By Jason Powell, Torch assistant editor

WWE Raw virtual time ongoing review
Aired Jan. 27, 2003
Live from Chicago, Ill.
Broadcast live on TNN

Ongoing ''Virtual Time'' Review of Raw

This is an ongoing ''virtual time'' report on tonight's Raw. I will update this report with results and commentary every 10 or 15 minutes throughout the show. You may have to hit refresh in order to see our latest update.

5th Quarter Hour

(3) Victoria (w/Steven Richards) beat Trish Stratus in a Chicago Street Fight to retain the WWE Women's Title at 5:39. Late in the match, Richards inadvertently sprayed a fire extinguisher at Victoria. Moments later, Richards ran in and broke up Trish's pin attempt. Victoria caught Trish with a kick, which set up a believable nearfall that the crowd popped for. In the end, Trish went for Stratusfaction on Victoria, but Richards helped Victoria break up the move and throw Trish to ringside, where Victoria scored the pin. After the match, Jazz walked shoved Victoria out of her way as she walked to the ring. Jazz attacked Trish with several DDTs as Victoria and Richards watched the action from the top of the stage. Jazz locked Trish in the STF and finally broke the hold to say, "I'm back, baby!"

(Commentary: Excellent for a women's brawl. Both Trish and Victoria worked very hard and the live crowd responded accordingly. Jazz's post-match attack came at the right time because the crowd was sympathetic toward Trish, so the attack successfully re-established Jazz as a player in the women's division.)

[Commercial break]

(4) William Regal & Lance Storm beat The Dudleys in a table match to retain the Raw Tag Titles when Three Minute Warning interfered. Before the match, Ross mistakenly said he was surprised Bischoff and Morley granted the Dudleys a ladder match. He corrected himself a few seconds later as the match began. Ross deservedly praised the crowd for being "wild and wooly" throughout the show. The Dudleys dominated the match to the point that they hit 3D on Storm, and followed up with the Whassup spot on Regal shortly thereafter. The Dudleys went searching for a table underneath the ring, but there were none to be found.

6th Quarter Hour

Chief Morley walked onto the stage as the crowd chanted "asshole" at him. Morley laughed at the idea that he would give the Dudleys a fair shake. The Dudleys approached Morley on the ramp, but Rosey & Jamal ran out and attacked them from behind. Rosey and Jamal brought the Dudleys back to the ring. Bubba made a brief comeback, only to be hit with an impressive backdrop one of the Three Minute Warning members. Spike Dudley ran out and momentarily got the better of 3MW, but he was also put in his place, this time by Rico. Morley brought a table to the ring and the heels put D-Von through it, giving Regal & Storm the win.

(Commentary: A fun match. Ross's foreshadowing made it fairly obvious that the Dudleys were going to get screwed, but I like the hidden tables idea. I still can't get over how hot the Chicago crowd is. Better yet, WWE has been giving them reasons to stay hot.)

[Commercial break]

Highlights aired of the Raw crew's Far East tour...

Backstage, Triple H, Ric Flair, Randy Orton, and Batista stormed into Bischoff's office. Triple H complained about Bischoff granting Steiner a number one contender's match without even warning him. "What if he wins?" Triple H asked in a serious tone. Then Triple H repeated his question, only this time he was smiling as he remembered that there's strength in numbers...

Backstage, Al Snow told Tough Enough 3 winners Matt and John that they were on live on Raw where there were no second chances. "Make me proud," Snow told the wrestlers before sending them off for their first match. In the background, Chris Nowinski emerged from a hiding spot with a smile on his face...

Backstage, Rob Van Dam and Kane cut a cute promo in which RVD listed all of his finishing moves before mentioning Kane's chokeslam. RVD referred to himself as "Mr. Monday Night," then led Kane in pointing at himself in RVD style...

[Commercial break]

(Commentary: Matt and John are going to wrestle their first matches tonight? Well, we know if can't possibly be worse than Jackie Gayda's last Raw appearance.)

7th Quarter Hour

Ross introduced a video piece that recapped the Tough Enough finale...

