Smackdown
March 21st, 2002 (taped March 19th)
Corel Centre
Ottawa, Quebec, Canada
 
Dark Matches:
 
1. Scotty 2 Hotty and Albert defeat Justin Credible and Billy Kidman.
2. Tommy Dreamer defeats Randy Orton.
 
3/24 Sunday Night Heat taping:
 
1. Val Venis defeats Lance Storm.
2. The Big Show and Kane defeat the Dudley Boyz.
3. Rikishi defeats Goldust.
4. Rob Van Dam pins Mr. Perfect.
 
Actual Show:
 
We see the opening video for Smackdown.
 
Your hosts are Michael Cole and Jerry “The King” Lawler.
 
Kurt Angle comes out to do commentary for the first match.
 
1. Booker T pins Edge with the scissors kick at 4:30.
 
Analysis: We kick off this edition of Smackdown with a rematch from WM. Edge defeated Booker 5 nights ago in Toronto and now Booker comes here looking for revenge. Edge gets a big pop from his home country while Booker had solid heat as a heel. The two men lock up to start with Booker getting a knee in and he pounds on Edge in the corner as Edge reverses a whip into the other corner, and he avoids a boot by sliding out of the ring and he trips Booker up before going up top and he hits a clothesline for a two count. Booker gets a shot in and Edge counters a whip as he hits a backbreaker on Booker for a two count and pounds on him, and he hits a clothesline on Booker for a two count and Booker counters a whip with a back elbow as he hits a short clothesline on Edge. He pounds on him in the corner and stomps on him repeatedly as he hits a snapmare and hooks a submission on, and Edge fights to his feet and tries to break the hold only for Booker to get a shot in and Edge reverses a whip into the corner. Booker catches him with a back elbow and Edge hits a flapjack as he fires up on Booker and hits an atomic drop, and he hits a clothesline and a flying forearm on Booker who catches him ducking with a kick though Edge ducks a shot and hits the modified facebuster. He goes up top as Angle leaves the table and gets on the apron only for Edge to kick him back to the floor and he hits a crossbody on Angle, and he rolls back into the ring and ducks a shot only for Booker to get a kick in though he misses the scissors kick and Edge hits the Edge-o-Matic for a two count. He gets a kick in and looks for the Edgecution though Booker blocks it and Edge ducks a side kick as Booker hits the ref by mistake, and Edge hits the spear on Booker though the ref is still down as Angle gets in the ring and hits a clothesline on Edge. He hits the Angle Slam on Edge and rolls out of the ring as Booker hits the scissors kick on Edge which gets the three and he wins the match. The match itself was decent as both men worked hard and put on a solid match. Both men were hitting their groove by this point and still had good chemistry, but this was more about Angle costing Edge the match after what happened on RAW 3 nights ago. The crowd was into the match and Edge, but are not happy when Booker wins. Booker gets the win over Edge and both men move on. Grade: 1.5
 
We see Hulk Hogan walking down the hallway as he runs into Vince McMahon who says that he’ll be damned that Hogan is standing in front of him, and he says that he invented sports entertainment and he made Hogan though he doesn’t want to talk about the past. He says that when Hogan goes into business for himself, he always falls on his ass and him turning on the nWo wasn’t cool though he will let bygones be bygones. He says that he is holding the #1 draft choice in his hands right now and he wants to know if Hogan wants to be it, and he says that he wants Hogan to think about the two of them working together and Hogan taking direction from him. He says that Hogan can take the night off and think about it as Hogan says if it’s all the same to him, he will think about it but he thinks he’s going to stay as he walks away.
 
Commercial break
 
We see the APA playing cards in their office as they see William Regal and Bradshaw asks him for $5, and Regal says that he’ll miss their parties as he brings up the draft which they joke about and Regal says that they might be split up though they say one of them might be on the same show as Regal and they can continue kicking his ass. Regal walks away in disgust as he runs into Diamond Dallas Page and he says he can’t help why Regal is bringing up bad things that could happen because of the draft, and he says that Regal must be mad because he lost the IC Title at WM and walked out a loser as Regal says he’s mad that someone like Page is the European Champion. He says that Page should put the title on the line against him so he can take out some of his anger, and Page says that’s great and when he beats Regal, he’ll forget about losing the IC Title which isn’t a bad thing, it’s a good thing.
 
We see the Outsiders in their dressing room as Scott Hall says that Kevin Nash is making his in-ring debut on Smackdown tonight and he will show Rock who the great one is tonight, and Nash says he will do what Hogan couldn’t do at WM and that’s kick Rock’s ass.
 
