TJR Retro: WWF Raw Deal 07/17/00 Review
Welcome to another WWF in 2000 review for the last episode of Raw prior to the Fully Loaded pay-per-view on July 23.
Here is the synopsis for this episode on WWE Network:
“Commissioner Mick Foley reprimands Triple H. The Game teams with Kurt Angle to take on The Undertaker & Kane in the main event. Plus, WWE Champion The Rock in action, The Dudley Boyz face off against The Hardy Boyz, and much more.”
Check out our WWF TV in 2000 archives in case you missed anything (Raw, Smackdown and PPV reviews) from earlier in the year. Also, make sure to visit TJRWrestling.net daily for my reviews of the current WWE shows, plus historical columns and all the relevant current news in the wrestling business. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport and tweet me to talk about this show or anything else. Let’s get to it.
WWF Raw #373
July 17, 2000
From Pepsi Arena in Albany, New York
The show began with highlights of key things from the last week and the Raw intro video aired after that. The pyro went off in the arena as a sold out crowd was ready to make a lot of noise. There were many signs in the arena as usual. The announce team of Jim Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler were at ringside to host the show.
Let’s Hear from Commissioner Mick Foley
Mick Foley made his entrance after missing last week due to a promotional tour of Asia. Big pop for Foley. Mick said that that they love the WWF in Southeast Asia while adding that it sure is good to be back in the USA. Foley led the crowd in a “USA” chant because he liked cheap pops while mentioning that it’s great to be in Albany, New York for another cheap pop.
Foley said that last week on Raw, he didn’t appreciate Triple H bending his authority and beating the crap out of Chris Jericho. Foley said even though Chris is not scheduled to be there, he knows Chris can’t wait to get his hands on Triple H at Fully Loaded. Foley said Chris wanted a Last Man Standing Match where the only way to win is to inflict a state of unconsciousness on your opponent. Foley agreed to it.
The Undertaker showed up for the interruption on his motorcycle and he got a big pop. Undertaker faces Kurt Angle at Fully Loaded.
Undertaker talked about how they go back a lot of years and had a lot of wars, so Mick knows him pretty well. Taker said he didn’t appreciate the disrespect that Angle has shown him recently. Taker went over all of the things that Angle has done to him including gifting him a scooter and lame apology just so Taker didn’t beat him up. Taker said he didn’t appreciate when Angle hit him with a sledgehammer on Smackdown. Foley said maybe there’s something he can do. Taker said he wanted a match here tonight with him and Angle while adding if he doesn’t make the match, Taker will hurt Kurt. That led to Kane making his entrance.
Kane got in Foley’s face saying that he’ll cause anarchy and chaos tonight unless Foley gives Taker what he wants. Foley said he had an idea that he wants to see Angle in this very ring tonight.
Angle appeared on the video screen in the backstage area. Angle apologized for hitting Taker with a sledgehammer and he said he was going for Triple H. Angle claimed he sent Taker a telegram offering an apology. Foley announced the obvious tag team match with Kane and The Undertaker facing Angle and Triple H. Taker and Kane seemed happy about that.
Triple H also appeared on the video screen in the backstage area. Hunter said he knows Foley hates him since he’s the guy that made it possible that Mick never wrestles again. Hunter said he was fine with a Last Man Standing match with Chris Jericho. Hunter said he would be fine with a handicap match, but he did not want to team up with the Olympic twerp. Angle: “I don’t think I’m a twerp.” Angle pronounced “Albany” wrong while adding that he didn’t think Hunter’s wife thought Kurt was a twerp. Hunter said if Kurt doesn’t hold up his end of the match then he’ll be a bloody mess tonight. Hunter said he’ll be the Last Man Standing at Fully Loaded and it’s true, oh yeah it’s true.
Foley said it looks like they have a hell of a tag team match and here comes The Rock for another interruption. The Undertaker and Kane left the ring earlier, so Rock was the only one in the ring with Foley now. The Rock was the WWF Champion. Huge pop for Rock.
