Get The 'F' Back in

[Gareth7]

Been reading through last few days, few things i'd like to say before getting to Raw

The Lawler thing was awesome, such a suprise and it was great the way he brought up the territory thing

Your actually making Heat a pretty solid show which makes it a fun little read good stuff

DDP needs a push, I know you are introducing new fueds and characters but DDP would be great as a mentor for one of the young guys or a manager to help get them over, theres so many uses for him, shame to waste him on Heat

Now on to Raw

I like the Mero-Tajiri thing, I hope Torrie ends up with Mero

Don't like Waterman's push, I think its too much too soon he should have been built up more over a longer period of time to make him seem like an acceptable challanger to the likes of Big Show

Nice idea for Angle-Jericho that would have been an awesome series of matches

Hope RVD wins the Hardcore title back, don't really like this Key fellow Blackman was a suprise

Hopefully Booker is gonna get a solid push

Good to see Austin go over after getting screwed these last few weeks

Overall it was a good show, and im pretty intrigued about the Rumble I hope somebody wins it from outside the box so to speak, keep up the good work

[KingKongStudy]

I really enjoy reading this diary. I certainly don't regret using my time to read it. Looking forward for SmackDown.

(Y)

[DaveKOTW]

WWF Smackdown! THE NEW EDITION

Broadcast on the 20th December 2001 from the Staples Center, Los Angeles, Ca

With less than 4 weeks till the Royal Rumble, WWF Champion Vince McMahon looks in full control with his opponent, The Rock yet to pick up speed

The Night kicked off in a chaotic style with Test teaming up with Lance Storm against the team of Chuck Palumbo, and the Phenom, The Undertaker. Test and the Undertaker's history was not ignored in tonight's match with both wrestlers craving the other's blood. Storm and Palumbo both knew that with the magnitude of the feud they were involved in, this was their time to impress and they didn’t let any of the fans down, both being involved in some great spots, Storm nearly getting the pin on two occasions on Palumbo. While it was evident that Storm and Test did tag well and probably gelled the best, this fast paced match was ended by The Undertaker, who was the man to take the pinfall catching Lance with a crossbody attempt before hitting the last ride for the 1,2,3 (*** rating). Test did not look happy as he pulled away from the ring, Test being unlucky at several attempts to beat The Undertaker. When and by what means will this feud finally end?

Backstage, Tajiri is trying to explain his distress to Jerry Lawler but Lawler is having great trouble understanding what Tajiri is saying. Lawler repeatedly tried to tell Tajiri that he couldn't understand Japanese, only the name "Torrie" being properly understood. Tajiri gave up eventually throwing an ill-placed plant pot onto the ground before leaving the King's office. Michael Cole said Tajiri was understandably uneasy!

The next match was the Street Fight between Rikishi and Hardcore Holly for the WWF European Championship. Both men fought tooth and nail in this bitter rivalry, Holly desperately wanting to reclaim his stake as one of the toughest wrestlers in the WWF. Despite a bombardment of chair shots, trash can lids, road signs and other assortments, Holly was unable to get the job done with his time coming to an end shortly after Rikishi countered a diving axehandle with a savate kick. Kishi ended the match moments later hitting the banzai drop to record another successful defence of his European Title. Who will challenge Rikishi next? (**1/2 rating)

Next up is The Coach, live with Stone Cold Steve Austin. The Coach wants to know if Stone Cold is prepared for his serious match up tonight against three of the toughest sobs in this business. Stone Cold said that he fears no man, with the exception of Kurt Angle when he is singing. “By the way...” he adds, “I had to drink a few beers before hand to make his music sound better but eh eh, who the hell am I kidding?” Stone Cold professed that if he and his two tag team partners Edge and The Rock can all coexist tonight, then they sure as hell should be able to beat the three jackasses of Vince McMahon’s choice. “After all”, he mutters, “that is why the fans say X-Pac Sucks”. Stone Cold pushes The Coach out of the way and walks off.

Next up is the Kurt Angle vs. Chris Jericho song contest. When we go back to the arena, a group of men on stage are setting up band equipment. Angle hits the ring and immediately wants to know what the hell is going on. Lawler intervenes and wants to know the problem. Angle says that he thought that when he said, it was going to be a song contest between him and Jericho, there would be no other people involved. The King said he never made any stipulations about it, and wished Angle good luck. In the corner, Jericho watches on with a smirk on his face, Angle looking desperate. When the equipment is finally set up, Angle goes backstage and picks up a light brown acoustic guitar and sits down on the opposite side of the entrance ramp looking on at Jericho. When then have two more entrants, Maven and Nidia from WWF Tough Enough. Maven says that The King asked for him and Nidia to present to all the fans this “talent contest” between two of the top wrestlers in the business. Angle nods his head agreeing but the fans take his attention away quickly with “Angle Sucks” chants. Maven adds that while he won’t be involved in the Royal Rumble match, he definitely will be at the event and he hopes the fans will cheer him on. Any who, Maven announces the first contest is Kurt Angle. Kurt puts the guitar on his knee and announces to the audience that the following song is a song that is very special to him. One that his mother used to sing to him on many occasions and one that he feels is very appropriate for tonight. This is what Angle sings after playing one chord.

When I was just a little girl, I mean boy

I asked my mother, what will I be

Will I be a Gold Medallist? will I be WWF Champion?

Here's what she said to me.

Que Sera, Sera,

Whatever will be, will be

The future's not ours, to see

Que Sera, Sera

What will be, will be.

By this time, the crowd are booing loudly, Angle totally not understanding why the fans are booing him. Maven eventually ends the pain thanking Kurt before asking what Jericho has to sing. Jericho then plays “Prisoner” by Fozzy the fans really getting behind him. After the match, Nidia requests that both participants step into the centre to get the fan vote to see who won. Nidia first asks the fans whether Kurt Angle should win, everyone in the audience booing Kurt extraordinarily loud. The fans then ask if Jericho should win and the crowd burst into approval. Maven raises Chris Jericho arm and Nidia announces that he is the WINNER! Kurt, shocked, quickly reacts by hitting Jericho over the head with his guitar. Jericho falls to the ground, Angle throwing the mangled guitar away before locking in the Angle Lock on Jericho; Jericho tapping out in the middle of the ring to a multitude of boos. Quickly, Road Agents and Referees alike come to ramp to pull Angle off Jericho, Jericho looking badly hurt from the incident.

We go backstage again and this time, Terri Runnels is backstage with Edge. Terri asks Edge how he’s feeling at the moment and whether he is ready for this match tonight. Edge comments that over the past week, he’s had an emotional battle to contend with but tonight, tonight he is going to let go of all of his anger, lose his inhibitions and beat the holy snot out of the egotistical, arrogant asshole that is Shawn Stasiak. Edge walks away, leaving even Terri stunned at his remarks.

We return back to the ring, Charles Wright and Key appearing just as the remainder of the Fozzy gear is removed. Wright says that Rob Van Dam has some nerve coming back and attacking him and Key after what the two of them did to him at Vengeance. But, if Rob Van Dam wants a war, we’ll give him a way. As for Steve Blackman, Wright believes that all the people in the back and in the audience that thought that Key would tap to the guillotine choke were badly mistaken. Wright emphasises that Key DOES NOT TAP OUT! Blackman and Rob Van Dam then hit the ring and the match gets under way. The majority of the match involved either Blackman or Van Dam with Key, Charles Wright very rarely getting in the ring. This two on one advantage the two faces had on Key eventually came good, Van Dam taking down Key with an enziguiri, causing Key to make the tag to an unsuspecting Wright. Blackman, who was also tagged in, did not wait for Wright to get in the ring, bringing Wright into the ring with a suplex before quickly taking him to the ground and locking in the Guillotine choke. Despite all of Key’s best efforts to make the save, a springboard drop kick from Van Dam to Key meant that Wright had no other alternative but to tap out, Van Dam and Blackman picking up the win. (** 1/2 rating)

Backstage in the King’s office, Lawler is talking on the phone to some mystery person, telling them how happy he has been with the debut of the New Smackdown Set when Vince McMahon and Ron Waterman walk into the picture, King telling the person on the phone he’ll call them back. Lawler asks Vince what he can do for him, but Vince doesn’t respond with such courtesy. “A New Smackdown? Modifications on Matches? DAMN IT KING! WE’RE PARTNERS!” Lawler says he doesn’t understand what Vince is getting at as after all, the shows have been better than ever. Vince warns the King that whatever the situation is, The King better not get involved in his Royal Rumble Match because if he does, co-owner or not, they’ll be hell to pay. Lawler gets into Vince’s face asking him if he’s threatening him, because he doesn’t take to kindly to threats but Vince tells him to wait and see if he’s threatening him.

