Monday Night Raw – July 8, 2002 (2016 Redo): Breaking Point
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Night Raw
Date: July 8, 2002
Location: First Union Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
We open with a recap of Undertaker vs. Kurt Angle from Smackdown with the double finish.
Vince announces Undertaker vs. Rock vs. Angle for Vengeance. Undertaker is off tonight though and the fans are NOT pleased.
Opening sequence.
Booker T. vs. Eddie Guerrero
Post match Benoit comes in for the beatdown but Goldust makes the save. The Dudleyz come in and clean house with chairs.
Rey Mysterio video.
Video of Rock asking if Lillian would like some strudel. Lillian: “More than anything in the world Rock.”
Bubba Ray Dudley vs. Chris Benoit
Guerrero and Benoit beat on the Dudleyz until Booker and Goldust make the save.
Video on Nowinski at Harvard. Ok then.
Jackie Gayda/Christopher Nowinski vs. Trish Stratus/Bradshaw
This is an infamous one. The guys start things off and Chris wants a little football, only to tag in Jackie when Bradshaw gets down in the three point stance. Trish gets two off a dropkick and shoulder, which pretty much ends the competent part of the match. Stratus charges at Jackie in what I think was supposed to be a toss over the top but Jackie completely misses her so Trish just bounced chest first off the ropes.
Rating: U. For unacceptable. This is a perfect example of what happens when someone has no reason to be in the ring but is out there because they won some competition. Nowinski was nothing great at this point but he could wrestle an acceptable match. Jackie looked like she was in her first week or two of training, let alone being ready for a live match.
Montage of Rock impersonating various people.
Ric Flair vs. Steven Richards
So is this really just taking place so a Philadelphia guy can wrestle? Flair stomps him down in the corner, followed by the standard chops and punches. A toss sends Steven outside, followed by a belly to back into the Figure Four for the submission.
Tommy Dreamer comes out and threatens to innovate some violence and actually knocks Lesnar outside with a kendo stick. He makes the mistake of going after Heyman though and gets hit with the F5 on the floor. With Lesnar busy looking at Dreamer, Van Dam comes in and kicks Brock down. A Van Terminator knocks Paul silly. This was ALL for the live crowd, which is almost never a good idea for a TV show.
European Title: Jeff Hardy vs. William Regal
Regal is defending and gets punched in the face to start. The Whisper in the Wind barely makes contact but gets two anyway. A few knees to the face put Jeff down and the Regal Cutter gets two for the champ. Something like a Tazmission has Jeff in more trouble but Regal goes to unhook a turnbuckle pad. This villainy goes badly for him though as Jeff dropkicks him into the corner and hits the Swanton for the pin and the title.
Video of This Is Your Life Rock.
Regal breaks down in tears over losing. Nowinski has to come in and help him up.
Bubba gives a rousing speech to get Van Dam to be the mystery partner.
Dudley Boyz/Rob Van Dam/Goldust/Booker T. vs. NWO/Chris Benoit/Eddie Guerrero
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