The Rock said he had a one word demand: “Benoit.” Rock said that in six days at Full Loaded he’s got Benoit, but he wanted the WWF Title match to be tonight. Foley said as much as he wanted to see that match…here comes Benoit with Shane McMahon, Edge and Christian.
Benoit stood on the stage with his allies by his side. Benoit said if Rock wanted to put the title on the line tonight then that’s great. Benoit told Rock he’ll submit and tap out whenever they have the match because Benoit’s the greatest technical wrestler in the WWF today. Benoit said he’ll be the WWF Champion. Shane said it doesn’t matter if it’s tonight or Fully Loaded because you’re looking at the next WWF Champion in Chris Benoit.
Foley told Shane he doesn’t get to rip off Rock’s catchphrases because only Foley can do it. Foley made it clear that he makes the matches, not Shane. Foley said he’s Tony Soprano while Shane cleans the toilets at the Bada Bing. Edge said they’re feeling totally better, Christian said not ready to defend the titles, but better nonetheless. Foley told Edge & Christian are lacking a set of testicles. Foley said that he wants to give the people a preview of the tag team match against The Acolytes that they will have at Fully Loaded. Foley booked a six-man match with Benoit, Edge and Christian vs. The Acolytes and their partner…The Rock. Benoit said it will be a sample of what happens at Fully Loaded. Rock wanted to give Benoit a sample ass kicking all over Albany.
Rock went up the ramp to go after Benoit, Edge, Christian and Shane. The heels managed to outnumber the faces, so referees went out there to break up the fight. Rock went back in the ring, told Benoit to bring it and the heels retreated. Rock’s music played to end this after 22 minutes.
Analysis: That was a lot of talking with many different people voicing their opinions. It set up two big tag team matches for later in the show. It’s one of the longer opening segments that you’re going to see since it went over 20 minutes. There were some good lines from everybody while Foley did a nice job of managing things as the Commissioner.
(Commercial)
They showed replays of Rock getting into a fight with Benoit and the others in the previous segment.
Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley) vs. Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff Hardy) w/Lita
Pre-match notes: They were both babyface tag teams.
Bubba sent Jeff out of the ring while D-Von worked over Matt with punches. Matt shoved D-Von off the turnbuckle and hit a leg drop off the middle ropes. Jeff tagged in with the Poetry in Motion attack against the turnbuckle for two. D-Von came back with a running back elbow for two. Bubba with a back body drop on Jeff, Bubba distracted Matt and D-Von hit a clothesline over the top. The Dudleys hit the Wassup headbutt on Matt while the referee Jimmy Korderas was looking at Jeff. The Dudleys left the ring to get tables including D-Von bringing a table in the ring. That led to Steven Richards running out to the ring and he took a table to the backstage area. Matt went up top and hit a cross body block on Bubba. Jeff set up a ladder in the ring and jumped off the ladder onto D-Von and Matt on the floor. That led to Trish Stratus, Test and Albert showing up to go after the Hardys and Lita. Let’s call it a No Contest at 3:17.
Match Result: No Contest
Analysis: *1/4 A quick match where things broke down quickly to further the storylines going on with T&A and the Hardys.
Post match, Trish kicked Lita in the back repeatedly while T&A had a table and ladder set up. Lita was placed on a table. Trish climbed up the ladder, but Lita moved. Lita went after Trish, Lita teased a superplex through a table and that didn’t work because Trish shoved Lita off the ladder through the table! Huge bump for Lita. The crowd reacted to this in a big way. Trish left with a smile on her face with T&A while the Hardys checked on Lita in the ring.
Analysis: This was in the early stages of Trish and Lita’s rivalry, so it was all fresh at this point. You didn’t see women taking table bumps like that very often. Lita took a big fall there from near the top of the ladder and went back first through the table. Great way to add more heat to this story going into Fully Loaded. Huge bump for Lita. Respect to her.
