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The show starts with Eric Bischoff saying he got to pick the first person in the Draft Lottery and he says it is the biggest acquisition in Raw history. Coach walks in and tells him that Paul Heyman may show up tonight. Bischoff doesn't care and calls this his defining moment.
Chris Jericho is out now for the Highlight Reel to interview the first draft pick for Raw. The first pick of the Draft Lottery is none other than...John Cena, who comes out to a gigantic pop. I remember watching this moment live and being shocked. It's amazing how much more effective the draft concept was in this era, as it was clear that the fans were invested in this. Jericho and Cena go back and forth a little bit and out comes Christian and Tomko. He compares Cena to Mark McGuire, which is fun. Cena cuts a rap on him and tells him that he's not on his level or the level below me. Cena and Christian go at it, but Cena takes care of him and Tomko.
Intercontinental Championship Match
Handicap Match
Muhammad Hassan & Daivari vs. Shelton Benjamin
I have to say that they have given Shelton more chances to get himself over than I remember at the time. It probably goes to show how things change with perspective. Hassan gets a pinfall victory, but Shelton got his leg on the ropes and the ref decides to restart the match. Hassan and Daivari continue to take advantage of Shelton after the commercial break. Things started off a little sloppy, but everyone seems to have settled down now here. Shelton makes the comeback and throws Hassan over the top rope. He hits the T-Bone Suplex on Daivari and gets the somewhat surprising victory. Remember that at the last Raw pay-per-view it took Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels to defeat the same two wrestlers. Not a bad little TV match.
Match Rating: **(out of 5)
Tajiri and William Regal are backstage. Regal doesn't want Tajiri taking part at One Night Stand. In walks Chris Benoit and he tells him Tajiri is a huge part of ECW's history. Regal says that he already told Eric Bischoff he would be with his anti-ECW crew. Tajiri starts chanting "ECW".
They cut over to Bischoff and Coach. Coach says that Heyman is coming and he hears he isn't coming alone. Hassan is now complaining about being screwed in his match by one of Bischoff's refs. Bischoff announces that Steve Austin will hear Hassan's grievances.
Chris Masters vs. Val Venis
Val attacks Masters from behind as he is walking down the ramp. Val continues the attack and hits a fisherman suplex for a 2 count. Masters is bleeding from the mouth. It's kind of fun to see Val get a shot here. He was always a solid hand that was overshadowed by the crazy gimmick. Masters makes a quick comeback and almost instantly puts him in the Master Lock. Val tries briefly to get out, but the ref stops the match and that is all. They have done a nice job of building his finisher and Val was highly motivated here.
Match Rating: *3/4
Triple H and Ric Flair are backstage. Flair says to just make sure to get Batista to sign the contract.
After the commercial break, Bischoff is in the ring with a large amount of security guards. He dares Heyman to show up tonight. Triple H is out first and Bischoff lets him know that no matter what happens in the Draft Lottery, Hell In A Cell will happen. He introduces a highlight package of his three Cell matches. Out comes Batista, who tells Triple H that he doesn't fear the Cell and he doesn't fear Triple H. Both men then sign the contract and Triple H tells him that he signed his own death warrant. Batista says that he'll have to kill him to take his championship. Triple H then says you'll have to kill him to stop him. So we're going with the live death on TV angle here. They go face to face and Triple H then backs away. That was a surprisingly tame contract signing.
The Heart Throbs & Victoria vs. Rosey, The Hurricane & Christy Hemme
So they did a big segment to help get Victoria over and then they stick her with the Heart Throbs? The Heart Throbs couldn't me much less over, as the crowd is silent for the first time tonight when they are on offense. Christy gets a hot tag and goes nuts on Victoria. Mike Chioda tries to stop her, but she won't, so he calls for the bell. Christy continues to attack Victoria out on the ramp until Rosey and Hurricane finally pull her off. So obviously this wasn't much of a match, but it did show a side of Christy we haven't seen yet.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Eric Bischoff is backstage and he walks in to John Cena. Cena denies his handshake attempt. Bischoff says next week will be Cena's first match on Raw when he teams with Jericho to take on Christian and Tomko. Bischoff then offers to join the anti-ECW crusade. Cena tells him he doesn't do politics and then makes a joke about turning off Nitro at 9:00 to watch Raw.
Edge comes out before Kane's opponent comes out and tells Kane that he will face him at Vengeance. Edge teases fighting him tonight, but thinks better of it and then brings out Lita. Lita says Vengeance will be in Vegas and that they will get married there. They make out and walk to the back.
Out comes Coach to join the announcers booth.
ECW Rules Match
Chris Benoit vs. Snitsky
Benoit quickly nails Snitsky with a garbage can lid. It would only be a few years until Snitsky was a featured member of the ECW roster. JR promotes the show by repeatedly saying how violent the show is going to be. Benoit brings out a table after Snitsky gets hung up on the top rope. Benoit hits three German suplexes and then sets Benoit on the table. Benoit goes up top, but Snitsky blocks the attempt. As Snitsky is waiting for Benoit to get back in the ring, out come the Dudley Boyz from out of the crowd and they hit the 3D on Snitksy through the table. They show highlights of the rest of the match, which happened during the commercial break? Benoit hits a diving headbutt and gets the win. This was a match just to add to the story of One Night Stand.
Match Rating: *1/4
They show Coach backstage and he finds Paul Heyman and the Dudleyz and has them arrested. Heyman then talks his way out of it.
Bischoff comes out to the ring with a Edge, Christian and Tomko. He talks some trash and then out come Heyman and the Dudleyz. Paul gives his speech and the Dudleyz step up to Bischoff's crew. Bischoff then brings out his crew. Heyman then brings out his crew including Tommy Dreamer, Rhyno, Sandman, Axl Rotten and Balls Mahoney. A huge brawl breaks loose and naturally the ECW guys dominate.
Well, that was a good example of a show that started hot and ended hot. Not much happened in the middle, but they delivered at the most crucial times of the shows. Cena jumping to Raw felt like a big deal and he would become a mainstay of the show for the next decade. The ECW angle felt fresh for a recycled storyline and definitely added interest to the upcoming show. It would have been nice if the middle of the show would have added more, but some of that is due to lack of depth at the time.
Overall Rating: 62%
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