RAW
November 19th, 2001
Charlotte Coliseum
Charlotte, North Carolina
 
Dark Matches:
 
1. Albert pins Randy Orton at 5:00.
2. “The One” Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo defeat Brock Lesnar and Ron Waterman at 8:23.
 
11/24 Jakked taping:
 
1. Perry Saturn forces Funaki to submit at 5:31.
2. Christian pins Spike Dudley at 6:39.
3. Tajiri pins Crash Holly at 5:09.
 
Actual Show:
 
We see the opening video for RAW.
 
We see footage from earlier today of WWF Commissioner Mick Foley meeting with Vince McMahon and officially resigning as Commissioner.
 
Vince McMahon comes down to the ring and says that tonight is a night of celebration as the WWF survived last night, and he says that with that in mind they owe one man a debt of gratitude and this man showed his true colors and deserves the accolades and applause. He says that one man is Kurt Angle because thanks to him, the Alliance is dead along with ECW and WCW as the only remnant of WCW left is the WCW Title that the Rock holds. He says that title will now be known simply as the World Championship as they are making changes tonight, and he says that one of them will be someone being the first member of the Vince McMahon Kiss My Ass Club. He says that the club started this morning as he is allowing one member of the Alliance who wants to be employed by the WWF, that member will come to the ring and literally kiss his ass as he says that’s nothing compared to what’s in store for the leader of the Alliance. He says that when Steve Austin arrives, he will execute his plans and it will be a grand night as he notes the empty seat next to Jim Ross, and he says that he wants to address that as to show he is not the tyrant many think, he wants to invite Paul Heyman to the ring as Heyman comes out and goes to the table as he tells Ross that he got away with it before getting in the ring. Vince says that he appreciates people who speak their mind and he remembers some of the things Heyman said about him last week, and he says that he’s all right with it and he wants to exercise his First Amendment rights by saying that Heyman is fired. He tells him to leave as Heyman takes his trench coat off and challenges Vince who takes his jacket off and Heyman quickly leaves the ring, and he lunges at Ross who gets a few shots in until security grab Heyman and carry him to the back as Vince reveals Heyman’s replacement which is Jerry “The King” Lawler who comes down and joins Ross at the table.
 
Your hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler.
 
Commercial break
 
We see highlights from Survivor Series last night.
 
1. Trish Stratus pins Lita (w/ Matt Hardy) with a backslide at 2:44 to retain the WWF Women’s Championship.
 
Analysis: We kick off this edition of RAW with our first title match of the night. Stratus shockingly won the Women’s Title the night before and looks to have her first successful defense here against Lita, who came close to winning the title last night and looks to win it here. Both women get a good pop from the crowd and they are pretty split for the whole match. The two women lock up to start with Stratus hooking a headlock as she works the arm though Lita tries to take control, but Stratus trips and Lita loses her grip though she recovers by hitting a spear for a two count and Stratus gets a knee in. Lita catches her ducking with a sunset flip for a two count and Stratus slingshots her into the ropes for a two count, and she hits a slam on Lita who surprises her with a small package for a two count and she hits a pair of clotheslines on Stratus. She hits a flapjack on Stratus for a two count and pounds on her on the mat as she rams her into the buckle and rams the knee into her ribs, and she whips Stratus into the other corner and splashes her as she whips her back into the other corner though Stratus catches her with a kick. She goes up to the middle rope only to miss the elbow as Lita goes up top only for Stratus to shove her off the top into the barricade, and Matt helps Lita to the feet though Stratus hits a baseball slide that sends Lita into Matt which he gets upset about. He picks Lita up and puts her back in the ring as Stratus hooks a backslide which gets the three and she retains the title. The match itself was decent as both women worked hard and put on a bit of a sloppy title match. Stratus was slowly getting into a groove while Lita was hitting her stride, and they had decent chemistry as Stratus gets a clean title defense. The crowd was into the match and popped for Stratus when she won. Stratus retains the title over Lita and both women move on. Grade: .5
 
We see the Dudley Boyz, Stacy Keibler, Christian, Test, and Rob Van Dam in the dressing room as they talk about what might happen until Vince McMahon comes in, and he says they are the last remnants of the Alliance as he says he invited RVD to join the WWF and he turned him down. He says that RVD must like doing things the hard way and while he doesn’t hold any grudges against them, RVD will compete in a handicap tables match against the Dudleyz which is next and they leave except Christian who says it’s an honor to work with Vince again only for Vince to tell him to leave.
 