This video isn’t great quality, but if you want to see the bump it’s here.
(Commercial)
A replay was shown of Lita getting put through a table after Trish pushed her off a ladder. They showed Lita getting taken away on stretcher.
Lita was shown on a stretcher with doctors wanting to put a neckbrace on her. Lita refused to leave on a stretcher, she was helped back up and Lita said: “I’m gonna get that bitch.”
The Godfather made his entrance with five ho’s. One of them looks very familiar in the black attire. That’s future Women’s Champion Victoria. They liked her look a lot and she was used in this angle. The Godfather did his usual promo with his catchphrases and the fans were into it. You can see Victoria in the photo below.
Steven Richards appeared in a white shirt and tie telling the people they should know right from wrong. Richards admonished the crowd for cheering for violence, they cheer for indecency and they cheer for The Godfather and his ho’s. The fans popped for that. Richards wondered where our morals have gone. Richards said that The Godfather and the producers of this show are corrupting the youth of America. Richards said that it was wrong. Richards told Godfather that he cannot have scantily clad women to ringside because it’s indecent and it’s totally unacceptable. Richards said that he’ll continue to censor them because they do not know any better.
The Godfather said that Stevie’s censoring behind is costing him the Hardcore Title right now. Godfather challenged Steven to a match right now.
Steven said that violence has never solved anything and besides he refused to soil his hands with the likes of Godfather unless it was self defense. Godfather chased after Richards, who ran to the back. Bull Buchanan showed up in a white shirt and tie. Bull whipped Godfather into the ring apron. Bull jumped off the top and hit a clothesline off the top. Bull hit a scissors kick on Godfather. Richards ran back out there to take the ladies backstage.
Analysis: It was only Richards as part of the censorship group before this, but now they had Bull Buchanan in the group since Bull was doing nothing at this point in his career. It was the early stages of the Right to Censor group. The “music” was annoying, but you can’t deny the heat that they got.
Kurt Angle was interviewed backstage saying that Triple H was a bad apple with Michael Cole pointing out that Hunter saw Angle hug his wife. Angle said you can hug friends and he hugged Cole. That was it.
(Commercial)
They showed a replay of Bull Buchanan beating up The Godfather while Richards sent the ho’s backstage.
The Godfather was interviewed by Michael Cole. Godfather said that Richards doesn’t know what the people want. Godfather said he’ll show them both just how hard pimping is.
Analysis: The Godfather would eventually turn heel to become The Goodfather as part of the group.
The Degeneration X team of Road Dogg and X-Pac entered for a tag team match. Road Dogg did his usual introduction promo that hyped up the crowd even though they’re a heel team. Too Cool entered as the opponents.
Degeneration X (Road Dogg and X-Pac) vs. Too Cool (Scotty 2 Hotty and Grandmaster Sexay)
Pre-match notes: Degeneration X are the heels while Too Cool are faces.
Dogg charged into Sexay, who got a boot up and Sexay hit a dropkick. Scotty tagged in for a double team clotheslines and a double elbow drop. X-Pac went into the ring, so Too Cool did a double drop toe hold into the groin of Dogg to pop the crowd. X-Pac got in a cheap shot to the back, Dogg with a boot to the face of Scotty and Dogg worked over Scotty with punches as well as a knee drop. X-Pac tagged in with a spin kick on Scotty. Dogg went in for a double team, but Scotty hit a double clothesline. Sexay got the tag with punches and a powerslam on X-Pac. Scotty punched Dogg against the turnbuckle. Scotty hit a bulldog on X-Pac, but then Dogg hit a pumphandle slam on Scotty. The referee was looking at X-Pac, so Sexay went up top and hit a leg drop on Dogg. Scotty went for a pin, but X-Pac saved his partner from getting pinned even though Road Dogg and Scotty were the illegal men in the match. X-Pac sent Scotty into the steps. X-Pac hit the X-Factor on Sexay and pinned him even though the referee counted the two other guys moments earlier. It went 3:52.
