The SmarK Rant for WWE Monday Night RAW – 05.27.02

The SmarK Rant for WWE Monday Night RAW – 05.27.02

Apparently my DVR is too stupid to figure out that “All Elite Wrestling: Collision” and “AEW Collision” are in fact the same show, so it decided not to record tonight. Luckily I had already done the other 2002 RAW yesterday and so I’m good.

Last one to finish off the 2002 RAW collection forever! And a fairly notable one for me personally, since I was actually able to attend this one, unlike the show the previous year that featured Benoit v. Austin in a near five star TV match. But I mean, I think this one has a pretty good match too…

Live from Edmonton, AB. No, I wasn’t on TV as far as I know. My seats were somewhere in the lower bowl in the corner, although this was a special show for me in the sense that it was the first time I got comped for a TV taping, which was important to me because I was broke as fuck at the time.

Your hosts are Jim Ross & Jerry Lawler

Chris Benoit joins us to start, almost back from his year long neck injury. JR notes that Benoit is bigger than Wayne Gretzky in Edmonton right now, but lemme tell ya, neither guy is particularly well liked in Edmonton here in 2025. Chris of course gets a gigantic hero’s welcome 5 years before we found out what a horrible person he was, but he’s quickly interrupted by Eddie Guerrero. Eddie notes that he’s the member of the Radicalz with all the talent and charisma, and of course he’s the only one with Latino Heat. And the Intercontinental title. So obviously Benoit is jealous of Eddie. Man, I’m actually glad that IF Eddie had to die young, he died before finding out that his best friend was a piece of shit murderer, because it probably would have broken his heart and killed him all over again. So they look like they’re about to get it on, but Ric Flair interrupts and notes that Steve Austin can’t be here tonight, but regardless he’s not letting a Smackdown guy fight a RAW guy here on his show and tells Benoit to get lost. Flair as evil owner was such a drag. JR does clarify that Austin will actually be here, despite what Flair said.

Meanwhile, security escorts Benoit out of the back door.

WWE Women’s title / European title: Trish Stratus & Spike Dudley v. William Regal & Molly Holly

So we have a mixed tag with both singles titles on the line so I imagine they’ll come up with some shitty finish to get out of it. Spike throws dropkicks on Regal while the announcers joke about how Molly claims Spike “tried to get to second base” with her. Spike with a crossbody for two and Spike rolls him up for two. Over to Molly, who slaps Spike before he tags out to Trish, and she runs wild on Molly and puts the boots to her in the corner before clotheslining her for two. Trish with the Chick Kick for two. But then Molly takes the ref and Regal hits Trish with the running knee behind the ref’s back, and Molly gets two from that. She drops elbows on the back to take over, but Trish backslides her for the pin to retain at 3:00. So I guess it’s not winner take all, it’s just whoever scores the fall, so Regal retains his title. Hey, at least it had a finish, that’s more than I thought we’d get! *1/2. Afterwards, Regal gifts Molly the brass knuckles and she uses the POWER OF THE PUNCH on Trish to get revenge.

Meanwhile, Hardcore champion Steven Richards is interviewed by Terri, but Jackie interrupts, and Richards accuses her of being jealous and wanting to hook up with him. So Jackie kicks him in the nuts and tries to pin him, at which point Stasiak and Bossman come in and brawl, and Terri pins Richards for the title in the mayhem, only for Richards to roll her up and regain it right after. Yeah that part I actually do remember.

Meanwhile, the nWo continues squabbling in the dressing room and Kevin Nash declares that anyone who loses tonight is OUT of the nWo. But first, Booker complains about how the nWo music has no bass in it. He’s got a point. Also Goldust is hiding in a bathtub and eavesdropping on them.

X-Pac & Booker T v. The Hardy Boyz

Matt rolls up X-Pac for two while Lawler marvels at Mountain Standard Time and how it “stays daylight until like 10:30” in Alberta. Yeah that’s how the sun works, Jerry. Believe me it’s not like that outside of summer. Hardyz double-team Booker and Jeff gets two off that, and he hits the Whisper in the Wind for two while LAWLER mocks JR for making a reference that’s too dated. Think about how out of date it had to be for THAT to happen! Anyway the match kind of falls apart and they’re all in the ring and not going anywhere, but Booker hits the Axe kick on Jeff and X-Pac tags himself in and hits the X-Factor for the pin at 3:42. But this isn’t good enough for Booker, who wants to do the Spinarooni, and X-Pac is like “OK, go for it, man”. *

Meanwhile, Paul Heyman stops by to check with Tony Garea on how Trish is doing after the match. “You look great, you been working out?” Tony: “Yeah just a little, Paul.” So Paul sneaks into the dressing room, but BUBBA TOUGH is there and beats Heyman up and sends him running away. Also he’s got “the next big thing” in his pants, apparently. Somehow I doubt that.

Tommy Dreamer joins us, and he’s hungry for a hot dog, so he hits up some guy in the front row and then accidentally drops it on the ground and steps on it before eating it, because he likes to eat weird stuff, in case you hadn’t heard over and over. But then his totally normal meal is interrupted by Undertaker, who tells him to get lost and then offers him a shot at the title. Tommy: “I’d love a shot at the title!” Taker: “I bet you would. BUT YOU’RE NOT GONNA GET ONE!” Tommy’s sad face is pretty funny there, I’ll give him that. But then Taker amends the deal and tells Tommy to drink his cup of tobacco spit if he wants to get out of the arena alive. So Tommy does, and he actually likes it, so a disgusted Undertaker beats the hell out of him anyway. Wel this was a thing that happened.