Commercial break
 
We see a shot of the parking lot.
 
2. The Dudley Boyz (w/ Stacy Keibler) defeat Rob Van Dam in a handicap Tables match at 4:27.
 
Analysis: Our next match on the card is a big handicap match. RVD and the Dudleyz were among the few Alliance members to keep their jobs due to being champions though they are forced to face off here. RVD gets a good pop from the crowd while the Dudleyz were pretty hot as heels. Bubba offers a handshake to RVD who accepts it to start the match though D-Von gets a cheap shot in, and they pound on RVD who flips over both men and he ducks a double clothesline as he hits a springboard crossbody on both men. He hits a side kick on both men and ducks a clothesline from D-Von who hits Bubba by mistake and RVD hits another side kick on D-Von, and he stomps on D-Von and hits a slam as he hits the Rolling Thunder though Bubba ducks a shot and hits the Bubba Bomb on RVD. He rams RVD into the buckle and pounds on him in the corner as RVD counters a whip with a pair of kicks and he whips Bubba into the corner, and he rams the shoulder into Bubba twice and does a backflip as Bubba avoids a leap with RVD landing on the middle rope. D-Von nails RVD and hits a neckbreaker off the middle rope as Bubba goes outside and grabs a table which he slides into the ring, and D-Von goes outside and grabs another table which he slides into the ring and he sets it up while Bubba props his in the corner. The Dudleyz look for the 3-D though RVD holds the ropes and then pulls it down as D-Von tumbles over the top to the floor, and he hits a spin kick on Bubba and sets the other table up as he kicks at Bubba twice and slides outside. He brings a chair into the ring and tosses it to Bubba as he ducks a swing and hits the Van Daminator on Bubba, and D-Von gets in the ring and nails RVD from behind as he pounds on him only for RVD to escape a slam attempt. D-Von ducks a shot and RVD escapes an inverted suplex attempt as he kicks at D-Von repeatedly and hits a spin kick as D-Von falls onto the table. RVD goes up top though D-Von avoids the 5-Star Frog Splash and RVD crashes through the table in a nasty spot, and the Dudleyz hit the 3-D on RVD though the table doesn’t break and they hit a second 3-D which puts RVD through the table to win the match. The match itself was pretty much a squash as RVD gets a few shots in, but he puts the Dudleyz over in 4 and a half minutes. The crowd was into the match and RVD, but are not happy when the Dudleyz win. The Dudleyz get the win over RVD and all three men move on. Grade: 1
 
We see Kurt Angle arrive to the arena as a tech asks how he’s doing and Angle says he single-handily saved the WWF, and he says that he’s doing great as he asks where he can find the Rock and the tech points him in the right direction.
 
Commercial break
 
We see a shot outside WWF New York and we go inside where Linda McMahon is meeting with fans.
 
We see the Rock in his dressing room as Kurt Angle comes in and says Rock has something to say to him like thanking him for saving his job and the WWF, and he says that Rock got the last pin though he made it happen as Rock says he didn’t ask for or need Angle’s help as he would’ve won on his own. He asks at what point not to let anyone know about his plan with Vince and for one month, Angle went undercover in the Alliance and bashed him and his teammates in the heads with a chair all to have his selfish big moment. Angle says that it was worth it and Rock says it was worth it for what he did just to save the company, and he says that since the company is saved he can try to beat him up tonight as Angle asks if Rock is challenging him to a match. He thanks Rock for that because since he did save the company, he will have no problem beating Rock up for fun and he goes to leave though Rock stops him and says that Angle may have fooled a lot of people, but he will never trust Vince or Angle ever again as Angle isn’t a savior, but an asshole.
 
We see a car pull into the parking lot as Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley step out of it and she complains about them having to drive themselves, and she asks if Vince asked them here to give them their jobs back as Shane tells her it’s time to go.
 
Commercial break
 
We see a shot outside the Charlotte Coliseum.
 
