By Jason Powell, Torch assistant editor

WWE Raw virtual time ongoing review
Aired July 28, 2003
Live from Colorado Springs, Colo.
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.

1st Quarter Hour

The show opened with the usual still-shot photos of Eric Bischoff and Steve Austin... A highlight video recapped last week's storylines that involved Kane, Steve Austin, Eric Bischoff, and Linda McMahon... The opening montage aired...

(Commentary: It's worth noting that used a different camera angle than the live shot that aired last week of Kane piledriving Linda McMahon. The word backstage after last week's show was that Vince McMahon was upset that the live shot gave away how much room there was between Linda's head and the floor of the stage.)

Johnathan Coachman and Jerry Lawler introduced the show and hyped Shawn Michaels and Randy Orton as Chris Jericho's guests in the Highlight Reel...

Vince McMahon walked onto the stage and said he was there to confront Kane. Vince said he wasn't confronting Kane because he's a good husband because everyone knows he's not. Instead, he said he was at the show because Kane is an animal and he wanted him in the ring. Vince guaranteed that before the night ends, all hell would break loose...

(1) Booker T & Scott Steiner (w/Stacy Keibler) beat Test & Christian at 11:10. The announcers hyped that the main event of SummerSlam would be announced after the match. After some solid back and forth action, the show cut to commercial.

2nd Quarter Hour

[Commercial break]

After the break, Steiner was selling for the heels but made a quick comeback by hitting an impressive suplex on Test. Later, Booker hit a scissors kick on Christian for the win...

Highlights aired from the SummerSlam press conference held July 22 in the Staples Center parking lot, where it was officially announced that the Raw main event of SummerSlam will be Triple H vs. Goldberg...

The announcers hyped Goldberg for after the break...

[Commercial break]

(2) Goldberg beat Steven Richards at 1:14. An all out squash that had the live crowd on their feet and chanting "Goldberg" by the end of the match. Great intensity from Goldberg...

After the match, Goldberg mugged for the crowd until Triple H's entrance music interrupted him. Triple H walked onto the stage with fellow Evolution members Ric Flair and Randy Orton. Triple H took the mic and mockingly stated that he was very impressed by Goldberg's win over "Stevie Richards." Hunter said that while Richards is an awesome competitor, he is not the World Hvt. Champion. "You see, Goldberg, I am the World Heavyweight Champion, and you, my friend, have no idea what you're getting into when you go up against The Game."

Goldberg told Hunter that he was waiting for him in the ring. "If you're such a bad ass, why wait until SummerSlam?" Goldberg asked. "Why not tonight?" Triple H said he is the champion and that he is banking on Goldberg's reputation to make him a lot of money. Triple H gave the logical answer that he didn't want to destroy Goldberg's reputation until SummerSlam. Ric Flair took the mic and backed up what Hunter had said. In the ring, Goldberg challenged Flair to meet him in the ring. Flair darted toward the ring, but was grabbed from behind by Hunter and Orton.

3rd Quarter Hour

Eric Bischoff walked onto the stage and refused to allow Goldberg vs. Flair to take place without the proper promotion. Instead, Bischoff proposed their match take place next week in Vancouver, B.C. Goldberg accepted those terms and warned Flair that he is next. Goldberg's music played and the crowd chanted his name to end the segment...

(Commentary: Better hype than last week's half-hearted initial confrontation between Triple H and Goldberg, but still nothing earth shattering. It was good to hear Triple H and Bischoff using logical explanations as to why neither Triple H nor Flair will get in the ring with Goldberg tonight. Will WWE do anything else tonight to get people talking more about this money match or will it once again be overshadowed by Kane and the McMahon family soap opera?)

[Commercial break]

(3) Val Venis beat Rico (w/Miss Jackie) at 5:01. During the match, Coachman hyped the pending arrivals of Steve Austin and Kane. After some back and forth action that didn't do much for the live crowd, Val fought off Jackie's attempted interference and hit the Money Shot on Rico for the win...

Backstage, Bischoff had a group of security guards waiting for the sheriff's van that brought Kane to the building. Bischoff stopped security from releasing Kane from the van and said he would have to wait in there until he received word from Vince McMahon that it was time to release him...

The announcers hyped the Highlight Reel for after the break...

4th Quarter Hour

[Commercial break]

Chris Jericho stood in the ring with the Highlight Reel segment and bragged about his victory over Shawn Michaels last week. Jericho said he and Randy Orton share a mutual hatred for Shawn Michaels, then introduced Orton as his first guest. Orton came out and presented Jericho with an Evolution t-shirt. Jericho asked Orton to name the finishing move he used on Michaels last week. Orton dubbed the move the RKO. Jericho took offense to Orton interfering in his match last week and demanded to know why he did it. Orton said he screwed Mick Foley and wanted to follow up by screwing Michaels. Orton vowed to live up to his nickname of Legend Killer by killing Michaels. Jericho introduced Michaels as "the man who tapped to the vicious power of the Liontamer."

Michaels entered the ring and took exception to Jericho bragging about his win last week. Michaels then turned his attention to Orton, and said he wished he had a nickel for every nobody who ever vowed to end his career. Jericho got in Michaels face again, so Michaels challenged him to an immediate rematch. Jericho said Michaels is pathetic because he can't admit that he was defeated last week. "I'm not going to give you a rematch in front of all of these jackasses tonight, because I already beat you last week," Jericho said. "I'd face anybody in this building before I'd face you. I'd even face the fat guy in the front row." Orton stepped in and asked Michaels if he wanted to fight, which Michaels responded to with a punch.

This concludes our first hour coverage of Raw. Check the "TV Reports" section for our second hour coverage of the show.

***

After Raw concludes, you are encouraged to send feedback consisting of your name, hometown, 1-10 score, and a pithy paragraph of thoughts in ready-to-publish (i.e. well proofread) in the following format:

John Smith of Denver, Col. (5.0): Raw was an average show, but the highpoint was definitely... etc...

Forward your comments to TVFeedback@pwtorch.com.

We suggest these recent related articles...

PARKS'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 10/8: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Thursday show, including Roman Reigns & Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt & Braun Strowman

METZGER'S ROH TV REPORT 10/4 & 10/7: IWGP World champ Okada vs. Roderick Strong main event, plus Briscoes vs. Time Splitters, more from "Field of Honor," Overall Reax

MCMAHON'S TNA IMPACT REPORT 10/7: TNA Title Series kicks off, Bound for Glory fall-out, more; Overall Reax