This Day In Wrestling History - April 22

Date: April 22, 2002 (12 years ago)

Feature: WWF Raw featured the NWO vs. Steve Austin feud that culminated with Big Show turning on Austin to join the NWO. Plus, Brock Lesnar faced Matt Hardy early in Lesnar's run.

Torch Back-Issue: PWTorch Newsletter #702.

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WWF Raw Review
April 22, 2002
St. Louis, Mo.
Report by Jason Powell, now of Prowrestling.net

The highlight of the show was Big Show turning on Steve Austin and joining the NWO. Not only does the turn give the NWO and Show much needed boosts, but more importantly, it added intrigue to the incredibly well-booked Ric Flair vs. Austin feud.

(1) Brock Lesnar beat Matt Hardy when the referee stopped the match at 3:08. Hardy entered the ring through the crowd and attacked Lesnar from behind to start the match. Matt snuck in some offense before Lesnar squashed him with a powerbomb. Lesnar didn't cover Matt, so the ref stopped the match.

-Backstage, Ric Flair entered the building and tried to shake hands with a pair of workers. When the workers passed on Flair's offer, he assumed they were under the impression that he intentionally screwed Steve Austin at Backlash. Flair explained that he simply did not see Austin's leg draped over the bottom rope. Undertaker showed up and thanked Flair for "doing the right thing." Flair denied helping him, but Taker headed off to the ring to publicly thank him.

-Taker walked to the ring for a promo and thanked Flair. Taker started to hype his WWF Title match against Hulk Hogan, but he became distracted when the big screen aired a shot of Triple H walking backstage. Triple H walked into the arena and attacked Taker in the ring. The wrestlers fought to ringside, where Taker bladed. Eventually, they fought their way backstage. Triple H set up Taker for a sledge hammer shot, but security showed up and stopped him. A pair of police officers arrested Triple H and hauled him off in a squad car.

-Backstage, Goldust and Booker T hosted and "At the Movies" segment. They aired clips of Rock's opening scene from the "Scorpion King" and praised the movie. However, both wrestlers felt the movie could have been better if they had been given Rock's role. The clip aired again, only with Booker in Rock's role. Goldust also aired a clip of himself spliced into the movie. Booker cracked that if Goldust had been the star of the movie, the producers would have named it "Scorpion Queen."

-Backstage, Regal insinuated that Flair screwed Austin, but Flair denied it.

(2) Rob Van Dam beat Mr. Perfect with the Five Star Frogsplash at 3:01. Eddie Guerrero sat in on commentary. After the match, Guerrero attacked Van Dam and tried to give him a frogsplash, but Van Dam rolled out of the way.

-Throughout the show, highlights aired of each of Hulk Hogan's title wins.

(3) Jazz & Molly Holly beat Trish Stratus & Jackie at 2:15. Before the match, Ross hyped that Trish is on the cover of this month's Oxygen. In the end, Jazz hit Jackie with a title belt, which enabled Molly to score the pin.

-Backstage, Arn Anderson told Flair that if he wanted people to believe him, he should go to the ring and tell his side of the story.

-Ric Flair walked to the ring for a promo and was cheered by the fans. Flair admitted he did a lousy job as a referee at Backlash. He aired the footage of Taker pinning Austin while Austin's foot was on the rope. Flair pointed out that it appeared he looked at Austin's foot before making the count. Flair aired the footage from a second angle that showed his view of Austin's foot was actually blocked by Taker. Austin came out and called Flair a liar. Eventually, Flair tried to make it up to Austin by booking him and Bradshaw in a tag match against Scott Hall & X-Pac, but Austin didn't look too happy about the situation.

(4) Goldust & Booker T beat Bubba Ray & Spike Dudley. In the end, Booker pinned Spike. Afterward, Steven Richards ran out and tried to take advantage of the 24/7 WWF Hardcore Title rules, but Bubba fought him off and put him through a table.

-Backstage, Shawn Stasiak cut another "Planet Stasiak" promo. Tommy Dreamer interrupted Stasiak and asked him if he was feeling okay. William Regal showed up and mocked Stasiak, who responded by challenging Regal to a match.

(5) William Regal beat Shawn Stasiak at 0:11. Regal hit Stasiak with the brass knuckles and pinned him.

-Backstage, Flair, Anderson, and several referees tended to a fallen Bradshaw, who was the victim of an attack.

-Backstage, Flair chewed out Hall and X-Pac for attacking Bradshaw, then left the room to find Austin another partner. Kevin Nash came out of a back room and joked with his NWO buddies until Flair returned and threw him out of the building.

-Hulk Hogan cut a promo in the ring. He thanked the crowd and said Triple H deserves a re-match.

(6) Scott Hall & X-Pac fought Steve Austin & Big Show to an apparent no-contest when Show turned on Austin at 9:00. Show shoved both NWO members to the mat at the beginning of the match, but quickly tagged out. Austin traded offense with the NWO until late in the match when he made a hot tag. Show entered the ring and pulled down the straps of his ring gear. Show picked up Austin and chokeslammed him. Show, Hall, and X-Pac celebrated over a fallen Austin to end the show.

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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