Vince McMahon is in the ring as he says that they have more business to take care of and there will be a World Title match tonight between Rock and Angle, and he says that Austin is not here yet though he did see who did arrive as he asks his children come down to the ring. Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley do come down to the ring as Vince says that he is proud to hear the crowd calling Stephanie a slut. He asks what’s happened to their family and before he gives them a piece of his mind, he wants to give them a chance to speak first as he lets Shane go first and Shane congratulates Vince who won while he lost to the better man and he heads to the back. Vince then turns his attention to Stephanie who says that she’s made some bad mistakes though she is young and naïve, and she says that the biggest mistake she made was listening to Shane as the Alliance was Shane’s idea when he bought WCW and he made her buy ECW so they can bury the WWF. She says that Shane is the one who had her slap Mom which she says was a mistake and when she said she wanted Vince to die, that was Shane’s idea too as she doesn’t want him to die and she loves him and never wants to hurt him. She says that the only thing Shane said that wasn’t a mistake was what he just said a moment ago and Vince is the better man, and she says that Vince is a genius and knew what he was doing the whole time as all she has left to say is she’s sorry. Vince calls for security who get in the ring and she grabs for Vince’s leg until they pull her off as he tells them to get her out of the ring, and they carry her to the back as Vince tells the fans to say goodbye to Daddy’s little girl.
 
Commercial break
 
We see Vince McMahon in the dressing room on the phone with someone talking about how someone from the Alliance will kiss his ass as Chris Jericho comes in, and Vince asks why Jericho took the risk of putting the WWF out of existence by attacking Rock at Survivor Series. Jericho says his ego got the best of him and he’s sorry if that’s what Vince wants to hear as Vince says the apology is sincere, but he doesn’t like guys with big egos so tonight Jericho and his massive ego will face Kane.
 
We see a shot of the parking lot.
 
We see Mr. T in the front row.
 
3. The Rock pins Kurt Angle with a rollup at 6:08 to retain the World Championship.
 
Analysis: Our next match on the card is our second and final title match of the night. Rock has been rolling as World Champion and faces a tough challenge here in Angle, who was revealed as the mole that put the Alliance out of business and now he looks to become champion again. Rock gets a big pop from the crowd while Angle was red hot as a heel. The two men have a staredown to start the match and Angle slaps Rock in the face as he knocks him down and stomps on him repeatedly, and he pounds on Rock who reverses a whip and he pounds on Angle as he hits a Samoan drop and pounds on Angle on the mat. He knocks Angle down and Angle reverses a whip as Rock catches him ducking with a kick only for Angle to send him over the top to the floor, and Angle goes outside and throws Rock back into the ring as he hits a back suplex for a two count and hooks the Ankle Lock on though Rock escapes by kicking him off. Angle hits a belly-to-belly suplex on Rock and stomps on him repeatedly as he chokes him on the ropes and pounds on him, and Rock battles back until Angle ducks a shot as he hits a trio of German suplexes for a two count and pounds on him on the mat. He hits a slam on Rock and goes up top only for Rock to crotch him on the top rope as he goes up himself and hits a back superplex, and he fires up on Angle who counters a whip with a clothesline though Rock nips up and continues to pound on Angle. Angle counters a whip and gets a kick in as Rock reverses a whip and hits a belly-to-belly suplex on Angle, and he gets a kick in and hits a DDT on Angle for a two count as Angle rakes the eyes and pounds on Rock who catches him in a spinebuster. He looks for the Rock Bottom though Angle escapes and gets a kick in as he hits the Angle Slam and hooks the Ankle Lock on, but Rock rolls through and hooks a rollup which gets the three and he retains the title. The match itself was good as both men worked hard for the time they got and put on a solid title match. Both men were hitting their stride by this point and still had great chemistry as Rock gets a clean title defense. The crowd was into the match and popped for Rock when he won. Rock retains the title over Angle and both men move on. Grade: 2
 
After the match, Angle stomps on Rock repeatedly and pounds on him as Rock counters a whip and hits the Rock Bottom on Angle, but then Chris Jericho runs down to the ring and nails Rock from behind as he pounds on him on the mat and drops an elbow on him. Angle shoves Jericho away and hooks the Ankle Lock on Rock while Jericho taunts him until the ref pulls Angle off, and he heads to the back as Jericho trips Rock up and hooks the Walls of Jericho on until a second ref runs out and they pull Jericho off. Jericho gets away from them and hooks the Walls of Jericho back on Rock until the refs pull him off again and force him to the back.
 
