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Relive the drama of WWE Raw in 2002! From major comebacks and controversial angles to the transition of WWF to WWE, discover the defining moments of a truly unforgettable year in professional wrestling.
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00:00My friends, let us pop back to 2002. It's actually a super interesting year for the WWE as it was
00:05the
00:05first entire 12 month period where they had no proper competition. WCW had obviously been bought
00:10in 2001 and the invasion angle was over already. The Adjadir is basically dead, so what the flub
00:16do we do next? Of course, this is also the time where the WWF had to become the WWE,
00:21and Steve Austin one day didn't turn up for work. It was just a totally wild time,
00:24although there are some proper classic moments in there as well, although you do kind of have
00:28to search for them. To catch you up or introduce you to this year for the first time, my name
00:32is
00:33Simon Miller, I have no hair, let's binge watch 2002. Number 10, Triple H's Return
00:38And the fact it could be one of the best WWE comebacks ever. Triple H had torn his quad off
00:43the bone in 2001, which is just a mad injury, and even when he told the medics this, they actually
00:48laughed at him because haha, there was no way that was right. Turned out he was, and yep,
00:52he was going to be out for months. On the 7th of January Raw, however,
00:55WWE was in Madison Square Garden, so yep, if we were going to mark his comeback as something
01:00huge we should aim for then, haha, I tell you, it was pretty flippin' awesome. The whole creative
01:05team deserves praise for the build up videos too, and actually, it's what we should be doing with
01:09all talent all the time, including today. Seeing the game prepare for his return was a story within
01:14itself, and when we actually got to the moment, oh my gosh, fans were desperate to see him.
01:18Don't forget that when Hunter got taken out, he was the company's biggest heel too,
01:22but again, this was so well put together, nobody was going to boo him. The Struggler
01:26had been very real, and now boom, he was back. In terms of Pops, nothing comes close to this in
01:312002, and yes, that includes the NWO. That was at no way out, and you can see this for yourself,
01:37Triple H wins hands down.
01:389. Hulk Hogan in the Red and Yellow
01:40So we just brought up Hulk Hogan, and let's get to the topic people still have today. Should WWE have
01:45just brought Hulkamania back with all the red and yellow? I say hindsight is doing its thing here,
01:50because I still remember Vince McMahon spinning his chair around with the NWO logo on the other side.
01:55People were so excited, and then yes, it all went the wrong way.
01:59That no way out debut was so weird, as Hogan, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall pretended they were going to
02:03be
02:03nice guys, and no, nobody wanted to see that. We basically wanted a re-run of the peak of the
02:08New World Order to see it take place in WWE, and for whatever reason, Vince McMahon decided,
02:13nope, you're not going to get it. I do understand the logic here though,
02:15because even with the success of the Black and White, Federation fans and WCW fans at their
02:20heart were simple creatures. They wanted that nostalgia pang, or the wrestling they deemed
02:24synonymous with their brand. It's actually why Hogan was rejected as the All-American
02:28Babyface in World Championship Wrestling at first. Do not bring that WWF nonsense down here.
02:34Now, this NWO went nowhere, so sure, getting to the good stuff quicker would have been an improvement,
02:39but once again, I actually understand why we did it this way. Seeing Nash,
02:42Hall and Hulk on WWE TV was genuinely exciting, until it wasn't, and yes,
02:47the pop to WrestleMania 18, half the fun was Hollywood Hogan slowly morphing into his old self,
02:52and besides, it just meant you got another massive pop when all of this was done.
02:55Ultimately, WWE just messed up a lot of this, especially the former Diesel and Razor Ramon.
03:01They sort of languished in nothingness. Doesn't make any sense. Ridiculous.
03:048. The rest of the NWO
03:06So let's talk about all of this as well, because I do think it is important,
03:09from that initial announcement to that No Way Out pay-per-view. Everybody was excited,
03:13because finally, maybe, just maybe, we were going to do the invasion angle right. Just a shame that
03:18it actually happened after all that had gone down in 2001, but it got so whacked out and confused,
03:23even Shawn Michaels joined the group. It was essentially just one big surprise after another
03:27to try and garner interest. HBK wasn't wrestling yet either after leaving WrestleMania 14 to sort his
03:32back, and really the constant story here was, well, why don't we just put another dude in there?
03:37X-Pac, the big show of all people, even Booker T, he wasn't even part of the first version.
03:42The true summary of all of this is the Scott Hall-Steve Austin feud. On paper, that should
03:46have been huge, but due to many things, including, yes, Hall's personal issues,
03:50it meant it was just there in the mid-card. It didn't work, and that is such a shame. The
03:54NWO
03:54were responsible for WCW climbing to the top of the industry in 1996, and the payoff was this
04:00absolutely bizarre interpretation. Basically comes down to what we've always heard. If Vince McMahon
04:05didn't create it, he will at least try to recreate it in his image. It was a mistake.
