WWF Raw is War
July 09th, 2001
Phillips Arena in Atlanta, GA

Okay, so the WCW invasion is bombing. Pretty bad. The general consensus is that things needed to be shaken up and over the weekend, reports were flying around the Internet that some big shake-ups were going to be made in the angle starting as early as Raw. This was confirmed the morning of this show, when Buff Bagwell was released. There's one shake-up right there, but the question remained, what changes would be made to the on-air angle. The answer would prove to get everyone talking.

Show opens with clips from Smackdown where the WCW undercard left 'Taker, Booker T, and even their fearless leader Shane McMahon laying in the parking lot. Set off a whole bunch of pyro like we do every week, and we're off.

J.R. and Paul E. Heymanously announce The Undertaker vs Lance Storm and Mike Awesome in the first WWF vs WCW match on WWF television ever. But first, it's WCW "owner" Shane McMahon taking on Diamond Dallas Page in a street fight. Shane-o Mac enters first and is angry because of Page's insubordination from Smackdown. BUT The Undertaker hits the ring and tells Shane to leave the ring, because he wants Page. Page enters with a chair and swings wildly at Taker a couple of times before finally sliding in the ring.

Page gets some shots in but UT takes over quickly in his trademark no-selling fashion. Taker goes for the chokeslam, but Shane re-enters the ring with his kendo stick and nails Taker a few times, but, because he is the Undertaker, he does not feel the need to really sell it. Page grabs a chair, nails Taker with it three times and FINALLY UT takes a bump. The WCW heels double-team Taker until Sara makes the save with the kendo stick which Shane had dropped, and smacks Shane around a little, but Page grabs her and pulls her into a Diamond Cutter. Sara takes a better bump than his husband would have just for the record. Taker covers his wife as Page and Shane escape. As matches go, DUD bordering on -*, but this would prove to be one of those nights when it's not about the wrestling. Just to be an asshole, Page takes off on Taker's bike too.

The Dudleys come to the ring to defend the Tag titles against the APA. We flash back to Smackdown where Spike Dudley accidentally broke his leg on a botched Acid Drop, and the tough little bastard grimaces a little, but doesn't even seem hurt. Farrooq and Buh Buh start, with Buh Buh on the offense. Farrooq tags out to Bradshaw who has a little more success. The Duds get Bradshaw in their corner and go to work on him before D-Von tags in. D-Von attempts a cross-body but gets caught and Bradshaw pounds him a little. Bradshaw goes for a powerbomb but Buh Buh breaks it up and the Duds hit a belly-to-back/neckbreaker combo. Buh Buh tags back in and goes for the ten punches in the corner but takes a powerbomb after hitting about six. Both guys tag and Farrooq hits the sidewalk slam on D-Von. A neat spot occurs as Farrooq ends up alone with both guys and the fans immediately start the calls for "3D", but instead, it's the diving headbutt from D-Von. Buh Buh goes outside to get the table but that crazy bastard Spike hobbles out and breaks a crutch over Buh Buh's back. D-Von is left alone in the ring and walks right into the Clothesline from Hell to secure the straps for the Acolytes. *1/2

Austin, Vince, and Debra are in the back and Vince is ranting and raving about Shane with Austin echoing all the major words for emphasis. Angle interrupts and not-quite-hilarity ensues, but the end result is Austin firing Angle up to go challenge Booker T. for the WCW championship.

Kane arrives at the building, in his gear, 30 minutes into the show, with a bag draped over his shoulder (if he shows up at the building in his gear, what would be in the bag?!). RHYNO is out to challenge Albert for the Intercontinental Title. Albert is improving…slowly, while being pushed down our throats the whole time. Rhyno kicks his ass for a couple of minutes and then gets taken down by…X-Pac?! Okay. Albert takes over for a little while but Rhyno wins a slugfest and hits a belly-to-back suplex. Big splash off the top gets 2. Rhyno goes for the gore but Albert side steps it and goes for the Baldo Bomb. Rhyno counters it, sees X-Pac charging behind him and turns to Gore him to a big pop. When he gets up though, he walks into a standing scissor kick from Albert. *, certainly nothing special.

Backstage, Angle and Booker T. exchange pleasantries and Angle challenges Booker to defend his title against him. Booker accepts.

Regal and Tajiri are in Regal's office when Tajiri has a nervous attack. He hides behind Regal shrieking as Kane enters and demands to take UT's place against Awesome and Storm. Regal has no problem with that.