Commercial break
 
Vince McMahon is in the ring and says that everyone needs to get their cameras ready because this will be a memorable moment, and he says that he’s still waiting for Austin’s arrival though now would be the best time to see who he has selected from the Alliance to give them employment and join his Kiss My Ass Club. He says that he wants to welcome William Regal who comes down to the ring as Vince says Regal has been practicing his puckering and to kiss his ass, and Regal asks what Vince would like him to do and Vince says that he meant it when he said that if Regal wants to be employed, he must kiss his ass right now and Regal says Vince isn’t serious in that he has to do it in front of all the fans. Vince says that’s exactly what he means as he asks if Regal really wants his job and there is a line of guys willing to do it, and he says Regal doesn’t have to and Regal says he wants his job as Vince takes his jacket off and he tells Ross and Lawler to pardon him as he tells Regal to get on his knees which he does. He says that this won’t hurt and tells him to pucker up though he tells him to wait as he pulls his pants down and says Regal does want to be employed, and he tells Regal to kiss his ass though he tells him to wait as he pulls his underwear down as well and tells him to kiss as he says it’s a nice looking ass. He says that he can make his ass do tricks as he smacks it together and tells Regal to kiss his ass though tells him again to wait, and he pulls out some chap stick as he says he doesn’t want Regal to have chapped lips and he gives it to Regal who puts some on his lips. Vince tells him one more time to kiss his ass which Regal does and he heads to the back as Vince looks pleased with himself.
 
We see Kane walking down the hallway.
 
Commercial break
 
We see William Regal backstage as he yells at techs thinking they are laughing at him until he runs into Tazz who shakes his head and Regal asks if he has something to say, and he says that Tazz would’ve done the same thing as Tazz calls him a kiss-ass and Regal nails him from behind before walking away.
 
4. Kane defeats Chris Jericho by disqualification at 3:06.
 
Analysis: Our last match before the main event is a pretty big matchup. Jericho nearly cost the WWF everything last night by attacking the Rock so he put in this match against Kane as punishment. Kane gets a good pop from the crowd while Jericho gets a mixed reaction from the crowd. Jericho wastes no time and attacks Kane to start the match as he pounds on Kane who reverses a whip and hits a flapjack, and he hits a clothesline on Jericho and grabs him by the throat as he tosses him into the corner and pounds on him in the corner. He whips Jericho into the other corner and Jericho catches him with a boot to the face as he ducks a shot and Kane hoists him onto his shoulder, but Jericho slides off and snaps the back of Kane’s head off the top rope as he drapes him on the apron and drives the elbow into him repeatedly. He slingshots Kane throat first into the bottom rope and kicks at him as he pounds on him and Kane battles back, and Jericho catches him ducking with a swinging neckbreaker and pounds on him as he hit a second swinging neckbreaker and slaps Kane in the face. He looks for the Lionsault only for Kane to block it by grabbing Jericho by the throat though Jericho hits a low blow and the running bulldog, and he goes outside and brings a chair into the ring only for Kane to catch him with a big boot and he fires up on Jericho. He whips Jericho into the corner and splashes him as he whips him into the other corner and hits a tilt-a-whirl powerslam, and he goes up top only for Jericho to catch him coming in with the chair which draws the DQ and Kane wins the match. The match itself was nothing much as Kane pretty much dominated the match until Jericho gets himself DQ’ed at the end. The crowd was into the match and Kane, but are not happy with the ending. Kane gets the win over Jericho by DQ and both men move on. Grade: 1
 
After the match, Jericho hits Kane in the back with the chair and looks for the Walls of Jericho though he has trouble hooking it on twice before hooking it on the third try, and the ref pulls him off and he goes to leave though he puts the Walls of Jericho back on Kane until the ref pulls him off again.
 