We are moments away from the Main Event and The Rock is backstage with The Coach. The Coach asks The Rock how his meeting was in LA on Monday, but The Rock looks at him as he’s gone crazy. The Rock says simply put, mind your business Coachman. After all, The Rock doesn’t ask The Coach about his sexual experiences? If the Coach has in fact had any sexual experiences? The Coach tries to change the topic but The Rock continues. “Oh Oh! That’s right…The She-Males?” Coach quickly tries to shut The Rock up asking him if he could just answer this one question. The Rock halts. “Is it important?” The Rock asks. Just as he tries to answer, The Rock responds “IT DOESN’T MATTER IF IT’S IMPORTANT” “For The Rock, the only thing that matters is that he goes out to that ring, get in that ring and whoop the asses of Shawn Stasiak, X-Pac and Ron Waterman all over Hollywood!” The Rock says, then, only then, The Rock can shine up his boots, make his way to the Royal Rumble, turn them sideways, and stick them straight up Vince’s candy ass and become the next WWF Champion. If you smell what the Rock is cooking?

Time for another Booker T promo; this week, Booker tells us that the Rumble is just over 3 weeks away, and that means, soon, the people will finally get to see what they’ve been waiting for. The return of the Booker man, the Best Greatest Black Athlete in Wrestling History!

In the Main Event, The 6 competitors went all at it with all six of them intending to make a point. Edge made a shocking start to the match, spearing Stasiak within seconds of getting into the ring, but unfortunately not being able to capitalise as the bell had not yet sounded and the heel team quickly removed him from the ring. While the heels fought tooth and nail in this match, it was the team of Edge, Austin and The Rock that were victorious. Waterman spent the majority of the match beating down on their oppositions supposed weakest member, Edge, the heels refusing for him to tag in either The Rock or Austin. As usual, this possession is not meant to last and Edge hits X-Pac with an enziguiri tagging in the Rock. The Rock immediately cleaned house using his usual arsenal before attempting a Rockbottom on X-Pac, only to be halted by a clothesline by Waterman. Stone Cold quickly came to the rescue taking Waterman out of the ring. Stasiak went to grab a chair but was unable to use it, as Edge quickly hit him with a spear. X-Pac tried to get even with The Rock but The Rock was ready for him and X-Pac went down with a spinebuster before the Rock finished him off with the People’s elbow for the 3 (*** Rating). Will The Rock be able to take this momentum on to the Royal Rumble? Who knows?

Michael Cole and Tazz thank us for tuning in. Until Next Week.

Quick Results

The Undertaker and Chuck Palumbo def. Lance Storm and Test

Rikishi def. Hardcore Holly to retain WWF European Championship

Chris Jericho def. Kurt Angle in Song Contest

Rob Van Dam and Steve Blackman def. Key and Charles Wright

Stone Cold, The Rock and Edge def. Ron Waterman, X-Pac and Shawn Stasiak

Edited November 5, 2006 by DaveKOTW

[DaveKOTW]

Heat Preview

Scheduled to be Broadcast on Sunday, 23rd December 2001 from the Staples Center, Los Angeles, Ca

Sunday Night Heat showcases some of the finest talent of the World Wrestling Federation in your living room every Sunday Night only on MTV.

TONIGHT ON HEAT

TAKA Michinoku (w/Funaki) vs. Steven Richards

After TAKA's strongly contested match against Shawn Stasiak which he was unfortunate to lose, TAKA tries to get back on the horse tonight taking on Steven Richards.

Another Six Man Tag Team Match up for the APA against The Dudley Boyz

Fresh off the back of the APAs win against the Dudley Boyz on RAW, The Dudleyz have requested a rematch. The only change from last time however is that due to mental anguish Tajiri is currently going through, Crash Holly has taken his place in this match up tonight.

Justin Credible is also in action tonight taking on Scotty 2 Hotty, while the Big Show will be taking on a mystery opponent chosen by Vince McMahon himself.

All this and more, only on Heat

Edited November 3, 2006 by DaveKOTW

[DaveKOTW]

Sunday Night Heat

Broadcast on Sunday, 23rd December 2001 from the Staples Center, Los Angeles, Ca

We are now 3 weeks away from the Royal Rumble. Anyone who has been involved in the WWF for more than a year will tell you that the Royal Rumble is one of the biggest spectacles in the WWF history and everyone hopes this year will be no different. We start off Heat being welcomed by our Heat Announcers, Kevin Kelly and Al Snow who believe that tonight is going to be, as always, a fantastic night of TV

The night kicked off withi a match between Steven Richards and TAKA Michinoku, accompanied to the ring by Funaki. Just like last week, TAKA brought everything that he had. Dropkicks, a twisting moonsault plancha suicida and a hurricanrana were all brought to the table, Steven Richards finding himself very lucky to make the kick out. However, just like last week, TAKA got the bad end of the match, Richards hitting a neckbreaker on TAKA before using the ropes as extra leverage to get the pinfall. despite calls from Funaki that his foot was on the ropes. After the match, TAKA was furious Funaki getting in the ring pleeing with him but TAKA would not listen. Snow said that the match was a travesty. Poor TAKA! (*** Rating)

We go backstage to see the APA chatting with Crash. Bradshaw made it clear to Crash that he is stepping into big boots, especially for such a little guy, and that Tajiri was instrumental in last weeks victory. Crash told Bradshaw and Faarooq that he's the man to count on. Crash said that as for small, he has no idea what he's talking about. After all, sure Bradshaw, you look slightly porky but Crash is 400lbs. Crash puts his thumb up to the two members of the APA, leaving Bradshaw and Faarooq stunned. "Porky?" asks Bradshaw.."Damn".

Next up with the battle between Justin Credible and Scotty 2 Hotty. Prior to the match, Al Snow and Kevin Kelly take us back to earlier in the night where Justin Credible is told by Jerry Lawler that he's been watching him wrestle and if that he performs well, he might be able to earn himself a shot in the Royal Rumble. Credible doesn't let himself down in this match, taking the fight to Scotty. Both men scored close falls; Scotty came just short after hitting a tornado DDT, scoring a 2 while Credible came very close with a double underhook powerbomb. The match turned very quickly at the end of the match, when Scotty 2 Hotty, looking as if he had the advantage, went for the Worm, only for Credible to quickly move out of the way, and hang Scotty to dry on the ropes. Credible then shocked the entire arena, hitting a lifting DDT on Scotty 2 Hotty to pick up the 3. (**3/4 rating). After impressing his audience, Al Snow and Kevin Kelly both ponder the possibility of Credible appearing at the Royal Rumble.

Next, we go backstage to the Dudley Boyz locker room. Bubba and D-Von motivate themselves up, telling themselves they need to win this one, Bubba slapping himself hard over the head. Spike tells them that they need to chill. Spike said he's spoken with Mr. McMahon and despite their concerns, the APA are going to have to work for their title shot before they face them again for the Tag Titles. What the hell does that mean? asks Kevin Kelly. "Isn't it obvious?" responds Al Snow.

We then go to a recap session, going over what happened with The Rock and Stone Cold over the last week. Kevin Kelly says that he's glad that Jerry Lawler finally stepped up to the plate and told Vince to stop playing games. Al adds that since Lawler has been involved, the luck has finally turned the other corner, with Stone Cold winning the last 2 matches on the trot. Al asks Kelly if he thinks Austin will enter this Royal Rumble, Kelly believing that he undoubtedly will.