04:097. Raw Roulette was pretty good
04:11It was actually January 2013 when WWE last used this gimmick, but if we are talking about the debut,
04:17that's right, it's 2002. It was essentially WCW's spin the wheel, make the deal idea,
04:21with some Las Vegas flair thrown in. The first one on the 7th of October threw out stipulations
04:26such as a steelcade and blindfold matches, and also a bizarre showgirl bout as William Regal took on
04:32gold dust. Maybe don't do that one again. When we do get to that period of the year where
04:36WWE falls into the doldrums a little bit though, which is always going to happen given we do have
04:41so many shows in a year, yes, I do believe this would work. I wouldn't make it as dumb as
04:45it was
04:46back then because the fanbase would just get mad, but it is first, and of course you get the whole,
04:50oh my gosh, surprise, we're going to do this on Raw. It's just different and fits with sports
04:54entertainment nonsense, and that's always important no matter what era we're in. I liked it, and yes,
04:59you would have to update it for a modern audience, but I think WWE could do that. Whether they would
05:04or not is a different story. 6. The post-draft shows
05:07Of course, another massive happening in 2002 was the first ever WWE draft as Vince McMahon tried to
05:13create his own competition. It meant some wrestlers would be exclusive to Raw and some to SmackDown,
05:17and the first ever draft was sold as this huge thing. It's going to change the game forever.
05:22As it was the debut though, the programs that happened straight after this are super duper odd.
05:26Because you essentially go from these star-laden shows in 1999, 2000, and 2001 to, well, not having
05:33that. There's a plus because of course new arrivals were going to get more TV time,
05:37but you had to adjust to that as a fan. In theory it sounded good, but a new recruit,
05:41for example, is not Stone Cold Steve Austin. You also see mid-card guys like Bubba Ray,
05:45Dudley and Bradshaw all of a sudden being treated like big deals, and it's just so jarring because
05:49it happens so fast. If you jump from the January Roars to the March Roar, it actually feels like a
05:53different show, because everything changes but you. Also, it's why when Jinder Mahal all of a sudden
05:58became the WWE Champion in more modern times, and the audience reacted like, well, we never would
06:02have done that in the past. Yes. Yes, we would have done it. Now, of course, it was entirely the
06:06point because WWE felt like they needed a refresh. But that does not mean it's not totally nuts.
06:11I watched all this, so I can tell you it's totally nuts.
06:135. Too Many Shock Tactics I talk about this way too much,
06:17so I will apologize. But it's only because when I do go back and watch retro content, it's obvious to
06:22see.
06:22WWE is super panicked after the Attitude Era magic goes away, and they don't know what to do.
06:27They then decide pushing the envelope is the answer. And please listen to me, my friends,
06:31it is not. Ever. Of course, one such storyline was Katie, Vic, Kane and Triple H talking about
06:35terrible things. And look, it sucks. It's bad. It's embarrassing. There's nothing good to take away
06:40from it. But I suppose, at a push, you could argue, well, at least it involved characters and angles.
06:45You expect that from wrestling, which means it's still not as bad as HLA.
06:49Now, if you don't know, that stands for Hot Lesbian Action. And yes, Eric Bischoff would walk
06:54to the ring, scream about women kissing, and then we'd watch that for a while. You may as well have
06:59just leaned into the camera and said, listen, teenage boys, we'd love you to watch. It really
07:03was just so gratuitous and lame, because people can access pornography should they wish. You don't
07:07need to go and paste it all over wrestling. It was just so shameless and awful if you were watching
07:11when a non-fan walked in. How the flub are you going to explain this? It really should have been
07:16a time
07:16when we were building characters and more stories, but nope. Just go out there and kiss. It was so
07:21bizarre. It was so stupid. And Ian, if you ignored this, then you have to deal with necrophilia too?
07:26Man, WWE in 2002 may suck.
07:284. WWE Raw goes a bit bad WCW
07:31So it's barely a sentence, but I do think it does tie in. Vince McMahon really didn't know how to
07:35book
07:36Raw in 2002, so he threw things at the wall. And yes, for the third time, I'm going to mention
07:40Katie Vick. Don't think I'm over it. The Steve Austin and NWO feud is also bad,
07:45and everything with Ric Flair as the new general manager is all over the place. I mean, he's sort
07:49of a heel, he's sort of a face. It's totally mad. Scott Steiner's program with Triple H also never
07:54get to the heights that we wanted, and I suppose that's the issue. A lot of the stars at the
07:58top of
07:58the card were the same as those in WCW when they were going through a bad period, and that sort
08:03of left
08:03a horrible taste in people's mouths. I get why we had to use them, because we didn't want to see
08:07them.