Commercial break
 
We see Kurt Angle walking backstage complaining about not being appreciated until he runs into Edge and asks if Edge has something to say to him, and he says that Edge is probably feeling foolish for calling him yellow last week and Edge says that he has two more titles than Angle which saved his job. He says that he knows Angle and he put himself in a no-lose situation as he was probably playing both sides, and he says that he did what he did for one person only which was himself and he walks away as Angle is left stewing.
 
We see a shot of the parking lot.
 
Commercial break
 
5. William Regal forces Tazz to tap out at :53.
 
Analysis: After a fairly quick and interesting night of wrestling, we come to our main event. Tazz had made fun of Regal earlier for Regal kissing Vince’s ass and Regal attacked him which led to this match being made. Tazz gets a mixed reaction from the crowd while Regal was pretty hot as a heel. Regal wastes no time and attacks Tazz to start the match as Tazz pounds on Regal in the corner and stomps on him, but Regal turns it around and pounds on Tazz in the corner until Tazz turns it around and pounds on Regal in the corner. He whips Regal into the other corner and hits a clothesline as he ducks a shot and hooks the Tazzmission on, but Regal escapes by ramming Tazz into the corner repeatedly and hits a running kneelift as he hooks the Regal Stretch on Tazz who taps out and Regal wins. The match itself was pretty much a squash as Tazz puts Regal over in 53 seconds. The crowd was into the match and Tazz, but are not happy when Regal wins. Regal gets the quick win over Tazz and both men move on. Grade: DUD
 
We see Kurt Angle in his dressing room as Vince McMahon comes in and asks what’s wrong as Angle says he lost to Rock who he had beat, and he says no one has thanked him for what he did besides Vince and Vince says that he wants to show him his appreciation as he holds up the WWF Championship. He asks if Angle wants to be WWF Champion and Angle says he’d be honored as Vince says they should take a walk to the ring.
 
Commercial break
 
Vince McMahon and Kurt Angle come down to the ring as Vince has the WWF Championship with him and he wants to say on behalf of every fan in the arena, he wants to say thank you to Angle because Angle is an Olympic Hero, an American Hero, and a WWF Hero as well as everyone’s hero. He says that since Steve Austin has chosen to be his typical self and not show up the night after he is defeated, he can stay there because they need a WWF Champion with dignity, class, and credibility. He says that they need Angle as champion and he hoped Austin would be here so he could strip him of the title, but in the absence of that he want to announce as the sole owner of the WWF only for Ric Flair to come down to the ring. Vince says he almost forgot and it’s typical because this is Flair’s hometown as Flair says he needs to listen to the crowd, and Vince says that’s fine though this is his ring and he wants an explanation as Flair says that it all revolves around the fact that he bet on a winner last night. He says that he sat home on the big side of town and bet on a winner last night as he wants to say Angle has a legacy and this isn’t the way to win the World Title, and he says that Angle needs to be a man and win it the right way as Vince says it was nice to see him and goodbye. Flair says that Shane and Stephanie sold their stocks to a consortium which he reveals was himself and that makes them partners, and then Steve Austin comes down to the ring as Angle tries to explain that Austin should understand what he did only for Austin to hit a clothesline. He pounds on Angle on the mat and stomps on him repeatedly as Vince tries to pull him off only for Austin to pound on Vince on the mat, and he stomps on Vince repeatedly and continues to pound on him before tossing him to the outside. Angle helps Vince up the ramp as Austin stares down Flair and takes the belt from him while Flair smiles, and Austin and Flair share some beers as we go off the air.
 
Final Analysis: Overall, this edition of RAW was a pretty memorable episode coming off a great PPV and the end of what was the dominant storyline of the year. After six months of the invasion being the predominant story, we basically hit the reset button here as we wait to see how the remnants of the Alliance get circled back in. We did have two title matches as Rock and Stratus retain their titles while the Dudleyz, Kane, and Regal get big wins, and the matches were secondary as Shane, Stephanie, and Heyman were shown the door, Vince debuted his new club, and we got the surprise return of Ric Flair. 2001 has been a great year for the WWF as they were still going pretty strong and it will be interesting to see how the year comes to an end. As for this show, it is a very memorable show to officially put a bow on the invasion and reset the company heading into 2002. Final Grade: B