By Mallory Mahling, Torch Team Contributor

WWE Raw "Virtual Time" Coverage
October 20, 2003
Live from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Aired on Spike TV

Ongoing "Virtual" Time Review of the Show

Welcome to tonight's ongoing coverage of Raw. You may need to hit "refresh" from time to time to see the latest update.

Torch VIP members, remember that Wade Keller is posting his "virtual time" report during Raw at PWTorch.com/members.

Raw is live tonight from the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

According to the preview at www.wwe.com, tonight will feature a fantasy booker's dream come true -- the first Grand Slam Champ vs. Champ match -- when Shawn Michaels and Goldberg do battle for the World Heavyweight Championship.

And who was it that tried to run down Goldberg last week in the parking lot, then tried to crush him with a falling crate? "Perhaps we'll find the culprit tonight on Raw," teased the preview.

Booker T is back and has set his sights on someone. It might be Christian (and since that was the name that was mentioned in the preview, it probably is).

The World Tag Team Championship will be on the line tonight when Rene Dupree and Rob Conway take on the Dudley Boyz. Again.

If one tag match is good, two more are better. Right? Rob Van Dam and Lance Storm will team up to take on Scott Steiner and Chris Jericho. And the 2003 Babe of the Year, Trish Stratus, will team with Lita to take on Molly and Victoria.

Ric Flair, who was too "injured" to face Maven in the ring last week, will go toe-to-toe with the Tough Enough winner tonight.

WWE has also posed these burning questions in an earlier version of the preview today:

- Why did Chris Jericho help Trish Stratus last week?

- Will Chris Jericho continue his campaign to oust Stone Cold Steve Austin as co-General Manager?

- Will anybody provoke Stone Cold?

- Will Kane accept Shane McMahon's challenge?

- And what about Naomi?

Quarter Hour 1

The show opened with a tribute to Michael Hegstrand, better known to fans as Road Warrior Hawk, who died unexpectedly yesterday.

The $100,000 challenge was recapped, along with footage of some of the attempts to capture the bounty.

Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler welcomed viewers to the show.

Stone Cold Steve Austin headed to the ring to a huge pop from the crowd. He said he was in a real good mood. He'd received a note earlier from someone who said they'd meet him in the ring at nine o'clock. He welcomed the provocation, since it meant he'd get to kick some ass.

Stacy Keibler, dressed like a combination school girl/hooker, came out with Test, who was on crutches. Test's foot had been broken by Shane McMahon during a recent house show.

After chiding Stacy for not fetching fast enough to suit him, Test admitted that he had written the note. He wanted an apology for booking the match that left him with a broken foot. He also demanded an apology for giving Stacy a stunner last week.

Stone Cold obliged -- with a finger for each of them. Austin said that Test knew that on any given night an injury was possible. As for Stacy, he hoped she'd learned a valuable lesson. He quizzed her on beer etiquette.

Stacy started to answer, but Test told her to shut her mouth. He was the star, not her. He would do the speaking. He taunted Austin to beat up a crippled man.

Stone Cold said he'd love to beat up any kind of man. He dared Test to provoke him.

Test said he'd like to, but with the broken foot and all . . .

He ordered Stacy to leave with him, but she shoved Test into Austin, which the Rattlesnake took as provocation. Test got his ass handed to him.

Eric Bischoff appeared on the TitanTron and proposed that at Survivor Series, each of them should assemble a team of five for a classic Survivor Series matchup. If Austin's team won, the "no provocation" stip would end. If Eric's team won, Austin would be removed as co-General Manager. Bischoff already had two volunteers for his team. The camera panned back to show Chris Jericho and Scott Steiner.

Austin accepted the challenge with an "Oh Hell Yeah."

Quarter Hour 2

Austin wanted to celebrate, and this time Stacy accepted the proffered Steveweiser. The two chugged them down to the cheers of the crowd.

(Commercial break)

Shane McMahon was pacing backstage.

J.R. announced that the Dudleyz would dedicate this match to the memory of of the late Mike Hegstrand, Road Warrior Hawk. Both wore "Hawk" armbands.

