Show opens with footage from the Raw episode of 2 weeks ago-Kevin Nash made his return to WWE, saving his old friend Shawn Michaels from a beating by Chris Jericho, Ric Flair and another of his pals, World Champion HHH. Last week the saga continued as Hunter hit Big Kev with an ultimatum: Either join his entourage, or take his chances siding with HBK.

Pyros go, Coach and Lita welcome us in, we go straight to work…

1st Match: Jacqueline vs. Molly Holly. Referee is Jack Doan.

Mild pop for Jackie, decent heat for Molly. Bell rings, circling into a lockup, Molly slaps on a side headlock, Jackie trips her up, Molly to one knee, Jackie takes her down with an armdrag. Both ladies up, Molly connects with a knee to the gut before shooting Jackie off the ropes, Molly sets for a back body drop, Jackie scouts it, gets the Sunset Flip, Molly rolls through the pinning predicament. Molly to feet, locks in a full Boston Crab, Jackie powers out into a roll-up, good for 2. Both up, Jackie takes Molly down with a pair of armdrags, Molly down near ropes, Jackie charges, Molly clips the leg, Jackie goes face first into ropes. Molly up, Jackie gets slammed face first to canvas, Molly brings her to feet, snap suplex sends Jackie down for 2. Molly again brings her up, backbreaker follows, good for another 2. Molly brings Jackie to a seated position, wrenches the neck, Jackie slowly gets to her feet, elbows out and gets in a forearm to the side of the head. Jackie goes off ropes straight into a lil’ Big Boot, Molly sets for powerbomb, Jackie rolls over, drops to canvas, hooks the legs, rolls Molly up for 2. Both women quickly up, Molly sends Jackie down with a running forearm, bit of trash talk follows, Molly brings Jackie up at ropes, goes for the choke, gets warned off by ref. Molly tosses Jackie face first into turnbuckles, Jackie staggered, Molly whips her to opposite corner, tries for the handspring elbow, Jackie sidesteps, Molly goes back first into corner. Jackie gets in a pair of forearms for knockdowns, Molly up at ropes, Jackie shoots her off opposite, Molly gets pancaked on the rebound. Molly up slowly, Jackie locks in an inverted full nelson, slam follows, just gets 2. Jackie brings Molly up, whips her to corner, charges, Molly dazedly gets an elbow up, Jackie staggered. Molly tosses Jackie into corner, sets her on top turnbuckle, Jackie blocks a chop, tries for the Tornado DDT, Molly wriggles out, Jackie lands feet-first on canvas. Jackie blocks a chop, scores the kick to the gut, walks the ropes, Tornado DDT works this time, Molly down for all 3.

Winner: Jacqueline.

Coach announces our main event will see Rosey and Jamal of 3 Minute Warning taking on Al Snow and Maven. Break.

Slam of the Week: From last Monday, Rob Van Dam and Kane defeated Raw Chief of Staff Sean Morley and Lance Storm to retain their World Tag Team Championships, despite the challengers having some half-hearted help from Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley.

Straight back to the ring…

2nd Match: Rico, with Rosey and Jamal, vs. Spike Dudley. Ref is again Jack Doan.

