Jeff Hardy (w/Matt Hardy)
Pre-match notes: Christian was the heel and Jeff was the face.
Christian with a gutbuster followed by two vertical suplexes and Jeff got an inside cradle for two. Christian with a front suplex for two. Jeff with a back body drop and a dropkick that sent Christian into the turnbuckle. Christian went after Jeff on the top rope, Jeff knocked Christian down and Edge distracted Jeff, so Matt brawled with Edge. Christian tripped up Jeff on the top. Christian with a superplex (third straight match with a superplex) and Jeff hooked the legs with his own legs for the pinfall win at 1:56.
Winner by pinfall: Jeff Hardy
Analysis: *1/2 It was fine for the time they were given. Jeff sold well and got the win even after Christian was the one that delivered the move.
Post match, Christian and Edge were shocked by what happened. JR said that Christian and Edge got what they deserved since they were cocky and arrogant.
The Rock was shown backstage because he’s up next for the main event.
(Commercial)
The announcers showed highlights of King of the Ring matches from Heat with Bubba Ray Dudley beating Big Boss Man due to Bull Buchanan and Perry Saturn beat D-Von Dudley due to DX interference. They loved interference finishes.
The McMahon-Helmsley Faction made their way down to the ring to watch the main event. No Brisco or Patterson with them.
Vince McMahon said that if you are keeping score then they won 3-0 tonight. Vince said that’s not good for you and it’s not good for Undertaker, Kane and Rock at King of the Ring. Vince said that Triple H, Vince and Shane will be victorious at King of the Ring.
Vince said that they will have a ringside seat to watch Kane vs. The Rock. Vince said that if Kane doesn’t destroy us then we will see Kane’s hideous face.
Kane was shown in the locker room and he knocked a door over to show he was angry.
(Commercial)
Kane made his entrance looking angry. The Rock was next and he got a huge ovation as usual.
No Holds Barred Match: The Rock vs. Kane
Pre-match notes: The Rock and Kane were both faces. They would be teammates at King of the Ring.
Kane worked over Rock with punches and Rock came back with a clothesline over the top to the floor. They battled on the floor with Rock sending Kane into the announce table and Rock hit Kane in the head with the ring bell.
Kane came back with a clothesline on the floor. Rock with a boot to the face, Kane wanted a Chokeslam, so Rock kicked him in the groin. Rock hit a Russian legsweep. Kane came back with punches. Rock hit a spinebuster. Rock with the People’s Elbow attempt, Kane up, Rock kicked him down and Rock hit the elbow. Hunter on the apron, Rock knocked him down and Kane with a punch to Rock. Kane up top with the clothesline off the top onto Rock.
There was a GTV video on the screen. Patterson and Brisco were on there. They were shown looking at the pictures in the envelope. Patterson: “There’s no picture.” Brisco wondered what happened with the film. Patterson said that Brisco is in deep trouble with McMahon. Brisco said don’t say anything to Mr. McMahon. They left. Ross: “No more pictures. No more blackmail.” It went 6:50.
Match Result: No Contest
Analysis: *1/2 This was more about the angle than the match, so I have no problem with the lack of a finish. JR summed it up well. The point of the match was Kane was going to beat up Rock because Kane was worried about the pictures, but when it was revealed there were no pictures, that meant the match was over.
Rock and Kane stopped fighting eachother. They looked at the McMahon-Helmsley Faction outside the ring.
The Undertaker made his entrance, so he was back in the arena with his motorcycle that Bull Buchanan stole earlier.
Rock beat up Vince, Undertaker beat up Triple H and Kane beat up Shane. Road Dogg and X-Pac also got involved, so the Dudleys brought a table into the ring. The Dudleys went after Dogg and X-Pac. Rock sent Vince into the ring where Rock gave Vince a Rock Bottom in the ring. The other wrestlers went into the ring to continue the brawl. Rock punched Shane over the top to the floor. Hunter was surrounded by Kane, Taker and Rock in the ring. Kane grabbed Hunter by the throat and Hunter told Taker to pull the table out to the center of the ring, so Taker did that. That was smart by Hunter since the table was too close to the ropes. Kane and Taker picked up Hunter for a double Chokeslam through the table in the ring. That drew a huge pop from the crowd.
That led to Rock, Kane and Undertaker celebrating in the ring over a fallen Triple H while the heels went up the ramp for a show-closing staredown. Raw ended there.
Analysis: It was a great show ending angle. The McMahons were celebrating earlier in the show due to their 3-0 record in matches, but at the end of the night, the faces got their revenge. That’s good storytelling because every time the heels would get the advantage, there would always be a counter with the faces coming back. It was done a lot better in this era than it is in today’s WWE.
This episode of Raw had a runtime of 1:36:26 on WWE Network.
Three Stars of the Show
- Triple H
- Chris Jericho
- Vince McMahon
Final Thoughts
This Raw episode gets an 8 out of 10.
This was a great episode of Raw. I thought the second half of the show was outstanding with big matches for the WWF Title, the Intercontinental and a lot of excitement in the main event. The first half of the show was a bit slow with short matches, but in terms of story development, I was entertained by all of it.
It was also an effective show in terms of building to King of the Ring because we learned the main event of that show would be Triple H, Vince and Shane vs. The Rock, Kane and Undertaker with the WWF Title on the line.
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Check out our WWF TV in 2000 archives for my reviews of every other previous Raw, Smackdown and PPV from 2000 as well.
Thanks for reading. My contact info is below.
John Canton
Email mrjohncanton@gmail.com
Twitter @johnreport