Winners by pinfall: Degeneration X (Road Dogg and X-Pac)
Analysis: **1/4 The action was fine and the teams worked well together, but the finish was sloppy. It’s hard to ignore mistakes like that. The referee Earl Hebner counted the pin with the two illegal men in the ring at one point, so he lost complete control of a match that was only four minutes. A lot of these WWE tag teams traded victories.
Shane McMahon was shown talking backstage to Benoit, Edge and Christian. Shane pumped them up telling Benoit he owns The Rock.
The Rock and Acolytes were shown walking backstage for a six-man tag.
(Commercial)
The entrances took place for the six-man tag team match at the top of hour two. The heels were up first with Chris Benoit joined by Shane McMahon. Edge and Christian were the Tag Team Champions that were up next. Christian did a promo about how they are so respected, which led to the crowd booing. Edge said they will forfeit their five-second pose to someone who reeks of awesomeness just as much as them. Edge called it the next WWF Champion as they pointed to Benoit. I don’t post Benoit images. Sorry.
The Acolytes/APA tag team of Faarooq and Bradshaw were up for the face team. The Rock was the WWF Champion and he got a huge pop as usual.
The Rock, Bradshaw and Faarooq vs. Edge, Christian and Chris Benoit (w/Shane McMahon)
Pre-match notes: The Rock’s team were the face while Edge, Christian and Benoit were the heels. The Fully Loaded matches were Rock vs. Benoit for the WWE Title and Edge & Christian vs. Acolytes for the Tag Team Titles.
Rock went right after Benoit with punches. Edge and Christian stomped away on Rock to give the heels the advantage early on. Christian with a boot to the chest, but then Rock came back with a powerslam for two. Faarooq worked over Christian with punches followed by a powerslam of his own. Bradshaw tagged in for a double team spinebuster on Christian for two as Edge broke up the pin. Bradshaw missed a clothesline, then caught Christian and hit a fallaway slam. Edge was in the ring, so Bradshaw gave him a stiff Powerbomb. Benoit went into the ring and attacked Bradshaw from behind while the referee didn’t see it. The fans did the “Shane’s a pu**y” chant at Shane as Benoit worked over Bradshaw with chops, punches and kicks. There were quick tags by the heel Canadians as the fans chanted for Rock. Bradshaw with a forearm to the back followed by a running shoulder tackle on Edge. Faarooq got the tag with a spinebuster on Edge for two as Benoit broke up the pin, so Rock went after Benoit. Rock punched Benoit out of the ring. Rock slammed Benoit’s head into the announce table. Shane jumped on Rock’s back, Benoit grabbed a chair and Benoit hit Rock in the head with the chair. Rock always got his hands up on chair shots, but this one looked brutal even with Rock getting the left hand up. Benoit hit Faarooq in the back with a chair (the referee Tim White never saw it) and Edge hit a DDT on Faarooq for the pinfall win at 5:07.
Winners by pinfall: Edge, Christian and Chris Benoit
Analysis: **3/4 Good stuff here. It would have been nice if it were a little longer, but I like how it was booked and the finish was smart. Rock was barely in the match although I really liked the intensity he showed going after Benoit. The heels won because of cheating, which is certainly fine with me.
The replays focused on Benoit hitting Rock with the steel chair to the head.