Good heat for the 3MW crew, real nice pop for Spike. Bell just rings as Jack, wary of possible offbeat shenanigans, tells Rosey and Jamal to mind their manners. Match starts with an exchange of forearms, Spike tries for a whip, reversed, Spike to ropes, Jamal grabs the boot from the outside, Spike retaliates with a kick to the face. Jack leaves the ring, orders Rosey and Jamal to hit the bricks, Rico joins them to object to the unfair treatment of his teammates. Rosey and Jamal reluctantly split as Spike ascends a top turnbuckle, Rico goes down outside to a flying double-axehandle. Rico tries to return to the ring, Spike gets in a forearm to the back before scoring with a modified Dudley Dog (Spike running the ring steps rather than the ropes) to send Rico face first into the guard barrier. Rico down outside, Spike rolls him in, quickly goes for the cover, just gets 2. Both men up, Rico to ropes, Spike in with a forearm to the face, whip is attempted, Rico puts on the brakes, Spike ducks under a forearm, charges, Rico brings Spike up and drops him gut first onto top rope. Spike down at ropes, Rico lays in the boots until warned off by ref. Spike crawls to corner, Rico brings him up, Spike gets sent face first into top turnbuckle. Rico gets in a straight punch to the face before whipping Spike to the opposite corner, Spike goes into turnbuckles with authority and drops to canvas. Rico gets in a boot to the face, Spike rolls to ropes, Rico goes for the choke, gets warned off. Rico props Spike up from behind, sends him straight back down with an uppercut to the back of the neck. Rico drops a knee, goes for the cover, just gets 2. Rico brings Spike to a seated position, cinches in a rear chinlock, Spike slowly gets to his feet, elbows out, Rico manages to stay in control with a clubbing forearm to the back of the neck. Spike to ropes, Rico gets in a forearm to the face before going for the whip, Spike off ropes, Rico tries for what looks like a Sky High, Spike counters with a headscissors takedown, Rico to canvas, Spike down also. Both men up slowly, Rico charges, Spike gets the drop toe hold, Rico goes face first into 2nd turnbuckle. Spike performs his trademark tapdance on the chest, ref calls for the break, Rico to feet at ropes, Spike tries for the whip, reversed, Rico takes the Battering Ram as Spike rebounds. Rico doubled over, Spike gets a bulldog, Rico down for 2. Both men up, Rico to corner, Spike gets in a chop, attempts whip, reversed, Spike to corner, Rico charges into a pair of boots, drops to canvas. Spike ascends 2nd turnbuckle, leaps feet first onto Rico’s chest. Rico slowly to feet as Spike makes like King Kong, Rico approaches, Spike tries for a kick, Rico grabs the boot, whips the leg, sets for a back suplex, Spike floats over, shoves Rico from behind, Spike goes face first into top ropes hard as Rico drops low at the last moment to avoid doing so himself. Spike staggered, Rico immediately goes for the reverse spinning heel kick, nails it big time, Spike down, Rico covers, Jack counts the 1-2-3.

Winner: The most stylish man in WWE, Rico.

Rico hurls abuse at Spike and the crowd as we go to break.

Back, Coach and Lita return to recap the Rock/Bill Goldberg feud. 2 weeks ago they met in the ring-Rocky teased challenging the former WCW Champion to a match at the upcoming Backlash PPV, then simply said ‘nah’ and bailed from the ring, leaving Goldberg to take out his frustrations on Christian (who appears to have become the world’s #1 Rock fan). Last week the Great One only appeared on Raw via satellite linkup. After endless hemming and hawing (not afraid of Bill, another concert this Monday, etc.) he agreed to face Goldberg at this month’s PPV.

Tonight’s main event is hyped before we break.

(Commercial rolls hyping the WWE debut of ‘Mr. America’. Think maybe he’s a REAL American?)

We return to video of Ron Simmons and Bradshaw (formerly of the APA) spending some time in Washington D.C. with members of our armed forces wounded in Iraq.

Back to work…

3rd Match: Rodney Mack, with Theodore Long, vs. Brad Hunter. Referee is Charles Robinson.

Brad already in the ring, mild heat for Rodney. Pre-match Theo gets on the mic, Brad gets ragged on for being of Caucasian descent, thuggin’ and buggin’ are referenced, the usual.

Bell rings, quick bit of circling into a lockup, Rodney gets a front facelock, Brad fires off forearms to the gut, wriggles free, shoots Rodney to ropes-WHOAH, top rope breaks, Rodney grabs hold, barely avoids taking a bad spill to the outside. He recovers quickly, connects with a kick to the gut and a forearm to the face, Brad down and up. Rodney gingerly whips Brad into a kneelift, follows up with a forearm to the back, Brad down. Rodney drops a pair of elbows, goes for the cover, just gets 2. Brad crawls to ropes, Rodney goes for the choke (as he does so it’s obvious all the remaining top ropes are dangerously loose), ref calls for the break, Rodney drops an elbow before complying, Brad down. Rodney brings him up, again goes for the careful whip into a kneelift/forearm to the back combo, Brad again to canvas. Rodney attempts to bring him up, Brad fires off uppercuts to the gut, forearms to the face follow, Rodney retaliates with a clothesline that Stan Hansen might describe as ‘a might stiff’, Brad down for 2. Rodney brings Brad up on his shoulder, running powerslam gets the 1-2-3 in an understandably very short match.