Brock Lesnar v. BUBBA TOUGH Dudley

Brock beats on Bubba in the corner to start while Heyman screams motivation from ringside, understandably upset about being assaulted by Bubba earlier for something that was frankly none of his goddamn business. They fight to the floor and Bubba runs him into the stairs while JR talks about “the old ECW” as though it’s Sam Muchnick’s St. Louis territory or something. Back in the ring, Bubba with a neckbreaker for two. Brock escapes the Bubba Bomb and follows with a suplex. Brock puts his head down and Bubba powerbombs him for a double down and makes the comeback. Sideslam gets two. Heyman takes the ref while Bubba gets the visual pinfall, but Brock charges and hits Paul by mistake, and Bubba gets a german suplex for two. But then Heyman trips up Bubba, and the F5 finishes at 5:45. Nice simple match that worked well. **1/2

Meanwhile, Raven thinks that Steve Austin’s absence is due to his own problems, not Debra’s. And when Austin looks in the mirror, he sees a troubled and tortured soul. RAVEN WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING.

Big Show v. Bradshaw

Much like Bubba, this was the attempt at the singles push for Bradshaw where they were making him a fun-loving cowboy or something. Show throws him around and puts the boots to him in the corner, but misses a blind charge and they slug it out. Bradshaw with a lariat and Show won’t go down, and hits AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATHECHOKESLAM to finish at 2:00.

Meanwhile, Booker and X-Pac are celebrating their win, but nWo Goldust interrupts and Booker is amused because he looks like “some kind of freaky deaky Oreo cookie or something”. Yeah they paid someone to write that line. Anyway X-Pac is less amused and goes to stooge them out to Kevin Nash.

Meanwhile, at the World, we get Tough Enough arm wrestling matches, featuring future co-winners Jackie Gayda and Linda Miles. Man both of those sure proved to be a waste of time and money.

Meanwhile, RVD has a ladder match for the Intercontinental title against Eddie in the main event, and of course no one can get as high as RVD.

Meanwhile, Coachman thinks Steve Austin has arrived, but it’s just Howard Finkel, who rants about renting a car in Calgary and getting stranded in Red Deer. Yeah we’ve all been there. I have literal nightmares about getting trapped in Lloydminister and spending my life jumping back and forth over the border while trying to calculate the sales taxes.

Goldust v. Crash Holly

Goldust, still representing the nWo here, slugs away on Crash to start, but he gets rolled up for two. But then he quickly hits the Curtain Call to finish at 1:00. This of course brings out Kevin Nash, who further beats up poor Crash while Goldust flashes the gang signs at him.

Meanwhile, Eddie goes to Ric Flair with concerns about maybe getting hurt in a ladder match tonight. Also he’s worried about Austin showing up tonight, but Flair has it covered.

Intercontinental title, ladder match: Eddie Guerrero v. Rob Van Dam

They do a stalemate sequence to start and Eddie bails to the floor, so RVD tries a dive and Eddie spikes him into the mat on the way down. Rob runs him into the post in response and suplexes him onto the railing before hitting the guillotine kick, but Eddie runs him into the ladder and adds a suplex to take over on the floor. Back in the ring, Eddie puts him down with a back elbow and the crowd gets on his case, so he hits RVD even harder to punish them. That’s why he rules. He works on the legs and wraps the knee around the post before smashing him with a chair, which is another smart move in a match where you have to climb to win. Even Lawler is coherent enough to make that point! Eddie beats him down in the corner, but Rob comes back with the monkey flip, so Eddie SMASHES him with a powerbomb. Love that one. So Eddie finds a spare ladder under the ring, back when more than one was a rarity, but Rob dropkicks it in his face and follows with a quebrada that Eddie blocks with the ladder. But then Chris Benoit returns, having somehow purchased a front row ticket between the start of the show and now, and he takes a seat to watch as we take a break. Back with Eddie running the ladder into RVD’s face on the floor, and he heads into the ring to make the first climb, but Rob dropkicks the ladder over to save. Rob goes up and Eddie brings him down with another powerbomb, but then an idiot fan runs into the ring and Eddie gives him a nasty shot while security tackles him. That moron probably thinks Alberta can separate from Canada, too. So with that out of the way, Eddie climbs again, but then decides to hit Rob with a senton from the top of the ladder instead and that looked NASTY. Thankfully Rob seems to be OK as Eddie checks on him. Rob sandwiches the ladder onto him a couple of times to put him down again and makes the climb, but Eddie yanks him down and suplexes him into the ladder. They head to the top and Rob brings him down and then monkey flips him into the ladder in a crazy spot, before putting the ladder on Eddie and hitting a Rolling Thunder onto that. Eddie grabs a chair and that leads to the Van Daminator to put him down again, and Rob climbs the ladder in the corner, presumably to hit a frog splash off the top, but the ladder gives way in a terrifying fail and Rob thankfully lands in a normal bump without dying. So they improvise a new finish where Eddie tries to go up again and Rob dropkicks him to the floor to incapacitate him, and then RVD climbs the ladder and wins the title at 20:39. Some absolutely incredible spots, which were years ahead of their time in some cases, although the botched finish took a bit away from it. ****3/4

And then finally Steve Austin makes his appearance, hitting the ring to beat on Eddie and Ric Flair and AA while the crowd goes crazy. And Benoit joins him in the ring for backup, but then turns on him and teams up with Eddie for a beatdown as we learn that the Radicalz were Ric Flair’s backup all along.

This was a WAY better show than the last one I watched, although Austin’s imminent departure would render all of the Flair storyline stuff meaningless right away. Still, with one modern classic match and a pretty good Bubba-Brock sprint, this was a damn fine episode of RAW in a sea of crap that year.