Back to the arena, and out comes Big Show waiting for his opponent. The WWF use a new, shuffling like graphic on the titantron as anticipation as to whom Big Show is going to face and we have.........HUGH MORRUS! Al Snow mentions that Hugh Morrus was formally part of the Alliance but looks like he's found himself back in the WWF. Despite Hugh's build up to his return to the squared circle, he rarely caused Big Show any trouble, Big Show making the size difference pay off a treat, despite an early aggressive patch from the former WCW star. Show used his strength with huge slaps to the torso of Morrus, followed by hard clotheslines, Al Snow comparing running into Show's arms to running into a big old tree. The Finish came at around 3 minutes, the Big Show finally grabbing the throat of Morrus, before taking him down with a huge chokeslam. Big Show is one tough son of a gun (**1/2 Rating).

Time for a rare Heat treat nowadays, taking a look at The Rock's visit to LA. The Rock is seen walking through Hollywood, looking at the foot prints of fellow actors. The Rock says that there is no place in the world like Hollywood and he hopes that one day, he might become the next Al Pacino. Yeah right buddy!

This is followed by a repeat of Booker T's monday promo, telling the world that Booker T is returning to the Wrestling Buisness at the Royal Rumble Sucka! You can't hide from the Booker Man!

Now its time for the Six Man Tag Team Main Event. We've been having a lot of these lately and this match is no exception to the others. The start has all 6 men brawling in the ring till two men are left in the middle. These two at the start was Bubba and Crash. Bubba attempted to keep Crash in as he was the weakest of the three and him and D-Von each had near pinfall attempts, Bubba just missing out with the Bubba bomb and D-Von's DDT on Crash being broken by Faarooq. Faarooq ended up getting the tag in and he cleaned house, quickly bringing in Bradshaw to aid with the demolition. Bradshaw and Faarooq started off hitting a double suplex on Bubba, before hitting a back drop/neckbreaker combination on D-Von. Spike then acted clever trying to take both members of the APA out himself hitting a drop kick on Faarooq before trying to take Bradshaw out of the game with the Dudley Dog but Bradshaw countered it and sent Spike to the outside, Crash following with a suicide dive. Bradshaw looked explosed and then nearly got hit with the 3D if not for Faarooq shoulder tackling Bubba out of the game and then taking him out of the ring, leaving D-Von and Bradshaw alone. However, D-Von went for a whip on Bradshaw, Bradshaw, coming back with a knee lift before bouncing off the ropes for a second time hitting the clothesline from hell for the 3. (**3/4 Rating). The show ended with all 3 of the winners celebrating in the ring, while the Dudleyz walked back up the ramp, unhappy once again.

Al Snow and Kevin Kelly thanked us for watching and wished us all a good night!

Quick Results

Steven Richards def. TAKA Michinoku

Justin Credible def. Scotty 2 Hotty

Big Show def. Hugh Morrus

APA and Crash def. The Dudley Boyz (Bubba, D-Von and Spike)

Edited November 3, 2006 by DaveKOTW

[DaveKOTW]

Taiyo Kea Signs for the World Wrestling Federation

Taiyo Kea is an American professional wrestler who hails from Hawaii. While Kea is American, he has spent the entirity, until now, of his wrestling career as a member of the Japan-based All Japan Pro Wrestling promotion. While he was an important player in Japan, it is not yet known to what extent he is going to be used in the US as he does not carry the same stature with American audiences as he would elsewhere. He has reported to OVW where he will undergo a final gimmick check up but it is felt that it shouldn't be too long before we see him on WWF TV

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More Changes In Developmental Territories

The World Wrestling Federation has decided to make some more modifications to their developmental territories releasing some additional personel and bringing in some more talent.

The Following Wrestlers have been released from their development deals:

Albert

Simply Lucious

Synn

There have also been some new signings to developmental territories over the past few days: These wrestlers all have been tipped for future success with some of them already making previous appearances on Jakked and Metal.

Nelson Erazo

Shawn Hernandez

Bob Sapp

All three of this superstars have joined up with the rest of the group at OVW to undergo assimilation into WWF Superstars

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This Week in the Ratings

The World Wrestling Federation has announced the following weeks TV Ratings to the public:

We got a 7.12 rating for 'RAW'!

The attendance level was 10041 people.

We made $401640 from ticket sales.

Show Score: 75%

We got a 5.84 rating for 'Smackdown!'!

The attendance level was 10025 people.

We made $401000 from ticket sales.

Show Score: 74%

We got a 1.18 rating for 'Heat'!

The attendance level was 10002 people.

We made $400080 from ticket sales.

Show Score: 68%

[DaveKOTW]

Raw Is War Preview

Scheduled to be broadcast on Monday, December 24th, 2001 LIVE from San Diego, CA

The Royal Rumble is around the Corner

With the Rumble being less than 3 weeks away, it is neccesary to finalise who will actually be involved in the Rumble. Therefore, a joint agreement has been made between the two co-owners of the WWF, Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler to have a series of Qualifier matches to decide who goes in, and who stays out. Tonight, 2 Royal Rumble Qualifer matches will happen. One we are told will involve the Big Show while the other is Justin Credible vs. the WWF European Champion, Rikishi in a none title match. Can Credible go the extra mile and make it to the Rumble or will he fall on the last hurdle?

Marc Mero in Action

After the dramatic scenes last week on Smackdown, Marc Mero returns to the WWF squared circle to participate in a singles match against WWF Superstar Scotty 2 Hotty. Will Mero return to winning ways or will his mind be elsewhere tonight? Tajiri, we're certain, will be interested in this match up.

Angle vs. Jericho - Round 1

Angle and Chris Jericho undergo the very first of a long and trecherious best of seven tournament starting tonight on RAW. Who will spill first blood? Will it be the self proclaimed Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla or will the Olympic Gold Medallist make someone tap?

The Rock banned to compete again

Rumour has it that Vince McMahon is stopping The Rock from participating in match ups to decrease the warm up he has prior to his match at the Royal Rumble. How will the People's Champion respond to such foul play?

Austin's first big Test

Vince McMahon has guaranteed that Stone Cold's recent success will come to an end tonight when Stone Cold goes one on one with a man who knows all about having what it takes, Test. Will the Rattlesnake, like the Phenom, pass the Test or will he finally be subdued?

For all the answers, plus appearances of WWF favorites The Rock, Stone Cold, Rikishi and many more, tune in to RAW Monday night at 9/8 CT on TNN

Edited November 3, 2006 by DaveKOTW

[Guest slimlayzie]

COME ON JUSTIN!!!!

Give me that JC push I so want to see!!!

Marc Mero....YUCK!

The best of seven stuff should be great though! Brings back Benoit/Booker memories...good times.

And i don't blame you for releasing Albert and Synn...would of kept Simply Lucious though...but that's just me.

The PPV was very good. Sorry I didn't get around to a full recap/review of it. I'll do one for rumble. I MARK for Storm beating up divas though! lol.

[Guest dave_ecw]

Taiyo Kea nice dude cant wait to see how you use this puro icon, your work has been tremendous as usual I like how your actually making heat seem like something worthwhile. Hope RVD wins the belt back as I think he could do some interesting stuff with it. I hope Tajiri stays with Torrie and not Mero.

[DaveKOTW]

Monday Night RAW!

Broadcast on Monday 24th December, 2001 LIVE from San Diego, California

In less than 3 weeks, on Sunday 13th January 2002, The Royal Rumble is coming to the Philips Arena, Atlanta Georgia..

The show kicks off with the intro video for RAW before head off to the arena, pyros and all as Jim Ross and Mick Foley welcome all the WWF fans to the show.