Winner: Rodney Mack.

We cut to video from last Monday-midway through the show, Raw GM Eric Bischoff was hawking discount Austin merchandise when interrupted by Booker T, who fervently requested a title match with HHH for later on. We go to break.

(Commercial airs hyping the WWE debut of French tag team René Dupree and Sylvan Grenier.)

We return to video from last Monday of HHH and Ric Flair whining at Bischoff for even considering giving the Book a title shot. The Hurricane then entered to plead Booker’s case. Qualifying matches were discussed, Eric quickly made his decision-Book gets the shot provided he and the Superhero can beat Hunter and the Nature Boy in a tag match during the night’s Main Event.

Match went on as scheduled, rather short affair, end saw Ric setting to put Hurricane in the Figure-4 when HBK ran in to hit him with Sweet Chin Music. Shawn bailed, Hurricane quickly covered and got the 1-2-3. Booker T gets his match with HHH tomorrow night.

Post-match Shawn returned to get some shots in on Hunter as Y2J ran in to even the odds. Pier 6 brawl broke out, Hunter got the sledgehammer, Kevin Nash entered, the 2 went face to face and shared a smile as Shawn looked on. Kev made his decision, grabbed the sledge, HHH backed off, Booker walked up behind Nash, who turned and ‘accidentally’ leveled him with a forearm shot. HHH bailed, Big Sexy attempted to help Booker up, got brushed off, Shawn approached, Book flattened him with (what looked like to me) an obviously NON-accidental forearm to the face. Raw ended with Booker exiting up the ramp as Shawn and Kevin wondered what the hell’s up with the cat they’ll be teaming with at Backlash (as of now the 3 are scheduled to face Hunter, Ric and Y2J).

Tomorrow night’s Booker/HHH match is hyped before our final break.

Burn of the Night: From last Monday, Christian calls out Goldberg. Results were predictable (Spear, Jackhammer, ‘GOLDBERG’ chant).

Right to our Main Event…

4th Match: Rosey and Jamal, with Rico, vs. Al Snow and Maven. Referee is Chad Patton.

(Mildly interesting note: While Coach and Lita freely acknowledged that Al trained Maven, at no time before or during the match was the ‘Tough Enough’ series mentioned.)