Commercial break
 
2. Lita and Trish Stratus defeat Jazz and Ivory when Stratus pins Jazz at 4:18.
 
Analysis: Our next match on the card is our first tag match of the night. Jazz and Ivory attacked Lita and Stratus after their match on RAW and now Lita and Stratus team up here to get revenge. Lita and Stratus get a good pop from the crowd while Jazz and Ivory had decent heat as heels. Stratus starts off the match with Ivory and they lock up with Ivory hooking a headlock and she works the arm, and she goes behind Stratus who hits a back elbow though Ivory gets a kick in and pounds on Stratus. Stratus catches her ducking with a kick and hooks a rollup for a two count as Ivory hits a clothesline and stomps on Stratus repeatedly, and she rams Stratus into the buckle and rams the shoulder into her ribs repeatedly as she gets a knee in and pounds on her. She whips Stratus into the other corner and Stratus hits a springboard crossbody for a two count as Jazz breaks it up, and Ivory stomps on Stratus and hits a slam as Jazz tags in and hits a legdrop on Stratus for a two count. She pounds on Stratus and knocks her down as she gets a shot in on Lita and Ivory comes in as she and Jazz hook a double Boston crab on Stratus, and she pounds on Stratus and stomps on her repeatedly in the corner as she whips her into the other corner only to miss a charge. Lita gets the hot tag and hits a clothesline on Jazz as she knocks Ivory off the apron and she hits a pair of clotheslines on both women, and she hits a dropkick on Jazz and kicks at Ivory who reverses a whip and Lita hits a headscissors on her. Jazz ducks a shot and hotshots Lita on the top buckle as Stratus makes a blind tag and goes up top as she hits a crossbody on Jazz for a two count, and Ivory knocks Lita to the floor and stomps on Stratus along with Jazz as they pound on her until Stratus ducks a double clothesline. Lita trips Ivory up and pulls her outside as Stratus hits the Chick Kick and Stratusfaction on Jazz which gets the three and she wins the match for her team. The match itself was decent as both teams worked hard and put on a basic tag match. Lita and Stratus looked good as a team as did Ivory and Jazz and they had good chemistry as Stratus pins the champion to win the match. The crowd was into the match and popped for Lita and Stratus when they won. Stratus and Lita get the win over Ivory and Jazz as both teams move on. Grade: 1.5
 
Lilian Garcia interviews Rob Van Dam, who says that it was cool winning the IC Title at WM and he knows both owners will want him on their show, and he says it doesn’t matter where he goes because he will still be RVD.
 
Commercial break
 
Lorillard Tobacco Prevention Whack of the Night: Brock Lesnar making his debut on RAW 3 nights ago
 
3. William Regal forces Diamond Dallas Page to pass out at 3:54 to win the WWF European Championship.
 
Analysis: Our next match on the card is our first title match of the night. Page has been rolling as European Champion and faces a tough challenge here in Regal, who lost the IC Title at WM and looks to become a champion again. Page gets a good pop from the crowd while Regal was pretty hot as a heel. The two men lock up to start with Regal hooking a headlock and he knocks Page down for a series of two counts as he pounds on him in the corner, and Page reverses a whip into the other corner and he hits a backdrop on Regal as he pounds on him until Regal ducks a shot only for Page to hit a clothesline. Regal reverses a whip and both men block a hiptoss attempt as Page gets a knee in and hits a swinging neckbreaker for a two count, and Regal blocks the Diamond Cutter and hits a headbutt to the ribs as he hits a running kneelift on Page for a pair of two counts. He hits a pair of knees to Page’s face and stomps on him repeatedly as Page tries to battle back until Regal hits a drop toehold, and he pounds on the back of Page’s head and hits a suplex for a two count as he pounds on Page and hits a modified neckbreaker for a two count. He stomps on Page in the corner repeatedly until Page throws him into the corner and pounds on him as he whips him into the other corner, and he hits a clothesline on Regal and gets a kick in as he hits a sitdown powerbomb for a two count and he gets a knee in. He hits a DDT on Regal for a two count as Christian runs down to ringside and pulls Page off the pin before getting on the apron, and Page knocks him to the floor as Regal puts on the brass knuckles and he knocks Page out with them before hooking the Regal Stretch on as Page passes out and we have a new champion. The match itself was decent as both men worked hard and put on a basic title match. Page was clearly slowing down by this point while Regal was hitting his groove as well, and they had decent chemistry as Christian costs Page the title. The crowd was into the match and Page, but are not happy when Regal wins. Regal gets the win over Page and is once again European Champion as both men move on. Grade: 1.5
 
Commercial break
 
We see a shot outside the Corel Centre.
 