Jeff Hardy is out to take on the Big Show. I have problems with the booking here on SO many levels. Almost immediately Trish Stratus comes to ringside. Show smacks Jeff around for a little over a minute until Jeff connects with a running clothesline off the railing and a series of dropkicks. Jeff attempts a rana but gets caught and tossed backwards in a reverse powerbomb for the pin. Trish kisses Jeff after the match anyway. 1/2*

Vince gives Angle a little pep talk in the back as Angle stretches, and Austin volunteers his leadership for Team WWF at Invasion. They argue over who should lead Team WWF but Chris Jericho interrupts them and volunteers HIS services for Team WWF also. Austin and Angle mock him, but Vince seems acceptable towards the idea.

Matt Hardy and Lita are at WWF NY and Jim Ross addresses Lita, but Lita is not wearing an ear piece so Matt has to field the questions. Kinda sloppily done segment. They're not sure if Trish can be trusted for the women's tag match at Invasion. Meanwhile, Shane gives Booker T. a big pep talk backstage. Vince does the same to Angle, as Austin continues to echo all Vince's keywords.

Angle and Booker head to the ring for the first WCW Heavyweight title match in a while. Booker dominates early until Angle surprises him with a back elbow and a clothesline over the top. Shane decks Angle on the floor and WCW referee Nick Patrick says nothing to him. Booker with a missile dropkick off the top for two. Booker gets two off a cross-bodyblock. We go back to the floor with Booker pounding on Angle. Angle catches Booker with a belly-to-back back in the ring, which pops the crowd. Booker gets some kicks in but gets caught with a countered vertical suplex. Angle with an overhead belly-to-belly and an attempted Olympic slam, but Book counters and hits the axe kick. Booker spins up and Angle just charges at him to take him down. Angle charges again but takes a sidewalk slam. Angle locks on the ankle lock, but Patrick is talking to Shane. Booker shoves Angle into a ref bump which sends Patrick to the floor and the crowd is PISSED. Earl Hebner runs to the ring but Patrick pulls him out. Hebner re-enters and spears Patrick. Shane hands Booker the WCW title belt and he decks Angle with it as Charles Robinson slides in and makes the count. Hot match. ***1/4.

Angle argues with Austin and Vince again, since Angle lost, Austin is now the de facto leader of Team WWF for Invasion. Stacy Keibler and Torrie Wilson cut a promo on Trish and Lita to hype the bra and panties tag for Invasion. Nice eye candy for sure.

The Acolytes meet up with the Dudleys backstage and offer them a rematch any time they want it. The Duds decline. Bradshaw offers the Duds to at least let the APA buy the drinks tonight, but Buh Buh declines again and says "Why don't you ask us again at the end of the night?"…oooooh…foreshadowing.

Kane goes in for the handicap match against WCW'ers Storm and Awesome, but wait, Chris Jericho's music hits and apparently it's a tag match. STORM VERSUS JERICHO BAYBEE! Ross and Heyman speculate that Jericho is attempting to prove his WWF loyalty. Jericho goes right after Storm and tosses him to the floor as Kane and Awesome start. The big men trade shots but Kane gets the upperhand. Jericho tags in and gets a couple of quick shots in before Awesome slugs him and tags out to Storm. Ahh, here we go. Jericho goes through the legs and hits a flying forearm followed by some chops. Jericho with a face bulldog, but eats a clothesline from Awesome. Storm with a clothesline and a tag out to Awesome who pounds on Jericho. Tag back in the Storm who misses a clothesline but pulls the knees up on a Lionsault attempt. Tag back out to Awesome who rests a little before hitting a belly-to-belly throw for two. WCW with a double clothesline as Storm tags back in. Storm gets kicked in the face and takes an enziguri. Double tags and the big men are back in. Kane floors both guys and hits a powerslam and flying clothesline on Awesome. Storm slides in with a dropkick to Kane for the save but turns around and Jericho one-ups him with a dropkick off the top. Jericho with the Walls of Jericho on Storm as Kane goes for the chokeslam on Awesome but TOMMY DREAMER AND ROB VAN DAM hit the ring and aid Awesome and Storm. Call the match about **1/2. The WWF mid-carders run in for the save and face off with Dreamer, RVD, Awesome, and Storm. But…wait a second…Tazz…the Dudleys…Raven…Justin Credible…Rhyno…as Paul Heyman screams and tells J.R. to "feel this moment for the rest of your life", they ALL turn around simultaneously and beat down Jericho and Kane. The members of the Hardcore Fan Club rejoice very vocally in front of their respective television sets. ECW is reborn!!! Paul Heyman enters the ring and cuts a passionate promo talking about how he became a corporate sellout, calling Ross a pig, and reminding everyone about the tribe of Extreme. Awesome and Storm have left Shane McMahon's WCW, Tazz and company have left Vince McMahon's WWF, and ECW LIVES! Hoo-lee shit. I watched the tape of this segment seven times Monday night after Raw went off the air. Crowd chants "ECW" as the HCFC all have absolute mark out fits.