(Commercial)
The Rock was shown walking backstage with a steel chair in hand. Rock asked where Benoit was, then wrestlers were in the hallway and they seemed to know. Rock went into the locker room with Rock hitting Benoit with a steel chair. Shane McMahon, Edge and Christian were there, so Rock fought them off while Shane and Benoit left. Rock went after Benoit (with a bloody head) and Shane in the hallway. Rock beat up Benoit by whipping him into lockers and a vending machine. Rock was pushed back by referees. Rock grabbed the steel chair in the dressing room again, then Rock walked back out and walked with the chair. They showed Benoit with Shane by a car. Rock went over to them and hit Benoit in the head with a steel chair. That was a painful looking chair shot. They went over to a limo where The Rock gave Benoit a Rock Bottom on the hood of a limo. Shane grabbed Benoit and they went into the limo. The referees tried to keep The Rock back again. The limo drove off at that point. Rock threw a chair at the limo.
TJR Thoughts: There are a lot of things we can praise The Rock for as a performer because he’s one of the best talkers ever, a very charismatic guy and a pretty good in-ring wrestler too. I think an underrated aspect of The Rock is when he showed off the intense side like he did here as a believable badass that’s a legitimately big guy that could dish out punishment and it looked believable when he did it. This was really well done in terms of Rock getting payback on Benoit for what happened the previous week.
(Commercial)
The announcers talked about Rock’s attack on Benoit as replays aired to show what happened.
Dean Malenko entered as the Light Heavyweight Champion with two young ladies since he was the awkward ladies man. Malenko said you can’t live with women, but lucky for him, you can wrestle them. Malenko said he enjoyed fighting two women, so he called out Ivory and Jacqueline for a shot at the Light Heavyweight Title. Instead, Eddie Guerrero entered with Chyna. Eddie was the European Champion. Chyna noted there was no Ivory or Jacqueline to accept the challenge, but Chyna is free right now. They didn’t specify if it was a title match or not.
Dean Malenko vs. Chyna (w/Eddie Guerrero)
Pre-match notes: Malenko was the heel Light Heavyweight Champion while Chyna was a face.
Chyna with forearms, then a back body drop and a kick to the chest. Chyna fell over after she delivered the kick. Chyna missed a corner attack, Malenko dropkick attempt, Chyna held onto the ropes and Chyna went for a Texas Cloverleaf submission, but Dean quickly got to the bottom rope. Perry Saturn walked out to ringside. Saturn went after Eddie and whipped Eddie into the barricade. Saturn beat on Eddie with punches. Eddie and Saturn went brawling up the ramp with Saturn hitting a powerslam on the steel ramp. Chyna saw what was going on, so she left the ring to check on Eddie. Terri Runnels was at the top of the ramp as Saturn hugged her, so they’re an on screen couple now. Chyna was counted out to give Malenko the win at 2:32.
Winner by countout: Dean Malenko
Analysis: 1/2* It was a nothing match just designed to further the storyline of Saturn going after Guerrero. I guess they didn’t want to beat Chyna by pinfall, so they went for a countout. This wasn’t very interesting to me.
Post match, they focused on Chyna check on Eddie, who took that powerslam on the ramp.
Triple H was asked by Kevin Kelly if he can work with Kurt Angle. Triple H said that Angle is a jerk, he doesn’t like Angle and his wife can’t stand Angle. Hunter said thanks to Commissioner Foley, he is stuck with Angle as his tag team partner. Hunter said that Angle will stand in the corner, keep his mouth shut and listen to what Hunter says in the match. Hunter said when they win, Angle will thank him for allowing him to survive in the ring with Undertaker and Kane. Hunter said if Angle decides to screw with him or Stephanie then Hunter will personally take on Angle.
Tazz was shown walking backstage.
(Commercial)
Let’s Hear from Tazz
Tazz said that everybody is talking about the “new” Tazz and what is his motivation all of a sudden? Tazz talked about Kane getting a steel chair across his head…just another victim. Tazz mentioned hitting Rikishi with a TV camera…just another victim. Tazz spoke about choking out Scotty 2 Hotty…just another victim. Tazz said when he first got there, he said that the mood was about to change and when it did, the fans wanted answers. Tazz said that until the company can find somebody to yank the reason out of his mouth, the path of rage will run roughshod through this joint. Tazz: “Thug life born, thug life bred and when the time is right, I’ll be thug life dead.”
