Raw is War

Indianapolis, Indiana
October 8, 2001

The Oct. 8 episode of RAW -- the biggest RAW in history -- emanated live from the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind.!

The show opened with a six-man tag bout, as the Dudley Boyz and Tazz took on Tajiri, Big Show and Spike Dudley. The Dudleys were accompanied to the ring by Stacy Keibler, who adorned a Dudleyville T-shirt and black-framed glasses in honor of Bubba Ray and D-Von. Tajiri was seconded by Torrie Wilson. Tajiri finished off Tazz with a big boot to the face. After the bout, Stacy ran into the ring to mouth off to Tajiri, but Torrie snuck up from behind to give Stacy a piece of her mind. But Bubba Ray distracted Torrie, allowing Stacy to get in another cheapshot. As Tajiri went to save his girlfriend, Tazz locked him in the Tazzmission and choked him out. D-Von then got a table, and at Stacy's request, Bubba Ray put Torrie through a table, as Tajiri was forced to watch! EMTs had to attend to Torrie after this heinous action by the Dudleys, and a concerned Commissioner William Regal came down to check on her.

Moments later, EMTS prepared to take Torrie to a medical facility.

Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley then returned to RAW, as the Billion-Dollar Princess made her way to the ring. Stephanie said that after seeing what had just happened to Torrie Wilson, the only thing she could say was "Big deal!" She said that Torrie had just gone through a table, but she had been pulverized by Chris Jericho two weeks ago on SmackDown! She said that Torrie had gotten what was coming to her, but that she was an innocent victim! Stephanie said she suffered two herniated discs, a bruised sternum and a concussion in the incident.

She said that she was proud to be back. She said she felt great, and felt like she could do anything. Stephanie said she'd like nothing more than to see Stone Cold Steve Austin defeat Kurt Angle to become World Wrestling Federation Champion. As she continued to speak, the Y2J countdown began, and out came Jericho himself!

As the crowd chanted for Y2J, Jericho told Stephanie that it was good to see her again. He asked if she had said that she felt like she could do anybody, or be on her back, or that she had back, or that she was back. He said that makes sense too -- and speaking of two ...

Before Jericho could go on, out came WCW owner Shane McMahon -- Stephanie's brother. The Boy Wonder talked about how Y2J had been making fun of Stephanie for years, and he had done nothing about it, because he thought Jericho was hilarious. Shane said he thought Y2J was funny, although Stephanie disagreed with him. He said he'd figured that Jericho would run out of material by now, but Y2J was a genius.

He said that if Jericho had spent half the time focusing on his matches as he did on his jokes, he could have been a champion by now, but that's not what Jericho has chosen to do. Shane said there was always room for comic relief, but Y2J would never be anything other than a choke artist. Jericho said that Shane's comment was entertaining, but said that it would also be entertaining if Shane and Stephanie were to team up against him on RAW. He said that way, he could get their hands around their necks and show them what it really means to choke.

Stephanie said she knew Y2J wanted nothing more than to get his hands on her body, but she wasn't stupid, and wouldn't put herself in that position. Instead, she said that Shane would team with Rob Van Dam -- who has pinned Y2J three times in recent weeks -- against Jericho and the partner of his choice, The Rock! He told Shane and Stephanie to choke on that!

RVD was watching backstage when he was approached by Booker T and Test, the WCW Tag Team Champions. Booker congratulated RVD on his recent success, but said he would have defeated Angle a lot faster last week on SmackDown! Booker pointed out that he was a five-time WCW Champion, and RVD said he couldn't believe that Booker had lost the title five times! RVD said he didn't want to be Booker, he wanted to be Rob ... Van ... Dam!

Some mysterious footage then aired of a woman named Jennifer, who talked about how she was fat and out of shape weeks ago, and was very depressed, and how her husband didn't want to touch her. She said that since meeting DDP, she learned to like herself, and her husband liked to touch her again. She then bent over to illustrate "Positively Stretching!" Page then said that he wanted to touch her too, and that he liked her! DDP also said he would help the fans like him, and themselves!

Next up, Booker T and Test -- T&T -- defended the WCW Tag Team Championship against the Hardy Boyz, who were accompanied to the ring by Lita. Test and Booker used their power advantage early on to dominate the Hardys, but Team Xtreme battled back. Booker hit Jeff with the Book End, but Lita nailed a hurricanrana on Booker! Matt then hit the Twist of Fate on Booker. As Lita held Test's foot, Booker and Jeff hit each other with a double clothesline. Outside the ring, Test threw Lita over the barricade, and Matt attacked Test outside the ring.