The night kicks off with Vince McMahon, the WWF Champion and Co-Owner of the World Wrestling Federation, coming down to the ring with his entourage, Ron Waterman and X-Pac. Vince McMahon kicked by reminding the audience that in less than three weeks time is the WWF Royal Rumble, one of the biggest spectacles in the World Wrestling Federation. Vince said that the Royal Rumble is special because that is when the road to Wrestlemania, truely begins. Vince continues that as he is the WWF Champion, that means the winner of the Royal Rumble faces him at Wrestlemania (Obviously The Rock will not take this title off of Vince at the Royal Rumble). Therefore, it is important that the Royal Rumble contestants are properly monitored. For example, Vince McMahon promises that he will not be entering Stone Cold Steve Austin into the Royal Rumble as he has not earnt it...he is not worth it. Vince adds that he truely can't wait for the Royal Rumble qualifiers to begin and as for tonight, he wishes both Justin Credible and his opponent the very best of luck in their match ups. However, as for tonight's business, Vince wants to address the Big Show. Vince said that as despite Big Show being beaten last week on RAW, the word in the back is that the Big Show is still whining about his use in the company. Therefore, tonight, Big Show will have a very special, Handicap Match going against Ron Waterman and X-Pac. Vince hopes that this demolition of a giant will finally put Show to sleep once and for all. The King then hits the arena and complements Vince McMahon on his choice of match up. Lawler adds that the reason he has come out here however is due to the Royal Rumble entrant list. Lawler says that on the list, he noticed scribbled in, X-Pac and Ron Waterman. Vince asks what the problem is. Lawler says simply put that neither of them are "big superstars" in the WWF andd the fact that they have been added without his consultancy is bad practice. But Lawler says that he is going to fix that, by making the handicap match tonight, a Royal Rumble Qualifier Match.Simply put, if Ron Waterman and X-Pac win the match, both members qualify for the Royal Rumble. However, if the Big Show was to win, then Ron Waterman would have to go one on one with X-Pac at a later date to determine, which of the 2 superstars would go through. Both wrestlers quickly look back at Vince, Vince demanding that the King reconsider but the King simply wishes everyone involved the best of luck before turning around leaving the 3 men in the ring arguing.

We quickly go backstage before a commericial break seeing Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho making their final preparations before their first fall in the best of seven series, which is up..NEXT

When the show returned, Chris Jericho was already making his way to the ring, recieving some mild heat from the audience. Angle on the other hand recieved a much stronger, heavier heat, the crowd favouring Jericho in this match up. Angle and Jericho went straight to it, Jericho combatting Angle with a luchadore-esque approach. Despite an aggressive start by Jericho, it was Angle who near the first fall, countering a hurricanrana attempt into a powerbomb, Angle just missing out on the 3. The match went on with a series of close falls including a pinfall attempt after a missile dropkick on Angle and Angle countering a crossbody into a roll up, Jericho kicking out despite Angle having hold of the tights. The finish came after a worn out Jericho, managed to counter some solid Angle offense with a samoan drop taking both men out of the picture. Jericho stumbling to his feet first, misread the situation, and decided that it was time to go for his finisher, the Lionsault, but Angle was ready for him. Angle got his knees up, Jericho landing hardly on the knees before quickly getting back to his feet and hitting the Angle Slam on a second attempt after Jericho countered the first one, Angle getting the three fall (****1/2 Rating). After the match, Angle celebrated outside the ring, Jericho looking on after being soundly beaten in this match up. Can Jericho draw even on Smackdown or is Angle THAT much better than him? Both commentators felt that Jericho simply wasn't up to the game tonight, and he's going to have to improve a real deal to make it to that Royal Rumble.

Next up was Marc Mero making his return to the squared circle since Vengeance. Mero was heavily booed while Mero remained relatively smug. Mero quickly got on the mic and told everyone to shut up because he's got a message for a special someone back home. Mero talks straight into the camera and greets Torrie, telling her that he hopes she's sitting comfortable because THIS MATCH IS FOR HER! JR finds the whole segment sick and makes his feelings well known, Foley wondering as to whether we were going to see Tajiri here tonight. Mero's opponent in this match up with none other than Scotty 2 Hotty, formally of Too Cool. Mero dominated the match up, taking it to Scotty with a series of hard hitting moves: Firstly he hits Scotty with a standing drop kick. Scotty getting back to his feet gets hit with a series of vertical suplexes. Scotty tries to get back into the match, taking Mero down to the ground with a spinning heel kick, as well as some Suplexes of his own, but Scotty couldn't get the job done, Mero getting out of the ring before he could hit the worm. The finish came after Mero scoop slammed Scotty to the mat, Scotty looking exhausted. Mero quickly went for a springboard leg drop knocking the air out of Scotty before finally setting him up for the TKO for the 3 (**1/2 Rating). Mero gets to his feet, raising his arms cockily, but the smile is quickly removed off of his face at the sight of a speeding Tajiri, darting to the ring with a chair in hand. Tajiri goes for the attack, but Mero quickly scatters and makes his way through the crowd, Tajiri staring on.

Backstage, the cameras focus on The Rock's locker room when the door opens and out steps...THE BIG SHOW! The Rock tells Show that he's glad he came to him and he can be damn sure that The Rock will be ring side with him tonight. Show and The Rock shake hands the show leaving, The Rock having a big smile on his face.

We then go to Vince McMahon's locker room, Vince McMahon joined by his fellow Co-Owner, Jerry Lawler. Vince gives Lawler a look of disgust while Lawler reads through a list. Lawler tells Vince that according to their list. They already have 15 people signed up for the Royal Rumble. Lawler asks Vince if he wants him to publish the list of superstars but Vince angrily tells him no. Vince says all the fans need to know is that the Royal Rumble is coming, it's going to have some of the biggest stars in the industry such as, Lance Storm, Test, The Undertaker, Booker T and what's more...NO STONE COLD! Lawler reminds Vince that while he does not want Stone Cold in the rumble, Lawler says that Austin would add a commerical tonne to the show. Therefore, he has come up with a Solution that will make both of them happy. Next Thursday, on Smackdown. The Main Event will be Stone Cold vs. The WWF Tag Team Champions, Bubba and D-Von Dudley. If Stone Cold wins, he goes to the Royal Rumble, and if the Dudley Boyz win, they will instead enter the Royal Rumble and will not have to face the APA at the Rumble for the tag team titles. Vince actually begins to smile. He says he likes that stipulation. It saves him from having to screw the APA out of getting a tag team title shot. Lawler said he'd knew he'd like it. Vince responds that by God, by all the power invested in him, Stone Cold will not only be excluded from the Rumble, he is also going THROUGH A TABLE. Lawler smiles and nods, leaving the office. However, just when Vince looked like he was about to celebrate, Lawler comes back in and told him that before he forgets, the match at Smackdown will be a no-interference match, and if anyone tries to help the Dudleyz win, Vince will lose the WWF Championship. The crowd applaud Lawler as he leaves the office once more.

The Next Match was Big Show vs. X-Pac and Ron Waterman. As promised, The Rock did come to ring side, watching every move of the enemy. X-Pac started the match off against Big Show, trying to take an early advantage but Show's size was too great and after some pathetic offence, Big Show simply pie faced X-Pac down to the ground and walked away shaking his head. X-Pac tagged in Waterman who was much more aggressive and powerful, taking Show down to the ground with a knee lift. Waterman and Pac spent the early part of the match with a lot of quick tags, using to their full advantage the 2 on 1 advantage with some double team moves such as the chop block, clothesline combo. Both of the heels spent a lot of the match up working on the knee of Show, trying to keep him ground, Waterman actually causing a lot of damage with an Indian Deathlock move. Big Show however was still very strong and eventually turned Waterman over causing a large amount of pain to him. Show, limp and all, fought back with clotheslines and a huge military press on X-Pac throwing him out of the ring. The finish came shortly after when Waterman tried to attack Show from behind, before hitting a whip attempt into the ropes, Show countering him before grabbing him on the return and hitting the Chokeslam for the 3 (**1/2 rating). After the match, The Rock got back in the ring and raised the arm of the Big Show talking him up both men standing over the destroyed competitors. After Show left, The Rock remained in the ring, stalking Waterman waiting for The Rock Bottom. X-Pac however broke his concentration, The Rock ending up knocking him back off the apron before hitting Waterman with a spinebuster. The Rock then hit the people's elbow for all the fans, the crowd going wild. "The Rock may not be Wrestling but he is still beating the hell out of Vince McMahon's lackeys" remarked JR, both announcers delighted to see The Rock in the ring.

We go backstage to interupt Raven who is chatting with Justin Credible. Raven tells Credible that he can't believe Lawler banned him from ring side tonight. Credible agrees but he adds that it's at least good that he also banned Page. Raven asks Credible if he has any idea who his opponent is yet, but Credible has no idea. Credible says that this might be his ticket into the big league, but Raven tells him not to get his hopes up. Raven reminds Credible that he was in last years Royal Rumble and look where he is now. Credible tells him not to worry about the past and just worry about his Royal Rumble Qualifier Match Next Sunday on Heat, against the other man who was banned from ring side, DDP. Raven guarantees that he will be in this years Rumble, no matter what.