Mick Foley showed up for the interruption. Foley said that watching Tazz interfering in matches is not something he is proud of. Foley told Tazz he will not be interfering in a match at Fully Loaded, he’ll be having a match at Fully Loaded when Mick can find a suitable opponent.
Al Snow went out to the ring with Head. Snow said that for the last seven months, he has been eating, training and on one sad occasion, sharing a room with Steve Blackman. Snow ranted about listening to Blackman talking about human remains. Snow wanted Foley to give him a shot against Tazz. Foley said he enjoyed making fun of Snow in his book, but every time he puts Snow in a big match, Snow chokes and that led to Tazz slapping on the Tazmission on Snow. Foley said that Tazz can face Snow at Fully Loaded.
Analysis: I liked the promo from Tazz. They tried this heel turn with him because he wasn’t doing much as a face. I liked what he said and how he said it. Using Snow to put over Tazz in that situation is fine too.
Stephanie McMahon was interviewed backstage with Michael Cole asked Stephanie about Kurt Angle. Stephanie said she’s a loyal, faithful and committed wife. Stephanie predicted that Undertaker and Kane will lose.
Analysis: That was some bad acting there.
Rikishi was shown walking backstage after they showed his ass. Ugh. Thanks, jerks.
(Commercial)
Test entered with the lovely Trish Stratus, who JR called “Miss Fully Loaded herself.” That’s a fitting name. They replayed Trish putting Lita through the table earlier in the night. Rikishi made his entrance or as JR pronounces it, Rawkishi.
Rikishi vs. Test (w/Trish Stratus)
Pre-match notes: Rikishi was the face while Test was the heel here. Rikishi faces Val Venis at Fully Loaded for the IC Title in a Steel Cage match.
Test with a kick to the chest followed by a boot to the face. Test with a running lefty clothesline. A body slam failed and then Rikishi hit a body slam followed by a leg drop. Rikishi with a running ass splash on Test. Rikishi gave Test the Stinkface, which drew a big pop. Trish went on the apron to distract, Test ran, Rikishi moved and Test knocked Trish off the apron by accident. Rikishi hit a Samoan Drop on Test for the pinfall win at 1:47.
Winner by pinfall: Rikishi
Analysis: * A quick match to put over Rikishi going into his title match at Fully Loaded. This felt like it was rushed.
Post match, Val Venis and Albert went down to ringside to attack Rikishi. Venis hit Rikishi with the steel steps to the face. Too Cool ran down to the ring to help Rikishi out. The six guys ended up fighting up the ramp to the back and that included Scotty doing a bulldog on the stage. Scotty did the WORM on the stage and the dreaded chop to the chest. Venis grabbed Scotty and tossed him off the stage, which led to Scotty bouncing off the “concrete” floor. There was clearly some padding there. Venis stared from the stage while Rikishi and Sexay checked on Scotty.
Analysis: It was a good way to get heat on Venis with a cheap attack.
(Commercial)
They showed Scotty getting taken away on a stretcher, so that’s the second stretcher spot of the night although Lita chose to leave on it.
Val Venis was interviewed by Kevin Kelly while Test, Albert and Trish Stratus were there too. Venis said that Rikishi is doing things for the cheers for the fans, which is what Venis did in his career. Val said that he did nothing for himself and that made him sick, so the days of uttering those words have gone to the wayside. Venis said that he will not be a hard man to find because he’ll be surrounded by a steel cage as he beats Rikishi within an inch of his life and he’ll do it for himself, not the fans.
Analysis: Nice heel promo from Val. I think fans will remember him mostly for his babyface run a few years before this, but I did like this heel run.
The Kaientai duo of Funaki and Taka Michinoku were shown at WWF New York getting drunk. Indeed!
