by Rick Scaia
Exclusive to OnlineOnslaught.com

But first, a quick confirmation from yesterday's OO:  Steven Williams (that's Steve Austin to us) has, in fact, filed for divorce from his wife, Debra G. Williams back on July 22.  Another OO Reader with LexisNexis acccess and time to kill confirmed the civil case filing in Bexar County, Texas.  This is, to the best of my knowledge, a twist in the Austin saga that has, to date, gone unreported.  At the very least, I don't think it was generally known during the mild media frenzy two weeks ago when Austin was brought up on domestic abuse charges by the Bexar County DA...  

Here's hoping that this is the right move for all involved, and that a fresh start will help both Austin and Debra to be happy again.

And now, quick results from last night's RAW:

• Eric Bischoff opened the show, and did a quick rundown of what he'd booked for the night, including an RVD/Dreamer match and a Lifetime Acheivement Award presentation.  Then he introduced Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar.  Heyman's "I told you so" mic work turned the crowd solidly against Lesnar, who eventually spoke himself (only to be drowned out by Rocky chants).  When he said no one could beat him, Triple H made his way out to the ring and demanded a title shot.  Then the Undertaker followed suit.  The confrontation ended up getting physical, with Taker clearing both Lesnar and HHH out of the ring.  Backstage, Bischoff decided to book Taker vs. HHH in a #1 Contenders match later in the night.
   
• Booker T defeated Christian in singles action.  Both Booker T and Lance Storm were at ringside, but their interference cancelled each other out.  Good pop for Booker and his big spots.
   
  
• Bubba and Spike Dudley beat William Regal and Chris Nowinski when Bubba pinned Regal.  After the match, Molly Holly (who had accompanied Regal and Nowinski) almost got put through a table, but was saved by the ever chivalrous Nowinski (Molly later offered to do "anything at all" to thank him).  So Spike and Bubba went to Plan B and tabled Regal instead.
   
  
• Jimmy Snuka was brought out by Bischoff and honored with a plaque and brief music video.  But as soon as Snuka was given the opportunity to speak, Bischoff issued a Three Minute Warning.  Snuka actually got in some brief offense on one Island Boy, but ended up getting squashed just like all the other TMW victims.  Predictable, yes, but still quite amusing.
   
  
• Snuka was still getting assisted from ringside when Chris Jericho made his entrance.  After locking Snuka in the Walls of Jericho briefly, Jericho went on a tirade against old, washed up superstars like Snuka and Flair, and tried to convince us he made Flair tap out at the PPV.  Then he had a few choice words for Jeff Hardy, his opponent for the night.  And then, just to entertain the MSG fans, he decided to regale us with a live, a capella rendition of "New York, New York."  
   
  
• That took live fans through a commercial break, and when we got back, it was time for Jeff Hardy to enter for his match.  Hardy fought the good fight, and managed to steal a cheap win, when Jericho was DQ'ed for refusing to release the Walls of Jericho.  Yeah, you heard me:  Hardy's the babyface, but I still think that's a pretty cheap way to win...
   
  
• Test led the UnAmericans out to the ring, and he threatened to burn the American flag.  But Kane's "My Choice is Made" video interrupted him.  When Kane himself did not appear, the crowd booed until Booker and Goldust saved the flag.  But Storm and Christian help those two at bay, allowing Test to once again get ready to burn the flag.  And this time, when Kane's music and pyro hit, the Big Red Machine really DID return.  He kicked ass on the UnAmericans to a huge pop.  And then things got stupid: Booker T stepped on Kane's pop by doing the spin-a-roonie, and then Kane decided if anyone was going to sabotage his return, it'd be him:  he did a "Kane-a-roonie" for no discernable reason.  Seriously, save this persona-destroying BS for the after-the-cameras-stop antics...
   
  
• Rob Van Dam beat Hardcore Champ Tommy Dreamer in a hardcore rules match to retain the IC Title.  Although Dreamer was sporting a new Hardcore Title belt (NY license plate instead of big Texas decal), this was announced as the last hardcore match on RAW (maybe, like Raven, the division is about to become a Heat exclusive?).  This was a great ECW style spotfest, especially some of the ladder bumps taken by Dreamer.  Van Dam won clean with a Five Star Frog Splash.
   
  
• Lillian Garcia, with some help from Trish Stratus and Stacy Keibler, defeated Howard Finkel in an Evening Gown/Tuxedo match to regain full RAW ring announcing duties.  Finkel's chauvenistic comments were neough to unite the ladies in the common cause.  The sheer unfunniness of the whole debacle should be enough to unite fans in a common cause, too: campaiging to never again have a ring announcer vs. ring announcer feud.
   
  
• Undertaker beat Triple H, with an assist from Brock Lesnar, to apparently become the new #1 Contender.  This was a pedestrian affair until a ref bump allowed Lesnar to run in and blast Taker with the title belt.  HHH took advantage and got the win as the ref came to.
   
  
• Backstage, Stephanie McMahon stepped out of a limo and was confronted by Eric Bischoff. Steph announced that Bischoff's little #1 Contender match didn't mean anything, as Brock Lesnar is opting to remain a SmackDown!-exclusive performer.  Brock and Steph got in the limo as the show ended with Bischoff fuming.  [PS: whichever script monkey wrote Steph's "How do my peaches taste now?" exit line needs to lay off the "Good Will Hunting" tape and leave the dialog duties to someone who isn't convinced that people actually have to have cheesy exit lines just like in the movies.  Please, I'm beggin' ya.]
   
  

A mix of good and bad this week...  probably not the home run show we might have hoped for after the stellar SummerSlam PPV, but not devoid of its moments.  I'll have more thoughts in Wednesday's usual OO.

But for now, I just wanted to get key details out there until CRZ's full, detailed recap is available at a later time.  Be sure to come on back for that.

E-MAIL RICK SCAIA
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Rick Scaia is a wrestling fan from Dayton, OH.  He's been doing this since 1995, but enjoyed it best when the suckers from SportsLine were actually PAYING him to be a fan.

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