After a quick "saftety commercial", we return to the arena to find Justin Credible in the ring. Just like on Heat, the shuffle graffic appears on the Titantron as everyone eargly awaits Credible's opponent.....It's RIKISHI! Rikishi comes down to the ring to a huge roar from the crowd, WWF European Championship in hand. Credible gets on the attack quickly, giving Rikishi no time to breath on arrival but Rikishi takes a breather with in seconds, Credible hitting a failed whip attempt, before ending up being hit with a belly to belly suplex. Rikishi dominates the match, taking Credible to the corner, splashing him hard against the turnbuckle. Then comes the stink face. The finish was never far away in this match, Credible moments later being hit with the Savate Kick before getting hi with the Banzai drop for the 3 (**1/2 Rating). Rikishi is dominant and on his way to the Royal Rumble.

We go backstage once more to Vince McMahon's office, Vince McMahon furious at both Ron Waterman and X-Pac. Vince tells them he doesn't know what to do because they've screwed up when there is a knock at the door. Vince tells whoever it is to come in but then goes dumbstruck. IT'S PAUL HEYMAN. Heyman tells Vince to relax and that he is not here to cause trouble. Vince wants to know how Heyman got access to this arena, and Heyman tells him straight out. He is now an Agent to one of theWWF Superstars. Heyman is straight out, this guy, this guy is scary. This guy is mean, and this guy wants to hurt whoever he can get his hands on and Heyman wants him in the Royal Rumble. Vince looks at him strangly, enquiring what exactly he would get out of helping Heyman. Heyman promised, "if you scratch my back, then we'll scratch yours". Vince tells him that he'll take his proposition under advisement and Heyman says he should as there are always other people he could talk to. Vince guarantees he'll think about and the two men shake hands, the camera shifting.

Further backstage, The Coach is with Austin asking him about his match tonight. Austin says the match tonight, while huge has now been put at the back of his mind because next thursday, Stone Cold Steve Austin is going into a 2 on 1 handicap match with possibly the baddest tag team there ever has been the Dudley Boyz. Austin reminds everyone though that while they might be the bad ass, Stone Cold Steve Austin can be so much worse and that he will do, whatever has to do to into the Royal Rumble so that he can take back what is rightfully his at Wrestlemania, the WWF Championship. Austin said he's done it before, and he'll do it again and that IS the bottom line, cos Stone Cold said so.

We get around to the Main Event between Test and Stone Cold. Both men start off the match brawling like crazy, but Austin is the first match to take real action, dropping Test to the ground with a Lou Thez Press. However, everyone in the arena was suprised to see the actual power that Test has, really pushing it to Austin. Test getting a very close near fall as the result of a full nelson slam. Both men took control back and forth through the match, Test nearly getting the three after an elbow drop and Austin nearly getting the 3 following a huge spinebuster. The finish of the match came when Austin moved out of the way of Test's Big Boot, Test having to turn around sharply, Austin quickly trying to follow up with a Stunner but Test countered. Test hit The Undertaker with the Pumphandle Slam the whole audience truely believing that Test had the match, when Austin kicked out on the 2 once more, Test absolutely stunned. Test angered goes out and grabs a chair the referee warning him against disqualification but Test doesn't care. Test goes to swing at Austin but the referee pulls the chair away, giving Austin time to hit Test with a low blow, Test dropping down to his knees. Austin takes the advantage quickly going for the stunner, the referee throwing the chair aside to count the three (*** Rating). JR applauded Austin's intellegence as Austin picked up a sneaky win but he never got a chance to celebrate. Quickly after the match, came X-Pac and Waterman who quickly began to beat down Austin. Austin tried to fight back but Test quickly joined and the attack became a 3 on 1 attack. The Undertaker came to the ring to help out Austin taking it to Test but this was only halted by Lance Storm interference, the attack becoming nothing more than 4 on 2, Storm and Test on Taker while Waterman and X-Pac took on Austin. Vince McMahon appeared at the entrance to the arena smiling, watching on as the 4 on 2 attack continued. Shortly after however, Austin and Taker started to fight back, a concerned Vince calling on more men to make the odds even less even, the Dudley Boyz with Spike coming to the heels aid. JR and Foley commentated with disgust at the 7 on 2 attack that was going on in the ring. Next out was the APA to a pop from the crowd who got in the ring, trying to even up the score but somehow the heels managed to still have the advantage. Then came the big equaliser. THE ROCK! The fans went wild as The Rock pelted down to the ring, unleashing everything he had on everyone. Vince stomped down to the ring, giving orders but it was no use. Quickly, the faces cleared the ring, Austin hitting the Stunner on X-Pac while Undertaker took Test out of the ring. Austin hit another Stunner on Lance Storm, The Rock hitting the Rockbottom on Waterman. The APA cleared the Dudley Boyz from the ring leaving Spike alone with all of the faces in the ring everyone closing in on him. It was Austin however that put Spike out of his misery hitting the Stunner on him before chucking him out of the ring, the crowd going wild as the heels grouped up on the outside of the ring. The show ended with a big stand off, Vince McMahon looking furious as JR hoped we enjoyed the show and wished us a good night!

Quick Results

Kurt Angle def. Chris Jericho in the Best of 7 Series Opening Match

Marc Mero def. Scotty 2 Hotty

Big Show def. Ron Waterman and X-Pac - Royal Rumble Qualifer Match

Rikishi def. Justin Credible - Royal Rumble Qualifer Match

Stone Cold def. Test

[Guest Dimond]

grat show man. the ending brawl wa awsome

[Guest Cola]

I'm just glad Stevie won a match, even if it was only on HEAT lol.

[DaveKOTW]

WWF Smackdown! Preview

Broadcast on the 27th December 2001 from the Cow Arena, San Francisco, CA

WWF Smackdown features the brightest and top talent in the World Wrestling Federation.

Tonight, Stone Cold has it all to do when he faces The Dudley Boyz in a Royal Rumble qualifying match. The stipulations state that if Stone Cold pins the Dudleyz, the Dudley Boyz will have to face the APA at the Royal Rumble. However, if the Dudley Boyz win, the Dudleyz will enter the rumble and there will be no Tag Team Title match. Can Stone Cold break through and make it to the Royal Rumble or will the Dudley Boyz be victorious?

Rob Vam Dam will also be participating in a Royal Rumble qualifier match tonight when he goes one on one against Key in a standard wrestling match. Can Key put another one over Van Dam or will Van Dam be entering this year's Royal Rumble?

The second session of the Kurt Angle/Chris Jericho best of 7 series will also continue tonight, Kurt Angle currently leading Chris Jericho by 1-0. Can Jericho draw even or will Angle double his lead?

Tonight, Shawn Stasiak also has a proposition for Edge. Will Edge here him out? Chuck Palumbo also goes into action tonight against Lance Storm. The challenge was made after Chuck Palumbo announced exclusively to us that he would be indeed entering the Royal Rumble. Can Palumbo gain some momentum tonight?

Make sure you tune in to 8/7 CT only UPN to find out what happens!

Edited November 5, 2006 by DaveKOTW

[DaveKOTW]

WWF Smackdown!

Broadcast on the 27th December 2001 from the Cow Arena, San Francisco, CA

With less than 3 weeks till the Royal Rumble, the World Wrestling Federation is heating up. Which wrestlers will make it to the Rumble and who will remain on the shelves for another year?

The show intro then begins for the second week of the new edition of WWF Smackdown. After the intro, we hit the arena, pyros and all, Michael Cole and Tazz welcoming us to an exciting night of Wrestling Entertainment!