Chris Jericho and Stephanie McMahon come down to the ring as he tells everyone to enjoy seeing him without the Undisputed Title, and he says that everyone needs to soak it up because it won’t last as on RAW when they face Triple H in a handicap match, he will retake what is his and there is nothing that anyone can do about it. He says that Triple H robbed him of the title at WM, but the fans won’t rob him of his dignity or his self-respect and he is the man who beat the Rock and Steve Austin on the same night, and he says that he is the man who put Triple H out for 8 months and he is the only man who can say he was the first Undisputed Champion in history. He says that Triple H beat him on a fluke though Triple H is terrified of him and he is scared of him which is why he insisted on Stephanie being his partner, and he says that Triple H knows he can’t beat him twice and if they lose, Stephanie has to leave the WWF which won’t happen. He says that he will not allow such a tragedy to happen and the WWF needs Stephanie as she says that everyone needs her, but then Triple H comes out on the stage and Jericho says that he’s glad Triple H came out here because he will finish off his career on Monday. Triple H says that Liberace called and wants his pajamas back as he asks if Jericho said that we need Stephanie, and he says that maybe Jericho is right and the WWF can’t have enough of a whiny, conniving bitch like her. He says that he wants to show everyone the contributions of Stephanie as he has a video played highlighting Stephanie’s most embarrassing moments, and he says that she has been a barrel of laughs and perhaps he was wrong in that maybe she should stay though the fans boo. He asks who thinks Stephanie should leave the WWF and the fans pop as they start singing the “Goodbye” song and she demands they stop singing, and Triple H says that settles that and as far as Jericho goes, he earned his respect at WM and he was the first Undisputed Champion in history though that doesn’t make him the best. He says that Jericho went into WM thinking he was unbeatable though he didn’t take into account he was coming up against the unstoppable force, and he says this Monday won’t be different as he will still be the Undisputed Champion when he beats them and Stephanie will be gone. He says that WM was the start of a whole new game which is forever and she says that Triple H is wrong, and she says that she’s made many contributions to the WWF and she has a surprise because neither he nor Jericho will be champion after Monday. She says that she talked to her daddy and the match will no longer be a handicap match as it will now be a triple threat match, and she says that while it will be embarrassing for Triple H to lose the title to Jericho, it will be the ultimate humiliation for him to lose it to her. She says that not only will she not leave the WWF, but after Monday she will be the first female Undisputed WWF Champion.
 
Commercial break
 
Lilian Garcia interviews Chris Jericho, who says that he knows Stephanie had something up her sleeve as she can become champion after Monday night, and he says that if he pins Stephanie he becomes champion.
 
4. Test pins Tajiri (w/ Torrie Wilson) with the big boot at 3:54.
 
Analysis: Our next match on the card is a pretty interesting matchup. Tajiri has been cruising as Cruiserweight Champion and looks to get a win here over Test, who was also cruising in the midcard and looks to get a win here. Tajiri gets a good pop from the crowd while Test had decent heat as a heel. Test gets a knee in and pounds on Tajiri to start the match as Tajiri ducks a shot and hits a spin kick on Test, and he goes up top only for Test to crotch him on the top rope and he pounds on him before stomping on him repeatedly. He hits a back elbow and whips Tajiri into the other corner as he splashes him and he whips Tajiri back into the other corner before splashing him again, and he hits a short clothesline on Tajiri for a two count and then he hits a slam only to miss an elbow and Tajiri tries to battle back. Test gets a knee in and Tajiri slides under him as Test catches a kick attempt and Tajiri ducks a shot before hitting a superkick, and he pounds on Test in the corner and Test reverses a whip into the other corner as he catches him on a leap only for Tajiri to slide off his shoulder and he sends Test into the corner. Tajiri gets a kick in and hits a tornado DDT on Test for a two count as he kicks at his leg and Test reverses a whip into the corner, but he misses a charge as Tajiri hooks the Tarantula on Test and he attempts a sunset flip though Test sits on top of him. Tajiri bridges out of the pin and Test ducks the kick as he trips Tajiri up though Tajiri avoids the big boot and he hits a superkick, and Test reverses a whip and catches Tajiri on the handspring elbow attempt as he hits a full nelson slam for a two count. Wilson gets on the apron and Test grabs her by the hair as he shoves her to the floor and Tajiri kicks him in the face for a two count, and he pounds on Test who counters a whip by getting a kick in and Tajiri escapes a powerbomb attempt only for Test to hit the big boot which gets the three and he wins the match. The match itself was nothing much as both men worked hard and put on a basic match. Both men were hitting their groove by this point and had decent chemistry as Test gets the clean win. The crowd was into the match and Tajiri, but are not happy when Test wins. Test gets the win over Tajiri and both men move on. Grade: 1
 
We see Vince McMahon and the Outsiders in Vince’s office as Vince says that he has a feeling they will make a statement tonight when Nash faces Rock, and he says that he has a feeling that the Brahma Bull will be castrated tonight as Hall asks about the draft. Vince says that he’s made sure they will be drafted as a unit and he’s certain Ric Flair doesn’t want any more of the poison.
 