The Undertaker then made his way to the ring and gave Booker the Last Ride, with the ref on the outside! Jeff followed up with a Swanton Bomb, and pinned Booker as the Hardys became WCW Tag Team Champions!

Moments later, Booker screamed at Test backstage that he had been nothing but disrespected since coming to RAW -- and he was gonna get some respect by taking out the Undertaker!

Elsewhere, Lita was leaving the Hardys' locker room when she ran into The Hurricane and Mighty Molly. They said that the way the Hardys won the titles was dishonest, and Molly challenged Lita to a bout on RAW. Lita accepted, saying "Holy ass-kicking!." Hurricane asked, "What's up with that?"

Stone Cold's locker room door was then shown. Apparently, Austin was at the arena, but wasn't letting anyone in to see him.

Intercontinental Champion Christian -- headed to the ring next, as it was announced that he wound defend his title against Edge in a Ladder Match at No Mercy! He put his glasses on a kid in the front row, and then took them back before joining Jim Ross and Paul Heyman at the announce table to provide color commentary for the U.S. Title match between Rhyno and Edge. It didn't take long for Christian to get involved in the match, trying to trip Edge. Rhyno then went to attack Edge, but hit Christian by accident! The match continued, and moments later, Edge was about to pin Rhyno when Christian pulled his brother out of the ring, as the match ended in a disqualification.

After the bout, Rhyno went for the gore on Edge but missed, and Edge then speared his brother, who was waiting to attack him with a chair!

In a tag match made earlier in the show, WCW Champion The Rock teamed up with Chris Jericho against Hardcore Champion Rob Van Dam and WCW owner Shane McMahon. Early on, Y2J had Shane down, but as Jericho went for the Lionsault, RVD nailed him with a boot to the face. RVD & Shane then isolated Jericho, but Y2J finally tagged in Rock. The battle continued, and Y2J was able to lock RVD in the Walls of Jericho on the outside! But Shane snuck up from behind and bulldogged Y2J off the steps, knocking Jericho out. Back in the ring, RVD hit Rock with several kicks, and then went for the Five-Star Frog Splash, but missed! Rock was now on his own, with Jericho out cold. He knocked Shane out with a spinebuster, and went for the People's Elbow, but RVD hit him before he could do so. Moments later, Rock hit the Rock Bottom on RVD, but Shane saved the Hardcore Champion. A bloody Jericho struggled back to his feet and went to hit Shane with a chair, but accidentally hit Rock. RVD then pinned Rock to win the match!

Backstage, RVD and Shane celebrated their win, and Stephanie joined them in celebration, as did many other members of the Alliance. The group chanted "RVD" as they walked by Stone Cold's locker room.

Live from WWF New York, Lance Storm and Ivory predicted that Stone Cold would win the World Wrestling Federation Championship on RAW.

Backstage, EMTs checked on a bloody Chris Jericho. Rock approached him and asked what he was thinking out there, and Y2J said he was thinking about hitting Shane with a chair. As Rock walked away, Jericho said he was just trying to win the match. Rock heard him, and said Jericho should just be a man and accept responsibility. Jericho said maybe he should have just knocked the People's Eyebrow right off Rock's face! Rock then challenged him to do so -- and Jericho nailed The Rock right between the eyes! Referees and officials had to separate Y2J and the People's Champion!

Michael Cole stood outside Stone Cold's locker room, and said the Rattlesnake would be speaking to them following the next match.

That next match pitted Scotty 2 Hotty against X-Pac, in a match for X-Pac's Light Heavyweight Championship. Scotty nailed the Worm, but X-Pac got his foot on the ropes as Scotty went for the pin. Moments later, X-Pac raked Scotty's eyes and hit the X-Factor to score the pin and retain his title.

Cole was then waiting to talk to Stone Cold, but Debra walked out of the locker room instead. Debra said that her husband had changed his mind, and didn't want to talk to Cole. She then said that she was looking for Commissioner Regal's office, and asked Cole where it was. He told her, and she went to talk to Regal.