The Night kicked off in hot fashion as we get straight into our first match between Rob Van Dam and Key for a chance to appear in the Royal Rumble. Charles Wright is, as always, at ringside as the two men step up to the bat. Key and Van Dam battle in an evenly matched contest, Van Dam nearly getting caught by surprise with a sit out chokebomb Van Dam kicking out on the two. Wright watched on in a match he knew he couldn’t interfere in for fear of disqualification as both men battled away, Van Dam nearly giving Wright a heart attack when Van Dam’s combo of a springboard elbow smash, followed by a split legged moonsault just missed out on the 3. The finish came when Key decided to go up top after hitting Van Dam with a huge belly to back suplex. Key, who had the fans hot on his back for a large part of the match, jumped up top and attempted to hit the 5 Star Frog Splash on Van Dam, but Van Dam wisely got out of the way. Both men got to their feet, but Key got a shot to the chin with a spinning heel kick from Van Dam. Van Dam then hit the rolling thunder on Key. Van Dam looked to take advantage of the move, but had to deal with Charles Wright, climbing onto the apron taking him down with a shot. Van Dam turned around and got whipped by Key, Van Dam responding with a dropkick. Van Dam on fire seized the opportunity, and went up top, hitting the Frog Splash for the 3 and guaranteeing himself a place in the WWF Royal Rumble. (*** Rating). Van Dam celebrated in the ring while Key and Wright left up the ramp, Wright visibly unhappy with Key’s performance.

Backstage, Kevin Kelly caught up with the WWF Tag Team Champions, the Dudley Boyz asking them how the feel about the match up tonight. Bubba took the majority of the interview, getting on his high house talking about how the Dudley Boyz were WCW, ECW and WWF Tag Team Champions. Quite frankly, in their mind, and in the mind of many around the world, the Dudley Boyz are the best tag team ever. Bubba as the best Tag Team ever, do you think they would worry about a Wrestling Has been like Stone Cold? Hardly! The Dudley Boyz sound ready! Tazz believes that the comments from the Dudleyz are strong but fair, Michael Cole challenging them to see if they can talk the talk as well as walking the walk!

The cameras visit backstage to the locker rooms of Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho. Kurt Angle currently leads 1-0 in the best of 7 Series and the second match up of this Series is up NEXT!

When the show returns to the arena, Angle comes to the ring first and gets on the mic talking about how enjoyable it is to beat the living hell out of a man that thinks he’s anything near as good as him. Kurt Angle reminds the WWF fans that he is a World Champion, the Winner of a World Championships Gold Medal and an Olympic Gold Medal. Kurt feels that at the end of the day, Kurt Angle is the Greatest Professional Wrestling of All time. However before Kurt can continue his big speech, Chris Jericho comes out ready to start this match. Unlike last week, Jericho really starts off strong, taking Angle down with a series of clothesline followed by a huge dropkick. Jericho quickly goes for the cover, desperate to end this match quickly but Angle would not let this happen. However, Jericho continues on the assault, hitting a second dropkick this time off the top rope, only to get another 2. After a series of high flying moves, Jericho resorts to keeping Angle down to the mat in the form of a head lock but Jericho should know never to try and keep an expert mat wrestler down on the ground. Angle powered out, taking Jericho down with stiff clotheslines before locking behind Jericho and hitting a series of German Suplexes. After Angle hits 3 German suplexes, the cocky native of Pittsburgh attempts a fourth but Jericho this time lands on his feet and rolls Angle up into the Walls of Jericho trying to make Angle submit, but Angle wisely got to the ropes. The finish came when Jericho who only managed to hit a 2 with a full nelson facebuster. Jericho desperate to finish made a mistake that Angle has made on regular occasions deciding to go up top to hit a moonsault. Angle however, scouted the move hitting the ropes before climbing up top and hitting a huge superplex on Jericho. Angle sneakily crawled over towards Jericho laying a hand on him the referee counting the 3. (****1/2 Rating) Angle now leads 2-0. Chris Jericho is in serious trouble. Michael Cole and Tazz comment on the high quality of this match up adding that the final match at the Royal Rumble will be huge!

Backstage, we see Test chatting with Lance Storm. Storm talks about last week on RAW where they all ganged up on the guys who are ruining this business and Test couldn’t agree more. Test says its people like Austin and The Undertaker that have been holding him down for years and that sooner or later, whether they like it or not, he will be the WWF Champion. Lance Storm humorously adds “not if I beat you to it”. Storm walks off from Test but quickly bumps into another familiar figure, Chuck Palumbo, who receives a small pop from the audience. Palumbo tells Storm that he was just looking for him and that he just wanted to wish him luck in tonight’s match up against him, holding out his hand. Storm, surprised goes for the hand shake only to get slapped across the face. Palumbo walks off shouting to Storm to send his regards to his pimp; Test. Michael Cole says that Palumbo has some balls stepping up into Storm’s face like that. Tazz believes that Palumbo should be careful because he won’t like Storm when he’s angry.

Further backstage, Shawn Stasiak is with Kevin Kelly. Kevin Kelly asks Stasiak as to why he wanted an interview, Stasiak quickly getting down to business. Stasiak says that as the WWF fans are probably aware, at the Royal Rumble, he and Edge are going to have a rematch for the WWF Intercontinental Championship. However, no stipulations have been yet been made for this match. Stasiak therefore recommends that they have themselves a little wager. Next week on RAW, Edge will go one on one with a wrestler of his choosing, while later in the week on Smackdown, Stasiak will go one on one with a wrestler of Edge’s choosing. The man who wins the match in the quickest time will get to choose what the stipulation is. Stasiak adds that in the end it doesn’t really matter because either way, he is going to come out, WWF Intercontinental Champion.

Our next match is between Chuck Palumbo and Storm, who both are fighting for their pride here tonight, Michael Cole telling the fans that Palumbo has already been entered by Jerry Lawler into the Royal Rumble. Palumbo and Storm have a very fast paced match, Storm and Palumbo both going for big moves. Storm is the first man with the near fall attempt, nearly pinning Palumbo for a 3 with a bridged German Suplex. Storm, who is full of confidence, nearly got surprised however by Palumbo later on in the match, Palumbo halting an axehandle attack by Storm, hitting the ropes, before taking Storm down to the match with a Powerbomb. The finish came when Test made his way to the ring, trying to break the concentration of Palumbo. Test however paid the price of his mouth when Storm ducked a big boot; the move connecting instead with Test. Storm managed to take advantage of the botched move, hitting Palumbo with the double knee backbreaker for the 3 moments later. (*** Rating). After the match, Storm got of the ring joining Test on the outside, the two of them celebrating as Palumbo looks distraught with the loss.

It’s time for a Smackdown Recap, Michael Cole and Tazz taking us back to cover the story of Marc Mero, Tajiri and Torrie Wilson. The clip covers everything from Mero’s prowling over Torrie, to Torrie’s indecision of what to do, to her kidnapping. We then have an interview with WWF Wrestler, Rhyno who is a close and personal friend of Tajiri. Rhyno tells everyone that he’s known Tajiri for a long time since the days of ECW and during this time, Tajiri has always been a dear friend to him. Rhyno said that Tajiri is the kind of guy that always has your back and that while he’s been on the injured list, he and Torrie have frequently visited him to check up on him, see how he’s doing, you know, true friend stuff. Rhyno adds that while Torrie has been kidnapped by this sick b*stard Marc Mero, Tajiri has been in a dire condition. He’s just an emotional wreck. Rhyno adds that he knows for damn sure that Tajiri will do anything and everything in his power to get her back, even if that means putting his title on the line at the Royal Rumble. Michael Cole and Tazz then go over the interview, Michael Cole describing the mental anguish that Tajiri must be under, especially if he is concerning his friends. Tazz says that Tajiri is one tough customer and that it really shows how much he cares about Torrie if it’s causing him this many problems. Tazz also adds that it’s good to see Rhyno and he hopes to see him back in the WWF in the future.

We go backstage to Vince McMahon’s locker room who is reading through the Royal Rumble list seen on RAW last week. Vince tells Lawler it’s good who gratefully agrees. Vince tells Lawler to leave a couple of spots open because he may have some late additions to make, Lawler then enquiring if he is talking about Paul Heyman’s offer. Vince gets on the defensive, playing dumb as if he doesn’t know what he’s talking about but Lawler tells Vince that Heyman had already mentioned to him that he’d spoken to you. Vince continues on the defensive, commenting that Lawler knows how much of a liar Heyman can be. Lawler tells Vince that Heyman made a proposal to him regarding a WWF superstar that apparently, he is now the Agent of, and wanted a Spot for him in the Royal Rumble. Vince asked if he mentioned who the Superstar was, but Lawler said he remained silent. Vince asks Lawler whether he made a decision on it, but Lawler says that he told him he’d take it under advisement and get back to him next week. Lawler smiles and tells him he’s going to get a coffee, enquiring if would also like one but Vince declines polite the camera remaining on his worried face as Lawler leaves.