Commercial break
 
Stacker 2 Burn of the Night: Linda McMahon announcing the brand extension and draft on RAW 3 nights ago
 
5. The Hurricane and Might Molly wrestle to a no contest at 1:00.
 
Analysis: Our next match on the card is a pretty interesting matchup. Molly had defeated Hurricane at WM to win the Hardcore Title under the 24/7 rule and Hurricane comes here looking for revenge. Both get a decent pop from the crowd and they are pretty split for the match. Molly tries to explain herself and offers a handshake to start the match as Hurricane accepts it only for Molly to get a kick in, and he catches a kick attempt and grabs Molly by the throat though he lets her go and goes to leave only for Molly to knock him to the apron. She stomps on him repeatedly and pounds on him in the corner as she whips him into the other corner and hits a handspring elbow, and she hits a dropkick on Hurricane who backdrops her over the top to the floor and he goes up top only for Brock Lesnar to come out of the crowd into the ring as the ref calls the match off. The match was nothing as Molly pretty much dominated with Hurricane not fighting back until Lesnar comes out. The crowd was in and out of it for the match and are not happy with the ending. The match ends with no winner and both move on. Grade: DUD
 
After the match, Lesnar picks Hurricane up and slams him to the mat as he hoists him onto his shoulders and hits the spinning flapjack, and Paul Heyman and Molly both get in the ring as Lesnar hits a clothesline on Molly and he stands tall with Heyman.
 
We see the Undertaker arrive to the arena as he asks a stagehand where Ric Flair’s office is and he heads toward it.
 
Commercial break
 
We see Ric Flair in his office on the phone with someone when the Undertaker walks in and asks how Flair is feeling after what happened at WM, and Flair says he’s still here and Taker says he saw Flair put the Figure-4 on Vince on RAW while he was off. He says that he’s here now and wanted to ask him a favor as they have the brand extension coming up, and he says that he wants Flair to draft him to RAW because leading into WM with everything going down, they had a WM moment. He says that he wants Flair to draft him so he can have a WM moment every day of his life and he wants him to think about it.
 
We see Billy and Chuck in their dressing room as they ask if this is a good idea though they say he is the best there is so they had to bring him in, and then Rico walks in and says this is pathetic as he doesn’t know how they live with themselves and they are going to have a full makeover after their match.
 
Commercial break
 
Lugz Boot of the Week: Stacy Keibler costing the Dudley Boyz their match and being put through a table 3 nights ago on RAW
 
6. Billy and Chuck (w/ Rico) defeat the Hardy Boyz when Billy pins Matt at 3:37 to retain the WWF Tag Team championships.
 
Analysis: Our last match before the main event is our second and final title match of the night. Billy and Chuck have been rolling as tag champions and face a tough challenge here in the Hardyz, who came close to winning the titles at WM and look to become champions here. The Hardyz get a good pop from the crowd while Billy and Chuck had decent heat as heels as they debut their new stylist, Rico. Matt starts off the match with Chuck and he ducks a shot as he goes behind Chuck and hooks a headlock, and Chuck whips Matt into the corner only to miss a charge and Matt hooks a rollup for a two count as Chuck hits a clothesline. He pounds on Matt who catches him ducking with a swinging neckbreaker for a two count and Chuck rakes the eyes before tagging Billy, and Matt sends Billy into a shot from Jeff who tags in and they stomp on Billy repeatedly in the corner as Jeff pounds on him. Billy reverses a whip and Jeff ducks a shot as he hits a high crossbody for a two count and he kicks at him, and Billy reverses a whip and Chuck gets a shot in from the apron as Jeff knocks him to the floor and Billy hits a tilt-a-whirl powerslam on Jeff. Chuck tags in and stomps on Jeff repeatedly as he hits a spinning punch and Jeff tries to battle back only for Chuck to hit a back elbow, and Billy tags in as Jeff ducks a double clothesline attempt and he hits a double dropkick on both men. Matt gets the hot tag and hits a series of clotheslines on Billy and Chuck as he hits a backdrop on Chuck, and Jeff trips Billy up and hits a legdrop to the groin as Matt pounds on Chuck in the corner and whips him into the other corner. The Hardyz hit Poetry in Motion on Chuck and Matt pounds on Billy as he whips him into the corner though Billy avoids Poetry in Motion with Jeff landing on the middle rope, and Matt hits a tornado DDT on Billy as Jeff goes up top only for Chuck to shove him off the top to the floor. Matt knocks Chuck to the floor and goes up to the middle rope as he hits a legdrop on Billy for a two count with Rico throwing Jeff into the pin to break it up, and Matt gets a kick in though Billy blocks the Twist of Fate by shoving Matt off and Rico gets on the apron. He hotshots Matt on the top rope and Billy hits the Fameasser which gets the three and he retains the titles. The match itself was decent as both teams worked hard and put on a solid title match. Both teams were hitting their stride and they had good chemistry as Rico helps the champs retain. The crowd was into the match and the Hardyz, but are not happy when Billy and Chuck win. Billy and Chuck retain the titles over the Hardyz as both teams move on. Grade: 1.5
 
