PWTorch.com - RAW RETRO: Worst to First - Raw in Oakland 13 yrs. ago today, plus King of the Ring tourney, Lesnar & Taker wrestle on Raw, Austin fall-out, more

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RAW RETRO: Worst to First - Raw in Oakland 13 yrs. ago today, plus King of the Ring tourney, Lesnar & Taker wrestle on Raw, Austin fall-out, more

Jun 17, 2015 - 1:21:14 AM

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WWE Raw emanated from Oakland Arena (now Oracle Arena) in Oakland, Calif. 13 years ago today, with a main event of Brock Lesnar vs. Booker T, The Undertaker against Matt Hardy, Chris Nowinksi's main WWE TV in-ring debut, and fall-out from Steve Austin walking out of WWE.

Thirteen years later, the arena is home to the new NBA World Champions Golden St. Warriors, who finished the 2002 season tied for the worst record in the entire NBA at 21-61. What a difference 13 years makes...

WWE Raw Report
June 17, 2002
Live from Oakland, Calif. on TNN
Originally Published PWTorch Newsletter #710
Report by Jason Powell, now of Prowrestling.net

Hosts: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler...

(1) Rob Van Dam beat X-Pac in a KOR tournament match when Booker T interfered at 5:56. X-Pac pushed Van Dam from the top rope to the floor. As the ref went to check on Van Dam, Booker ran out and hit X-Pac with the Bookend. Van Dam recovered and hit the Five Star Frogsplash for the win.

-Highlights aired from Confidential of Jim Ross's comments on the Steve Austin situation. ... Backstage, X-Pac complained to the other NWO members about Booker interfering in his match. Kevin Nash said he had a plan for revenge.

-Vince McMahon walked to the ring for a promo and said Austin is truly done with WWE. Vince said he hopes Austin will return to the company someday, but said he has a lot of apologies to make before that can happen. Vince told the stories of Austin walking out after WrestleMania XVII and no-showing last week's Raw. Vince said Austin will be replaced by new superstars and hyped that the winner of KOR will face the WWE Champion at SummerSlam. Vince wished Austin well and thanked him for helping to build the company: "On behalf of the company that you helped build, and on behalf, Steve, of every single fan you helped entertain around the world, I would like to say thank you. Thank you, Stone Cold, thank you for the memories." Vince pulled a can of Budweiser out from his suit, took a sip, and placed the can in the middle of the ring. Vince left the ring as the camera showed a closeup of the can and the show cut to break.

(2) Jeff Hardy beat Raven with the Swanton Bomb at 3:47. Undertaker watched the match from atop the ramp.

-Backstage, Goldust (dressed up as an Oriental wise man) got on Booker's good side by referring to him as "King Booker." (This ended up foreshadowing Booker winning the next King of the Ring tourney, which was held four years later in 2002.)

-Backstage, Jonathan Coachman interrupted Molly Holly's workout and asked her to comment on Trish Stratus's remarks about her "fat ass." Molly took offense to one of Coach's lame jokes and slapped him.

-Backstage, Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar entered the NWO dressing room. Heyman asked the faction to stay out of Lesnar's match. The faction took offense, and Lesnar eventually engaged in a staredown with Nash that ended when Heyman pulled Lesnar away.

(3) Chris Nowinski (w/William Regal) beat Spike Dudley at 3:19. Nowinski wore gold and black trunks for his WWE in-ring debut. In the end, Regal distracted Spike long enough for Nowinski to hit a full nelson bomb for the win.

-Ric Flair walked to the ring for a promo and announced that he had signed a contract to be a full-time wrestler. Austin's music started to play, but Eddie Guerrero walked out. Guerrero blamed Flair for Austin leaving "on your watch" and mocked Flair's return to the ring. Chris Benoit walked out and scolded Guerrero for how he was talking to Flair, who then offered to wrestle Guerrero at KOR. Benoit turned on Flair and set him up for Guerrero, who locked him in the figure four.

-Backstage, Nowinski introduced himself to Vince and bragged about his Harvard background. Vince took a phone call from Tony Garea, who he said was keeping an eye out for Austin at the airport. Vince told Nowinski that the cell service was bad, but that Garea had told him that "The Man" was on his way to the building. Vince assumed Garea was referring to Austin. Vince later instructed Sgt. Slaughter to round up a camera crew to document his presumed meeting with Austin.

(4) D-Lo Brown & Trish Stratus vs. Crash Holly & Molly Holly at 2:45. After D-Lo pinned Crash, Molly threw Trish face-first into the announcers' table.

-Lita cut a promo at The World Nightclub and expressed concern over Matt wrestling Undertaker. ... Backstage, Jackie Gayda entered Vince's dressing room and told him she wants to be "a Raw girl." Vince said he could arrange that if she competed in a lingerie contest that will air June 18 on TNN.

(5) Undertaker beat Matt Hardy at 2:12. Jeff Hardy ran out and helped his brother, but Raven ran out and evened the sides. Taker hit the Last Ride for the win. After the match, Raven handcuffed Jeff to the rope and forced Matt to watch as Taker pummeled Jeff.

-Backstage, Terri conducted a forgettable interview with Undertaker. ... Backstage, Heyman tried to suck up to Earl Hebner, who blew him off. Booker T showed up and got in Heyman's face.

(6) Brock Lesnar (w/Paul Heyman) beat Booker T in a KOR tournament match at 3:21. The NWO walked to ringside before the match. Kevin Nash and Shawn Michaels sat in on commentary and mocked Ross. Goldust walked out and tried to interfere, but the NWO stopped him. X-Pac and Big Show took turns distracting Booker, which enabled Brock to hit his finisher for the win. Afterward, the NWO beat up Booker and Goldust. (Brock went on to win the tournament.)

-Backstage, Vince told Slaughter to have Austin meet him in the ring. ... Vince cut a promo in the ring and asked one of the crew members to pass him a beer, which he planned to give to Austin. Rock's music played and he walked to the ring and gave Vince 15 seconds to leave. Vince obliged, but Rock still picked up the beer can and hurled it at Vince. Rock talked about how much he enjoys his WWE job because all of its wrestlers want to be there. In an obvious shot at Austin, Rock said that if anyone doesn't enjoy working for WWE, they should get the F out. "Austin can take his ball and go home," Rock said. "But as far as the Rock is concerned, and as far as I am concerned this, this, this, is home. If you smell what the Rock is cooking."