Big heat for the 3MW crew, good pops for Al and Maven. Bell rings, Al and Rosey start, circling into a lockup, Al gets the side headlock, Rosey rather effortlessly breaks free, shoots Al off ropes, Rosey takes a shoulder charge, no effect. Al again goes off ropes, he and Rosey both block hiptoss attempts, Al ducks under a clothesline, slaps on an armbar, follows up with kneelifts and forearms to the back. Al wrings the arm, gets in a kick to the face and a clubbing blow to Rosey’s outstretched arm. Maven gets the tag, comes in with a kick to the arm as Al exits. Maven goes to work on the arm, connects with a kneelift, switches to a front hammerlock, Rosey grabs Maven’s leg and drops him to canvas. Rosey drops the elbow, Maven rolls clear, both men quickly get to their feet. Maven goes back to work on the arm, Al gets the tag, Maven exits as Rosey takes a forearm to the back of the head. Al quickly grabs the arm, drops to a seated position to send Rosey face first to canvas. Both men up, Al goes back to the armbar and tags in Maven. Al out, Maven tries to go back to the arm, Rosey counters with a kneelift and a forearm to the back, Maven down, Jamal finally gets the tag. Rosey exits, Jamal connects with a forearm to the back as Maven attempts to get to his feet. Jamal brings Maven up, whips him off ropes, Maven ducks under a clothesline, goes off opposite ropes as Jamal sets for the back body drop, Maven leapfrogs, both men turn to face, Maven staggers Jamal with a pair of high standing dropkicks, third one to the leg send him down. Al gets the tag and ascends a top turnbuckle, Jamal gets to feet as Maven exits, Al scores with the flying crossbody, Jamal back down, no cover, Al instead goes for the cheap forearm shot to Rosey on the apron. Jamal gets to feet, clotheslines Al out of his boots, takes a quick breather before a boot to the gut. Jamal brings Al up, drags him to corner, Rosey gets the tag, Jamal holds Al as his partner scores with a forearm to the kidney, Jamal exits after a quick forearm to the back. Al crawls toward a neutral corner, Rosey drags him up, Al gets sent face first into a top turnbuckle, Rosey goes for the whip, Al baseball slides to avoid going into turnbuckles, gets to feet, ducks under a clothesline, hooks Rosey’s arms, gets in his trademark series of headbutts, clothesline follows, Rosey down, tag is made to Maven. Al exits as Rosey gets to his feet, Maven connects with a knockdown forearm to the face, Rosey slowly gets to his feet as Maven ascends a neutral corner 2nd turnbuckle, flying bulldog sends Rosey down, Maven covers, Jamal runs in to drop a double-axehandle before the count of 3. Al also enters, ref gets distracted, Jamal gets in a pair of kicks before exiting, Maven attempts to get to his feet, Rico runs in and sends him shoulder first into 3MW corner ring post. Rico out, Maven falls to the mats outside the ring, Rosey stands alone inside. Maven gets to his feet, Rosey drags him through ropes into the ring, textbook body slam sends Maven down for 2. Tag to Jamal, he and Rosey prop Maven up for stereo chops to the chest, Rosey exits as Maven drops to canvas. Jamal gets the running knee drop, goes for the cover, just gets 2. Maven crawls to corner as Jamal looks on, Al begs for the tag, takes a forearm to the face. Jamal brings Maven up, whips him into Rosey’s boot, Maven down in the corner as Al again tries to enter, distracting the ref. Jamal goes for the casual cover, ref counts 2, Al runs in to break up the pinfall with a forearm to the back. Ref again distracted by Al, Rosey comes in untagged, Maven goes down to stereo headbutts. Rosey out, Jamal casually keeps Maven mat-bound with a kick and makes the tag. Rosey in, Jamal props Maven up before exiting, Rosey connects with a forearm to the back, Maven gets to his feet, fires off ineffectual forearms to the face, Rosey contemptuously issues a slap, shoots Maven off ropes, Rosey misses with a clothesline, Maven connects with a spinning heel kick, both men down. Rosey and Maven both crawl to corners, Jamal gets the tag, runs in to cut off Maven before he can get to Al. Maven takes a forearm to the back, Jamal sets for a back suplex, Maven floats over, goes off ropes, sends Jamal down with a dropkick to the chest. Al finally gets the tag, Maven exits, Jamal goes down to a clothesline, Rosey does the same, one more knockdown clothesline for each follows, Jamal goes down in a neutral corner to a mule kick, Al goes for a whip on Rosey, reversed, Al holds on to the arm, slides under Rosey’s legs, Al scores with the leg sweep, both men down. Al up first, Rico gets forearmed from the apron to the mats below, Jamal gets to his feet, clotheslines Al to canvas. Match is breaking down, Maven ascends a top turnbuckle as the ref is checking on Rosey, missile dropkick sends Jamal to canvas. Rico runs in, sends Maven flying to the outside with a spinning heel kick. Maven appears down for the count, Rico distracts the ref from the apron, Rosey and Jamal charge at Al from opposite sides of the ring, SMOOSH, Rosey whips the groggy Al around by the arm, bails as Jamal flips Al up, Samoan Drop follows, ref takes notice, counts the 1-2-3. Good long match.

Winners: Rosey and Jamal.

Coach and Lita get in some hype for tomorrow night’s title match and ‘Rock Concert’ to end the show.

Short form match results (all victories by pinfall):

1. Jacqueline defeated Molly Holly.
2. Rico defeated Spike Dudley.
3. Rodney Mack defeated Brad Hunter.
4. Rosey and Jamal defeated Al Snow and Maven.