(5) Matt Capatelli fought John Finnegan to a no-contest in 1:00 when Christopher Nowinski interfered. Al Snow walked to the ring with both wrestlers and stood in the corner during their match. The live crowd seemed excited about the idea of seeing the students wrestle until they realized that they would be going up against one another. Roughly a minute into the match, Chris Nowinski walked to ringside and slammed Snow's head into the ringpost. Nowinski stopped the match and complained that the wrestlers were trying to show him up because he didn't win Tough Enough 1. Tommy Dreamer ran out with a kendo stick and ran off Nowinski. Dreamer took the mic and welcomed both wrestlers to WWE, saying they should be honored to be standing in the Raw ring on only their fourth day in the company. Suddenly, Dreamer hit John with a kendo stick shot to the head. Dreamer fell over, but quickly got back to his feet and hit Matt with a kendo shot. Dreamer climbed onto the ropes and played to the crowd as the announcers wondered why he would attack the heels...

(Commentary: A fun angle with a surprising twist.)

[Commercial break]

The latest Sean O'Haire vignette aired. This time he suggested that viewers "light one up." Of course, he's not telling us anything we don't already know. Good stuff...

Eric Bischoff walked to the ring for a promo and announced, "Stone Cold Steve Austin... is not here tonight." The crowd booed. "Do not blame me," Bischoff said. "Do not put that on me." Bischoff aired highlights of Vince McMahon and Jim Ross addressing Austin's departure from the company on Confidential. "Well," Bischoff said, "that was one side of the story, but every story has two sides." Bischoff said he was happy to announce that Austin had accepted his offer to tell his side of the story in Raw Magazine. The crowd booed. Bischoff promised that Austin would comment on McMahon, Ross, "his recently divorced wife" Debra, Triple H, Rock, and others. Bischoff concluded by saying he hopes that Austin will accept his invitation to return at No Way Out.

8th Quarter Hour

Bischoff said he knew Austin was watching at home and played the Austin "Desire" video in hopes that it will help persuade him to return to the company. The video aired and it was an excellent way of making fans remember just how incredible Austin's run was...

[Commercial break]

After the break, Lawler asked Ross if he'd spoken to Steve Austin since last week's show. "Absolutely," Ross said, adding that he's "seriously considering" returning. "He hasn't said no," Ross concluded...

(6) Triple H & Batista (w/Ric Flair, Randy Orton) beat Rob Van Dam & Kane at 6:58. Ross mentioned Hunter's faction but stopped short of naming them, instead mentioning something along the lines of "whatever their name will be." Ross also stressed that RVD & Kane are undefeated as a tag team. Lawler fired back that Triple H & Batista are undefeated as a tag team. Early in the match, Kane pressed RVD over his head and then dropped him on Batista for a nearfall. Batista came back seconds later with a spear on Van Dam.

9th Quarter Hour (overrun)

Batista continued his attack on Van Dam by hitting him with a series of solid clotheslines. Batista tagged Triple H into the match at 4:30, which drew "RVD" chants from the live crowd. Moments later, RVD made the hot tag to Kane, who beat up both heels for a while. Kane cleared Hunter from the ring and tagged RVD, who missed a Five Star Frogsplash attempt. Kane went to ringside to go after Hunter, but Orton and Flair attacked him. Batista ripped Kane's mask off while Flair and Orton held him. In the ring, RVD regained control of the match and worked over RVD. Meanwhile, Kane ran backstage while hiding his face. Batista climbed back in the ring and took control of RVD before finishing him off with a powerbomb.

After the match, the heels continued their assault on Van Dam until Scott Steiner ran them off with a pipe. Chris Jericho ran out and jumped Steiner from behind. Hunter's faction ganged up on Steiner. Hunter punched Steiner repeatedly while Batista, Orton, and Flair held him. Steiner bladed, then Batista powerbombed him. Steiner's pants fell down to his knees during the powerbomb, revealing his red underwear. Flair locked Steiner in the figure-four as the others kicked Steiner. Flair released the hold and Triple H Pedigree'd him to end the attack. The heels raised their hands in the center of the ring but stopped short of holding up four fingers again.

Once Hunter's faction left the ring, Jericho reentered the ring, took his shirt off, and posed over the fallen Steiner. Jericho dropped an elbow on Steiner and then mocked him by doing push-ups. Jericho locked Steiner in the Walls of Jericho to end the show. You can bet that moments after the broadcast ended, Steiner recovered and made Jericho his whipping boy...

(Commentary: An excellent show from start to finish.)

This concludes our "virtual time" coverage of tonight's show. Check the "Torch Feedback" section momentarily for reader reviews of tonight's show. If you would like to contribute, see below for details.

***

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