Next up, Lita took on Mighty Molly, as Jim Ross announced that Undertaker had accepted Booker T's challenge for a match at No Mercy. Lita went for the Twist of Fate, but Molly powered out of it. Moments later, Molly upset Lita, pinning her with a roll-up! After the match, The Hurricane came out to congratulate his sidekick! After the bout, the two went to the parking area, where Hurricane said that they were going to leave on the Molly-mobile, as he called it for one night only!

Debra entered the commissioner's office, and told Regal how beautiful his office was. She asked him about his ruling about not allowing Alliance members at ringside. She said that surely he wasn't talking about her. Regal asked if she had baked any cookies today, and when she said no, Regal said she should go do it now -- since she was indeed barred from ringside for the title match!

Michael Cole interviewed World Wrestling Federation Champion Kurt Angle about his upcoming title match against Stone Cold. He asked if Angle was worried, and Angle said that at SummerSlam, Stone Cold had learned that he couldn't beat him, and that at Unforgiven, Angle learned that he could definitely beat the Rattlesnake. Hand under the rope or not, Angle said that Austin was tapping. Angle said "Oh hell no" -- Stone Cold would not take the Federation Championship from him! He said he would let his actions speak for themself.

The main event on RAW was up next, as Stone Cold Steve Austin returned to challenge Kurt Angle for the World Wrestling Federation Championship! Surprisingly, Debra headed to the ringside area shortly after her husband did, taking a seat near the timekeeper, and clearly defying Commissioner Regal's orders! Moments later, the commish came to ringside and grabbed her by her ear, demanding that she return to the locker room! Regal said that he would be sitting at ringside to make sure that things went smoothly from then on in the bout. As Austin got face-to-face with Regal, Angle's music hit, and it was time for the title match to begin!

The slugfest began outside the ring, as the crowd chanted "U.S.A.!" The Rattlesnake hit the Thesz Press early, and measured the champion with an elbow. Moments later, Angle hit a Thesz Press of his own! Angle then seemed poised to go for a Stunner, but Austin reversed it. Angle then countered into an ankle lock, but the Rattlesnake made it to the ropes!

The fight again spilled to the outside, as Angle bounced Austin's head off the announce table, and Austin shoved Angle into the ringpost. After throwing Austin onto the announce table, Angle ripped away some of the padding from the outside, exposing the concrete floor. Stone Cold battled back, ramming Angle's head on the ring steps, before he threw the champion back into the ring.

The challenger was now in control, although Angle refused to stay down. The Rattlesnake went to work on Angle's left knee, before wearing him down with a sleeper. The chants of "U.S.A." served to rejuvenate Angle a bit, but Austin made sure the champion stayed down. Austin went for the Stunner, but Angle rolled him up and scored a near-fall.

Soon after, Angle locked Austin in a sleeper of his own, but Austin countered with a jawbreaker. The two slugged it out for a bit before Austin again locked Angle in the sleeper. Angle again powered out, and scored a series of near-falls on the Rattlesnake. Austin soon threw Angle over the top rope and to the outside. The Rattlesnake went for a steel chair, but Commissioner Regal grabbed it away from him. Austin went for another one, but Regal again grabbed it away. Austin then took Angle over to the exposed concrete and went for a piledriver, but Angle countered it into a backdrop!

Back in the ring, Angle continued the attack on Austin, but the Rattlesnake was able to nail Angle with a spinebuster. Austin locked Angle in a Boston Crab, but the champion made it to the ropes. Austin pulled Angle away from the ropes, but Angle again made it over to the ropes, causing Austin to jaw off to referee Earl Hebner. Using his second wind, Angle assaulted the Rattlesnake with clotheslines and punches. Austin tried to go airborne, but Angle caught him with a series of suplexes. Stone Cold finally broke out of the suplexes with a low blow.Austin went for the Stunner, but Angle countered, and Stone Cold shoved him right into the ref. Austin then went outside the ring for the Federation Championship, but Regal followed him into the ring and grabbed the title from Austin. Shockingly, Regal then nailed Kurt Angle in the face with the title belt! Regal then helped Hebner to his feet to count the pin, but Angle kicked out of the fall! A livid Austin and a shocked Regal questioned what it would take to put Angle down. Austin then hit the Stunner, and Hebner counted the fall, as Austin became Federation Champion for a sixth time! Austin celebrated his title win as RAW went off the air!