Commercial break
 
7. The Rock defeats Kevin Nash (w/ Scott Hall) by disqualification at 7:12.
 
Analysis: After a fairly quick and interesting night of wrestling, we come to our main event. Rock was still having issues with the Outsiders and he comes here to face Nash, who was looking to take out Rock here. Rock gets a huge pop from the crowd while Nash was pretty hot as a heel. The two men have a staredown to start the match as Rock pounds on Nash who hits a short clothesline, and he drives the elbow into the back of Rock’s head and pounds on him as Rock tries to battle back until Nash gets a knee in. He hoists Rock onto his shoulder and hits Snake Eyes as he chokes Rock on the ropes and Hall does the same from the floor, and Nash slams down on Rock’s back and continues to choke him on the ropes as Hall gets a shot in and Nash chokes Rock with his boot in the corner. Hall gets on the apron and hits a clothesline on Rock as Nash rams the knee into Rock repeatedly in the corner and pounds on him, and he hits a pair of back elbows on Rock who battles back only for Nash to send him over the top to the floor. Nash goes outside and hoists Rock onto his shoulder only for Rock to slide off and he sends Nash into the post, and he throws Nash back into the ring as Hall pounds on Rock and throws him back into the ring as Nash hits a sidewalk slam for a two count. He hooks a bearhug on Rock and pounds on him as he hooks the bearhug back on and Rock fights his way out of the hold, and he ducks a shot and hits a flying clothesline on Nash as he gets a kick in and hits a DDT while Hall gets in the ring. Rock pounds on him and knocks him over the top to the floor as he hits the spinebuster on Nash and then he hits the People’s Elbow, but Hall gets in the ring and breaks the pin up which draws the DQ and Rock wins the match. The match itself was decent as both men worked hard and put on a decent match. Rock was hitting his peak by this point while Nash was getting back into a groove, and they had decent chemistry as Nash loses without getting pinned as Hall costs him. The crowd was into the match and Rock, but are not happy when Rock wins. Rock gets the win over Nash by DQ and this issue isn’t over yet. Grade: 2
 
After the match, Hall stomps on Rock and looks for the Outsider’s Edge only for Rock to backdrop him over the top to the floor, and he goes outside and clears the announce table off as he grabs Hall only for Nash to roll outside and he nails Rock from behind. He pounds on Rock and hits the Jackknife which puts Rock through the table as Hulk Hogan comes down to ringside and pounds on the Outsiders, and he rams Nash into the post and throws Hall back into the ring as he hits the big boot and legdrop while Nash gets back in the ring. He pounds on Hogan who battles back and he hits the big boot on Nash before hitting the legdrop as X-Pac runs down to the ring with a chair, and he hits Hogan in the head with it which busts him open as Hall grabs the chair and hits Hogan in the back of head with it. Nash takes the chair from Hall and hits Hogan in the head with it as they rip his shirt off and Hall grabs two cans of spray paint, and they spray “nWo” on Hogan’s back and stand tall as we go off the air.
 
Final Analysis: Overall, this edition of Smackdown was a pretty decent episode coming off a really good WM and just at hot RAW. Obviously, all the attention was at the upcoming RAW with the brand extension and draft set to happen though there were some big things that happened on this show too. We had two title matches as Regal now rules the midcard and Billy and Chuck still rule the tag division while Booker, Lita, Stratus, Test, and Rock get big wins, and the matches were pretty standard as we had another debut in Rico as well as a big return in X-Pac. 2002 has been an interesting year to this point and as we wait to see what’s going to happen with the draft, it will be interesting to see how the landscape looks when the brand extension starts. As for this show, it is a decent show as we look ahead to the brand extension and draft. Final Grade: C