OCTOBER 20, 2003 - Monday Night RAW
Four weeks away from Survivor Series, tonight the five members of The People's Team will face off in a series of singles matches against their opponents from The Peepulation. But first, the Big Red Monster Kane kicks things off against Val Venis. The two trade slams to start until Val hits a shoulder slam to set up for the Money Shot, but he lands on Kane's knees. Kane hits a neckbreaker, a backbreaker, and a spinebuster (the dreaded trio of -er moves). Val fights out of a hammerlock and lands a piledriver for two, but Kane bounces right back up with fists. Goldberg comes down the aisle with a chair. Val goes to whip Kane toward him, but Kane reverses, and Val slams into the chair! Kane covers Val and gets the win. After the match, Kane unloads on both Val and Goldberg, clearing the area.
Tommy Dreamer, who will represent Team Extreme at Survivor Series faces off against one of the participants in the cruiserweight SS match, Rico. Tommy chops Rico to the mat, but misses a legdrop. Dropkick and heel kick from Rico for two. Dreamer hits a slam and locks in a full nelson, then a lifting DDT. Rico fights back and lands a Thump in the corner. Tommy fights out of a grapple, though, and lands the Dreamer Driver for three.
It's time for our first of five SS preview matches as Hurricane takes on Scott Steiner in a battle of WCW alumni. Hurricane hits a DDT to start the match and locks in a full nelson. Steiner fights back with a headbutt, then a neckbreaker, a spinebuster, and a big forearm in the corner. Hurricane hits a series of kicks, then a modified Stunner out of the corner for two. Flying axe handle, then a big kick, and Hurricane is pressing his advantage. He charges into the corner, but eats a big boot. Another neckbreaker, another spinebuster, and the Steiner Spiral, and Big Poppa Pump walks away with the win.
Backstage, the five members of Team Extreme cut a promo about Triple H and how the Game Changers are going to be taken to the extreme at Survivor Series.
The next match is Goldberg vs. Test, and it was - surprise surprise! - terrible. Kane hit Goldberg with a chair to allow Test to hit the Big Boot and steal the win. Afterwards, Kane chokeslams Goldberg and leaves him laying.
Mercifully, the next match is Shawn Michaels vs. Matt Hardy Version 1.0! Shawn bitchslaps Matt to start the match, but blows a legdrop. Matt hits a big spinning kick, then a second-rope back heel kick. He goes for an elbow and misses, then HBK hits a dropkick to the knee. HBK takes to the air and gets two. Big slingshot by HBK. But Matt catches him out of nowhere with Sweet Chin Music! HBK kicks out at two after his own move. Matt goes for a slam, but HBK slides out of it, then lands Sweet Chin Music of his own! That gets the pin. Afterwards, Randy Orton hits the ring and lands an RKO!
Up next is a six-man tag match pitting all three of the Dudley Boyz against the three members of Evolution. You know Evo heard the Team Extreme promo earlier and will be out for revenge. I'm getting a little tired of trying to translate EWR speak into a coherent recap, so I'm just going to say that Batista pins D-Von following a Batista Bomb.
Backstage, all five members of The Peepulation cut a promo on The People's Team. Basically, Christian's main point is Peeps > People.
It's a battle of two of the most exciting performers in wrestling today - Rob Van Dam vs. Chris Jericho! RVD hits a bunch of kicks. Jericho hits some high-flying moves. Booker T hits Jericho with a chair. RVD hits the Five-Star. After the match, Booker keeps pounding on Jericho and hits the Book End.
More WCW alumni are up next as Booker T faces William Regal. Unfortunately, the match wasn't very good (67% quality
), so I'll just say that Jericho gets revenge by costing Booker the match the same way as Booker did in the last segment as Regal hits the Power of the Punch for the win. Jericho ties Booker in the ropes, then lays him out with an unprotected chair shot, shades of Raven/Tommy Dreamer. Jericho goes for another, but is dragged away by an army of referees.
It's main event time, and it's a battle between the captain of The People's Team - The Rock and the captain of The Peepulation - Christian! These two will face off at Survivor Series, but tonight they go one-on-one. Rock dominates early. Christian fights back, but then Rock takes control again. Rock Bottom for the win, then afterwards HHH lays the champ out with a chair. Wow. Lots of chairshots tonight.
This week's RAW turned into a battleground for long-running bad blood. Expressing frustration over the lack of control demonstrated by the men who interfered in matches tonight, GM Eric Bischoff has announced that next week on RAW it will be The Rock vs. Triple H, Shawn Michaels vs. Randy Orton, and Goldberg vs. Kane! Booker T was injured at the hands of Jericho and may not make it to Survivor Series. Jericho will be in action, though, against The People's Team's Hurricane. Plus, Team Extreme will take on The Peepulation in a match-up of Survivor Series teams! You don't want to miss next week's RAW as the road to Survivor Series continues to heat up!