08:07I just don't think we hit the reset button hard enough. Now, it does not get as bad as
08:11no disqualification matches that end in disqualification, which WCW was doing in 2000,
08:16but it really is not a solid 12-month period at all. WWE really does not know what to do,
08:21and I think eventually said, well, why don't we do what the competition did? It's a bit like a
08:25Professor Layton puzzle. Remember that 2001 as well is seen as one of the best WWE's ever? Well,
08:30it's just a bit of a fall from grace, and that's mostly because it always was going to be. You
08:34can't ride
08:35that way forever. Number three, the end of the year episode.
08:38So we really get this anymore, just because times have changed so much,
08:41and because networks demand new fresh content, but the end of the year back in 2002,
08:46WWE would often run best of episodes, just a highlight package from what we've done over
08:50the last 12 months. The crazy thing about the best of 2002, however, is that it's a really good damn
08:55show. You just get two hours of awesome matches and an Owen Hart tribute, and because this was during a
09:00time where PPV was king, getting to see some of these on free TV was excellent. I mean, you get
09:05to see Kurt Angle vs Edge, the Mania Hogan and Rock match, and Shawn Michaels vs Triple H, which was
09:10an
09:10awesome fight. If you had been watching highlights throughout 2002 and hadn't seen the full things,
09:14this felt like a fantastic gift before Xmas. Now, yes, once again, you couldn't do it now,
09:19mostly due to social media, but if you can throw yourself back 25 years or so, it was a great
09:24idea
09:24that sadly time killed. Time is always doing that. Ah well.
09:28Number two, Steve Austin does not seem happy. Once again, this could just be information we
09:32know today tricking our brains, but Stone Cold does not seem best pleased throughout 2002. Of course,
09:38eventually he fell out with the company and didn't return, but before then, well, you can just see it
09:42building. Austin is treating anything but the star he is from January onwards, and maybe it's because
09:46he did go out there and turn down the Hulk Hogan match. He was the first guy WWE went to
09:50before The
09:51Rock stood in, and as Austin has talked about, he just didn't think he'd be able to gel with Hulk,
09:55so he didn't want to have a bad match. Unfortunately, that left the rattlesnake
09:58in a really weird position, and, well, after he publicly spoke out about his creative, sheesh,
10:04does it get worse. Of course, the end was when he refused to lose to Brock Lesnar in the first
10:07round
10:07of the King of the Ring on Raw, but Austin's point always was, why the hell aren't we doing it
10:12on
10:12pay-per-view? That's where the money is. He was correct, but it was still a bad look,
10:16and as above, I don't think WWE was doing this to actually build Brock. I think they were sending
10:20a message to Austin. It is bad, though, which is crazy, because without Stone Cold, you do not
10:25have the success that WWE was still riding a wave of. It just goes to show that all things come
10:30to an
10:30end. I think it's only fair to say as well that Steve Austin has said ever since, and this was
10:33a
10:33massive mistake. And look, the fans hated it as well, especially because then the WWF became the
10:38WWE. Here's a totally mad couple of months. Number one, the pay-per-view match we never got.
10:44As soon as Shawn Michaels did leave the NWO, things became way better. He had that amazing street
10:48fight with Triple H at Summerslam, and of course, he won the world title for the last time during
10:52the first Elimination Chamber match. It was actually quite a nice, surprising moment.
10:56He then wrestled Triple H again at Armageddon, but there is another fight
10:59during this period that we do not talk about enough, HBK vs RVD. It was on the 25th of November
11:05Raw, and as Michaels had just won the title, he took on Rob Van Dam, who was super popular at
11:09the time.
11:10It was also a dream match, and I think WWE had decided they did want to protect RVD,
11:14because it ended in a disqualification they didn't want to pin him properly.
11:18Looking back now though, we really should have carried this on, or at the very least made a
11:22much bigger deal of it. Shawn vs Rob after their respective paths felt so exciting and unique,
11:27it also allowed you to start forgetting about the invasion angle, because this was the feeling we
11:31were looking for back then. And as ever, WWE never did anything else with it. It's a huge mistake,
11:36especially because the crowd was super into it. And that's why I've forgotten something I don't think
11:40they ever did do the return, and nothing ever happened on PPV, but yeah, it's exactly the
11:44stuff that WWE should have been doing in 2002. Let's just come up with some new things. Instead,
11:49they did not. If you have anything else in 2002 that you think we should talk about,
11:53then make sure you leave a comment below and start a chat before you like the video,
11:56share the video, and subscribe. But also click the video on the screen to get even more videos
11:59about been watching wrestling years. And listen, if I am going to watch all of this,
12:02you may as well join me as well. Otherwise, I appreciate you joining me, my friends.
12:06Have a terrific day. Speak to you soon.
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