Back to the arena and we are reminded that we are moments away from the Main Event, the camera following Stone Cold backstage when he is stopped by The Rock. The Rock tells Austin that he knows what happened in the past, but he wishes him well in the Royal Rumble Qualifier. The Rock says that he hopes that this year, The Rock and Stone Cold can do it right at Wrestlemania. Austin and The Rock shake hands. Austin vs. the Dudley Boyz, NEXT!

Stone Cold Steve Austin fights the fight of his life in this Main Event Match up against one of the best Tag Team’s of all time. Austin starts the match fighting the fight on both fronts before Bubba halts it. Bubba tries hard to keep him in his corner, making frequent tags in and out with D-Von to keep Austin at bay. The turning point came when Stone Cold began to power out of a D-Von headlock. Austin fought back, taking down D-Von with a clothesline, then Bubba, Stone Cold kicking D-Von in the gut before throwing him out of the ring. Bubba tried to attack Stone Cold from behind but Austin came back hitting him with a Lou Thez Press, Bubba taking a huge amount of punches before he left the ring. D-Von got back onto the apron Austin goes straight to him, suplexing him back into the ring D-Von going down hard. Austin caught a sneaky Bubba taking him back off the apron to the outside with a right hand before finishing D-Von with a Stunner for the 3. (*** Rating). After the match, Stone Cold celebrated in the ring calling for beers while we took a quick shot backstage, seeing the APA celebrating with some of the other faces of the WWF including Crash and Spike while outside of the ring, Bubba sat on his knees his hands over his face, devastated. Michael Cole and Tazz sung the Rattlesnake’s praise adding that with him in the Royal Rumble, anything can happen. Tazz added that Vince McMahon must be spitting blood backstage with this outcome.

Who knows what will happen next on the Road to Wrestlemania? Till Next Time! GOOD NIGHT!

Quick Results

Rob Van Dam def. Key to Qualify for the Royal Rumble Match

Kurt Angle def. Chris Jericho to go 2-0 up in the Best of Seven Series

Lance Storm def. Chuck Palumbo

Stone Cold def. The Dudley Boyz to Qualify for the Royal Rumble Match

Edited November 5, 2006 by DaveKOTW

[DaveKOTW]

Heat Preview

Scheduled to be Broadcast on Sunday, 30th December 2001 from the Cow Arena, San Francisco, California

Sunday Night Heat showcases some of the finest talent of the World Wrestling Federation in your living room every Sunday Night only on MTV.

TONIGHT ON HEAT

TAKA Michinoku (w/Funaki) vs. Steven Richards

After the cheap finish to last week's heat match between TAKA and Richards, TAKA has demanded a rematch to set the record straight. TAKA has had close calls in the past couple of weeks but he has been unable to come up with the finished product. Can TAKA finally come out with a win tonight or will Richards once again out smart the Japanese Cruiserweight?

The Lethal Weapon returns to Heat

Just less than 2 weeks ago, the Lethal Weapon Steve Blackman made a suprising return to the WWF to take on the WWF Hardcore Champion, Key. Tonight, Steve Blackman has the opportunity to qualify for the Royal Rumble Match, when he goes one on one with Hugh Morrus who also made his return to the squared circle last week on Heat. Will it be Blackman or Hugh Morrus who enters the Royal Rumble this year?

Will Raven keep true on his promise?

Earlier this week on RAW, Raven informed the world that he was going one on one on Heat against DDP in a Royal Rumble qualifier match while backstage with Justin Credible. Will Raven make true on his promise and overcome the power of the Wrestling Veteran DDP or will Page be bringing his positivity all the way to the Philips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia?

To find out the answers to these questions, tune in to WWF Heat on MTV!

Edited November 5, 2006 by DaveKOTW

[HailtotheYo]

Meh, Rino being injured is nothing ..... you have a REAL monster in Bob Sapp .... keeping him around eh ? I like it ....

[DaveKOTW]

Sunday Night Heat

Broadcast on Sunday, 30th December 2001 from the Cow Arena, San Francisco, CA

We are now 2 weeks away from the Royal Rumble and like always, this years Royal Rumble is going to be off the hook. We start off Heat being welcomed by our Heat Announcers, Kevin Kelly and Al Snow who believe that tonight is going to be, as always, a fantastic night of TV

The night kicked off with a Royal Rumble Qualifying Match between 'The Lethal Weapon' Steve Blackman and Hugh Morrus. Al Snow reminds us that neither of these superstars have won a Singles Match Up here in the WWF since returning to action and tonight is a big one! Hugh Morrus starts off the match as the dominant wrestler to the suprise of many in the arena using is strong physical presence to over power Blackman nearly getting an early pin fall with a running DDT. Blackman however always looked like making the comeback getting the odd chop here than there before Morrus came back with a clothesline or forearm smash. The finish ended shortly after Morrus hit Blackman with a huge running powerslam before deciding to hit the ropes for his finisher, No Laughing Matter. Blackman however must have been chuckling a little when he moved, Morrus crashing into the canvas allowing him to gain the advantage he needed. Blackman went ape on Morrus, hitting with a multitude of karate chops before a fisherman's suplex, Morrus stumbling back to his feet incredibly quickly only to get hit by the Superkick. Blackman was loving his work and he showed the crowd, taking down Morrus one last time with the Guilotine choke, Morrus unable to do anything but pass out. (**1/2 Rating). After the match, both commentators talked up Blackman's entrance into the Rumble, Al Snow standing up clapping Al having nothing but praise for one of the co-founders of the legendary tag team Headcheese.

After the match, The Coach ran down to ring side to get a quick interview with the man who just bought a ticket into the Rumble. Blackman had very little to say looking at Coach oddly for a second before shouting "It's Party Time!" raising his arms up once more the crowd cheering for some unbeknown reason before Blackman's music hit once more. The Coach watched on as Al added that Blackman likes things to be short and sweet. Kelly asked if that applied to everything, Al Snow responding "haven't you see his wife?".

Backstage, TAKA is preparing for his match taping up his wrists ignoring Funaki who is talking to him in Japanese. After he is done, TAKA walks out of the arena, leaving a Funaki, halting in mid flow of what sounded like a pep-talk. TAKA vs. Steven Richards, is NEXT!

Richards vs. TAKA could be considered nothing short of first class. TAKA, who came to the ring by himself, went insane in the early goings of the match hitting spot after spot nearly getting an early pinfall within the first minute with a springboard drop kick. Kevin Kelly adds in the match that due to the similar sizes of this opponents, TAKA and Richards can do moves that they probably couldn't down on larger athletes, TAKA proving that theory hitting a sitout powerbomb on Richards, once again, Richards just getting out of the pin fall attempt before the 3. Despite the constant offense, TAKA could not get the job done, everyone thinking it was over when TAKA hit a beautiful tornado DDT on Richards, Richards getting his shoulder up in the very last second. The match however took a turn for the worst, when TAKA's over enthusiam landed him in a spot of bother missing a chance with a superkick allowing Richards to turn the game hitting a desperation Stevie-T on TAKA. Neither men could capitalise both men lying flat on their backs in the ring the referee making the count. Funaki ran down to ring side to try and cheer on TAKA. Richards was the first man to move, crawling over TAKA to try and steal the victory but TAKA wasn't ready to die just yet. Both men slowly get back to their feet trading punches, eventually TAKA taking Richards down with a back body drop before hitting him with a standing drop kick, Funaki getting the fans behind TAKA. TAKA however stalled, undecided as what to do next and this lead to a big mistake, going up top for a double axehandle, Richards coming out of nowhere and the drop with a Stevie Kick. The fans couldn't believe it as Richards cover.............1............2.............3 Richards wins again! (** 3/4 Rating). The crowd go silent as Richards climbs out of the ring, looking smug as the ref raises his hand as Funaki gets into the ring to try and comfort the distraught TAKA. "This is not right" exclaims Al Snow, although he and Kevin Kelly both know that Richards won cleanly!