Triple H was warming up with Kurt Angle coming up to him saying he had some ideas for their match. Hunter said that he doesn’t like Kurt, but he’s stuck with him as his partner. Hunter told Kurt to stay out of his way. Angel wondered if he wanted to shake on it or hug. Hunter told him not to screw this up.
The Undertaker and Kane were shown walking in the backstage area.
(Commercial)
It’s main event time on Raw with Kurt Angle out first for the heel team. Triple H was out next with Stephanie McMahon, who was the Women’s Champion that didn’t defend the title often, of course. The Undertaker and Kane entered as the faces with Taker going after Angle as soon as he got down to the ring.
The Undertaker and Kane vs. Kurt Angle and Triple H (w/Stephanie McMahon)
Pre-match notes: The Undertaker and Kane were faces while Angle and Triple H were heels. Undertaker vs. Angle was coming up at Fully Loaded.
There were only six minutes left in the show as the match began with Kane hitting Angle with a clothesline. Kane with a back body drop on Angle. Kane with a corner clothes, but Angle avoided a powerslam. Undertaker tagged in, so Angle tagged in Hunter. Taker with corner clothes followed by a sidewalk slam on Hunter for two as Angle broke up the pin and Angle ran away to avoid Taker. Hunter with a back elbow followed by a clothesline. Angle tagged in, punch to Taker and Angle tagged out. Kane tagged with a two handed choke on Hunter. Triple H hit a neckbreaker on Kane. Angle tagged in with punches and a chop block to Kane’s knee. Kane hit a double suplex on Hunter and Angle at the same time. Kane with a boot to the face of Hunter followed by a powerslam. Kane went up top a clothesline with Angle breaking up the pin. Taker kicked Angle and threw him out of the ring. Taker threw Angle onto the announce table and Angle tried to run away. Angle ran to the back with Undertaker going after him. Hunter wanted a Pedigree, which led to Chris Jericho fighting referees to try to get to ringside. That distracted Hunter, so Kane gave Hunter a Chokeslam for the pinfall win at 5:15.
Winners by pinfall: The Undertaker and Kane
Analysis: **1/2 It wasn’t a clean win because Hunter was distracted, but it was a big win for Kane to pin Triple H like that. They weren’t booking Triple H to lose matches very often during this time. Undertaker didn’t do much other than wanting to go after Angle, who just kept running away from Taker the whole time. It was fine for the time given.
Post match, Jericho went into the ring to go after Triple H. Jericho went after Hunter with punches as a bunch of referees went in the ring to try to break it up. Triple H got out of the ring, so Jericho jumped over the top onto Hunter on the floor while also taking out two referees. Jericho punched Triple H some more. Hunter managed to break free while Jericho stood tall in the ring to end Raw.
Analysis: Nice way to end the show with some excitement. I think it terms of building matches for Fully Loaded, they did the best job with the Triple H and Jericho match, so having it end with Jericho getting revenge on Hunter from the week earlier was a hot way to end Raw this week.
This episode of Raw had a runtime of 1:35:39 on WWE Network.
Three Stars of the Show
- The Rock
- Triple H
- Kurt Angle
Final Thoughts
This Raw episode gets a 7 out of 10.
If you watch these shows for the great in-ring action then you’ll be disappointed because the longest match was over five minutes. What really matters is the storytelling and how well they make us care about every match at the next PPV, Fully Loaded. I was entertained by most of it with the bigger names like The Rock, Triple H and Kurt Angle carrying the show as usual.
I think when you think of the big matches for Fully Loaded and ask yourself if they built to them well, the answer is clearly yes. They did an excellent job in terms of adding to the intensity of the Rock/Benoit rivalry, Angle kept on running from Undertaker and then Jericho got some revenge on Hunter to end Raw. The other matches on the card were built up pretty well too. Longer matches would be nice, but in terms of putting on an exciting show, I think this Raw was successful in that regard.
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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.
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John Canton
Email mrjohncanton@gmail.com
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