Ross ponders how long Heyman had been planning the "assault" as he called it, on the WWF and WCW. Vince and Shane meet up in the back and Shane convinces Vince that they need to work together ONE time. Shane will put 5 of his guys and Vince will put 5 of his guys against the ten men in the newly reformed "ECW" in tonight's main event.

Scotty Too Hotty comes to the ring to challenge X-Pac for the Lightweight title, but no one cares. How do you follow THAT? I kinda like seeing the Lightweight title being defended in such a high profile place on the show though. They trade spots in this dainty little match in between Scotty dancing and working over X-Pac's arm. Waltman takes over with some kicks in the corner but Scotty fires back. Scotty takes him down with a jawbreaker and goes for the worm but Waltman slide to the floor. Scotty throws him back in and tries a sunset flip but X-Pac sits down, holds the ropes, and gets the pin. *3/4, nothing wrong with that match either, but at this point, the crowd was so shocked from the last segment and so intrigued by the main event possibilities, that they did not care.

Vince and Shane both give respective pep talks to the ten men selected, for the WWF: The Acolytes, Hardcore Holly, the Big Show, and Billy Gunn. Dunno about the other two, but I'd definitely want Holly, Simmons, and Bradshaw backing me up in a fight. Representing WCW: Sean Stasiak, Chuck Palumbo, Sean O'Haire, Mark Jindrak, and Chris Kanyon. KANYON~! YES! Shane says he will personally lead while Vince stays in the back. Vince is hesitant but says that if that is the way it's going to be, Shane will be personally responsible for everything that happens out there. Shane leads the charges to the ring.

The WWF enters first, followed by WCW, and they face off in the ring as J.R. pleads for them to work together. Bradshaw and O'Haire mouth off to each other and come to blows, setting off a powderkeg which ends with all the WCW guys getting tossed from the ring to a big pop. The ECW theme starts up as Tazz and Heyman lead the troops, all clad in EC F'N W shirts, in through the crowd. It's 10-on-5 and ECW gets the upper hand, tossing the APA, Holly, Gunn, and eventually Show through the ropes. ECW is standing tall as the WCW boys re-enter the ring and…they all high-five. It was a set-up. Shane and Heyman meet in center-ring and hug. The ECW/WCW forces pick apart the WWF guys one at a time. Tazzmission for Holly. Bradshaw takes O'Haire's finisher (airplane spin into a flatliner). 3D for Farrooq. Top-rope (botched) VanDaminator for Gunn. Shane says Vince was right when he said Shane was personally responsible for everything that happened tonight as he announces the merger of WCW and ECW. Vince is irate, but Shane has one more as he unveils…the new owner of ECW…Stephanie McMahon, who gets a big pop. Ross puts the whole thing over beautifully by saying "the sins of a father are costing us all in the WWF", calls July 9th "a date that will live in infamy in sports entertainment history", and closes with "may God have mercy on our WWF souls" to end the show.

Final analysis: Ho-lee shit. Not a great show wrestling-wise, though Booker/Angle was quite good, but regardless, an off the charts show for intrigue and shock value. Now, whether or not this will serve to spark the WCW angle in the long term or not is still up in the air. The swerve at the end with Stephanie really rubbed a lot of the people the wrong way, but not me. She's young, she's hot, she's the best female presence to come along since Tammy Sytch, she's effective as a heel on the mic, and has made a couple of in-ring efforts that were not entirely bad. Most importantly, and something that will come into play more and more as the angle progresses, she is someone who has name-brand recognition and appeal to the casual WWF fan. To get people watching when/if the new WCW ever starts up as its own product, there will have to be elements already in place that appeal to the casual WWF fan to get them watching while the company attempts to build the Mark Jindraks and Sean Stasiaks into effective performers fans care about. I think the addition of Paul E., Stephanie, the Dudleys, Rhyno, Tazz, Raven, Dreamer, Van Dam and Credible as an ECW faction is a great boost to help generate that interest. Now, if we could get an official reunion of the Impact Players (pleeeeeeeease) and the addition of a few more notable WWF guys (say, perhaps Christian? Angle? Tajiri?), and a freaking TV slot, they have a good base to start with. Or maybe Linda McMahon will buy SCW and lead an invasion alongside Count Grog…