Next up, it's time for us to Revisit earlier this week on RAW and Smackdown, Kevin Kelly and Snow discussing the wars against McMahon. Al Snow said that he was glad that the faces of this component do stick together as with the situation on Monday. It does however show that this year in the Rumble, there is going to be a lot of stiff competition and nobody exactly knows who is going to come out on top. Al Snow believes however that this year, this year is Austin's year. Kevin Kelly on the other hand says he feels that this could be the year of Booker T. Kelly said he loves the promos and he can't wait for his arrival. We then visit Smackdown and the Main Event. Al Snow said that the Dudley Boyz and Ron Waterman/X-Pac learnt a valuable lesson on Smackdown and that is that Vince McMahon is not the only man with power. How will Jerry Lawler's influence effect the WWF superstars at the Rumble? Can The Rock beat Vince? who knows?

Next up, we go backstage once more with the Coach who is with none other than WWF Superstar Raven. The Coach wants to know what in fact Raven and Justin Credible have got against Diamond Dallas Page as over the last few weeks, the two of them have done nothing but cause trouble for him. Raven says that Diamond Dallas Page is everything he hates in people. "The type of person that tells people everything is going to be alright, things are going to get better....brainwashing the youths of today with postivity" Raven says that he doesn't believe in that crap. He says that when he was younger, people told him that everything would be different, everything would be better when he got older. But they lied. Raven says throughout his entire life, he's been despised and hated for being different and it's no different now. Raven says it's time to welcome Page to the nihilistic pessimistic reality that is life. "Quoth the Raven..Nevermore". Raven then leaves leaving a the Coach looking rather dejected. Al Snow tells the world there are pills that Raven can take for that before getting into an arugment with Kevin Kelly about promoting drugs, Snow claiming he was only referring to anti-depressants.

Prior to our Main Event, it's time to have one final promo, of the Master of the Spineroonie, Booker T, who in case you weren't aware, is still coming back at the Royal Rumble. Can you dig it sucka?

Now it's time for our Main Event and it's between Raven and Diamond Dallas Page. Both announcers remind us that, in fact, this match is a Royal Rumble Qualifying Match. Page came down first to a huge cheer from the audience before Raven arrived, looking more intense than we've seen in a while. The mat starts off very high paced for two of the older men in the WWF, Diamond Dallas Page being the first to take Raven down with a back body drop before attempting an early cover with a discuss clothesline, Raven getting his shoulder up. Page continues the offense with some corner attack, Raven refusing to give up easily despite another pin fall attempt by Page after an inverted mat slam. Raven however was not one to give up and came back with some offensive of his own, hitting Page with a perfectly time bulldog, before nearly getting the 3 fall after hitting Page with a knee lift. Raven started to look worn out about 6 minutes into the match and tried to slow down the pace looking ina sleeping hold on Page. Page, the strong and larger of the two, tried to raise back to his feet, Raven using his legs to try and keep the lock held on but Page used the turnbuckles to release Raven. Page tried to quickly end it with his diamond cutter but Raven was too savy countering before taking Page to the outside. The two men brawled on the outside, Raven taking it strongly to Page using a russian legsweep on Page into the barricade. Raven really wants this Royal Rumble spot. Raven continued the onslaught whipping Page into the steps before rolling in and out of the ring breaking up the 10 count as the brawl made it's way around the ring. The finish came when the two men made their way to the ramp way, Raven deciding that he wanted to finish off the match with the Evenflow DDT there and then. The crowd were on there feet, as Raven set him up, Kevin Kelly begging Raven to stop when out of nowhere, Page counters and hits the Diamond Cutter both men crashing down onto the ramp. Page looked in pain but he knew what he had to do. It was the 5 count and he needed to get back into that ring.....6...Page was slowly getting back to his feet.......7..........8......Wait Raven has hold of Page's foot, Page desperatelyr trying to shake him off...(9)...but Raven won't let go of that tight grip screaming as the count reaches 10. Raven just cost Page the match. The match ends, Page down on his knees, he can't believe it and neither can the fans nor the the commentators. (*** Rating)

Who will be entering the Rumble now? What will become of the Royal Rumble place now? Will it be handed to someone else or will there be a rematch? Who knows? Al Snow and Kevin Kelly thanked us for watching and wished us all a good night!

Quick Results

Steve Blackman def. Hugh Morrus to Qualify for the Royal Rumble Match

Steven Richards def. TAKA Michinoku

Raven drew with Diamond Dallas Page by Double Count Out.

Edited November 11, 2006 by DaveKOTW

[Guest dave_ecw]

Hey mate your work has been awesome as usual, keenly awaiting the rumble should be worth the wait. If you were to ask me who was going to win I wouldn’t be able to tell you and that’s good booking on your part. I do have one problem I think that you made The Dudley’s look weak by putting Austin over, but atleast he is a badass so you can get away with it. Also I think having a 4 and a half star match on RAW between Jericho and Angle is a little bit over zealous seeing as I don’t think they could throw everything they had on RAW.

[DaveKOTW]

Hey mate your work has been awesome as usual, keenly awaiting the rumble should be worth the wait. If you were to ask me who was going to win I wouldn’t be able to tell you and that’s good booking on your part. I do have one problem I think that you made The Dudley’s look weak by putting Austin over, but atleast he is a badass so you can get away with it. Also I think having a 4 and a half star match on RAW between Jericho and Angle is a little bit over zealous seeing as I don’t think they could throw everything they had on RAW.

[DaveKOTW]

The Rock is on the Conan O'Brien Show

Last Friday, The Rock was featured as one of the special guests on NBC's Conan O'Brien show. The Rock spoke about his family's wrestling heritage and about his recent movement into movies. The Rock plugs that he's finished filming a movie produced partially by Vince McMahon called the Scorpion King which is a prequel to the Mummy Returns starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz and of course The Rock. The Rock clarifies that these are not the only movies he's going to be involved in as the WWF intends to get more involved in the Movie Business over the forthcoming years. The Rock guarandamntees this won't be the last movie you'll see him in. Could this mean that The Rock's wrestling career is coming to an end?

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Afa The Wild Samoan on WWF.com

Recently, the New Head Booker of Ohio Valley Wrestling, took some time out to have a short interview with WWF.com regarding the WWF Superstars of Tomorrow.

How are you finding your feet down in Ohio?

"Everything is going fine at the moment, I've settled in well and the boys have been terrific! It's great to be booking there"

There has been a lot of talk about the mass of talent you have down there, with some being hyped as future WWF Champions and Tag Team Champions...

"There is no doubt that there is a lot of talent. When you look to book a show like OVW and you look around and you have talent like Sean O'Haire, Jerry Lynn, D'Lo Brown and K-Kwik, not to mention the up and coming youngsters such as Brock Lesnar, Shelton Benjamin and Michael Verde, you really know that the WWF's future is bright."

Do you have any idea who will be the next to be promoted to the WWF?

"I certainly do, but you know that I can't disclose that information" *laughs* "Let me just say that you'll know when some of these boys start arriving".

Who do you think is the most intellegent Wrestler down at the OVW?

"Well prior till a few weeks ago, I would have had to said it was Mike "Nova" Bucci. However since his release, I would have to say it's between three guys but the one you probably know best is K-Kwik. K-Kwik has got the right mind for the business, he's smart in the ring, smart outside the ring, and a great professional. Last time he was in the WWF, he wasn't ready for the big time but the next time you guys seem him, he'll be a totally different person".

What do you think of the current WWF product?

"I think WWF TV is probably at an all time high. After all, if a company can do what WWF did and survive a war with WCW and ECW, then it's got to be good and you can guarantee with the way this company works, it's only going to get better!"

For more information on OVW, visit OVWrestling.com

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This Week in the Ratings

The World Wrestling Federation has announced the following weeks TV Ratings to the public:

We got a 7.12 rating for 'RAW'!

The attendance level was 10002 people.

We made $400080 from ticket sales.

Show Score: 76%

We got a 5.72 rating for 'Smackdown!'!

The attendance level was 10006 people.

We made $400240 from ticket sales.

Show Score: 70%

We got a 1.21 rating for 'Heat'!

The attendance level was 10014 people.

We made $400560 from ticket sales.

Show Score: 68%

Edited November 12, 2006 by DaveKOTW