(1) Tag Team Title Match: The Dudley Boyz (Bubba & D-Von) over La Resistance (Rob Conway & Rene Dupree). D-Von and Dupree started off, and Dupree soon found himself on the outside. Conway tagged in and began to pound on D-Von. With D-Von isolated in the wrong corner, Dupree did a little dance in front of Bubba, which only fired up the Dudley brother more. Dupree and Conway continued to double-team D-Von, who was finally able to crawl over and make the tag to Bubba. Bubba cleaned house and was ready to go for the Whassup. La Resistance countered and went for a pin on Bubba. D-Von was back in and Bubba tapped his chest and pointed to Heaven. It was all over for La Resistance as Bubba went for the winning pin and the brothers retained their titles.

(Commercial break) The Survivor Series commercial was hilarious, especially the ending with Vince mulling over WWE and football.

Quarter Hour 3

Bischoff was telling Jericho and Steiner how important it was to work together.

Terri was interviewing Randy Orton and Ric Flair about the bounty. Orton said tonight Goldberg would be taken out and the bounty would be collected. They walked off and left Terri standing there.

Booker T walked by and said he'd like to make a statement since Terri was standing there with a mic in her hand. Orton came back to run his mouth. One thing led to another, and Booker and Orton would be facing each other in the ring tonight.

(Commercial break)

(2) Booker T vs. Randy Orton was a no contest. J.R. said the match had been sanctioned during the commercial and it was already well underway. Booker was teaching Orton a thing or two and finally walloped him with a couple of scissors kicks. Booker did a Spineroonie and was about to go for the finish, but Orton scrambled out of the ring and headed up the ramp.

Booker said Orton's punk ass had better run -- Booker T was back. Booker then volunteered to be on Stone Cold's team at Survivor Series. Can you dig it, sucka?

Coming up next would be Shawn Michaels vs. Goldberg.

(Commercial break)

Quarter Hour 4

(3) World Heavyweight Championship Match: Goldberg vs. Shawn Michaels never got started. Shawn Michaels came out and posed as his "Sexy Boy" theme played. As Goldberg exited his dressing room for his entrance, he was ambushed by Mark Henry and slammed through a steel door. Henry and Theodore Long went off to collect the bounty. Belie' dat.

(Commercial break)

Goldberg was being treated by medics in the locker room. Shawn Michaels told Stone Cold that Mark Henry had done it.

As Jericho made his entrance, footage was shown of Y2J rescuing the damsel (Trish) in distress last week.

(4) Tag Team Match: Chris Jericho & Scott Steiner over Lance Storm & Rob Van Dam. Van Dam and Freakzilla were in first. Steiner was all mouth. Freaks. Peaks. RVD responded with his trademark thumb gesture. RVD managed to counter all of Steiner's power moves with his unorthodox specialties.

Quarter Hour 5

J.R. said he was being told an update on Goldberg would be forthcoming.

Meanwhile, back in the ring, Jericho and Storm were going at it. Storm was very animated and had a new move off the ropes. Steiner gave Storm a cheap shot that resulted in Storm getting dumped to the outside and into the guardrail. Jericho was controlling the match, then Steiner tagged in and Storm was in a world of hurt. Jericho went for a cover, but Storm kicked out. Storm propelled himself off the top rope (very impressive) and knocked Jericho down, then Van Dam tagged in. Near pin by Van Dam on Jericho. Jericho put Van Dam in the Walls of Jericho, but he escaped. Steiner with a chairshot to RVD's back, and Jericho rolled RVD up for the pin and the win.

Jericho celebrated with a lionsault on Lance Storm.

Bischoff demanded to know Goldberg's condition. He felt Goldberg was goldbricking. Goldberg told Bischoff in no uncertain terms that nothing would keep him away from the match tonight.

(Commercial break)

J.R. announced that Mike Hegstrand, Road Warrior Hawk, had passed away Sunday of an apparent heart attack. Both J.R. and Lawler said how much they'd miss him.

J.R. also announced that the legendary Stu Hart had passed away last week. A video tribute, narrated by Vince McMahon, followed. "The legacy of Stu Hart lives on."

Quarter Hour 6

Ric Flair was on the phone with Teddy Long. He refused to pay the money, since Mark Henry had not gotten the job done.

Police were awaiting the possible arrival of Kane.

Backstage, Chris Jericho approached Trish Stratus with his King of Bling Bling line. She told him that wasn't necessary. He got all shy and boyish when she thanked him. It was a sweet moment, and I'm really liking this angle.

Orton was lounging in the dressing room when Mark Jindrak and Garrison Cade came in. They said they were there to get the bounty. Then they knocked Orton down and stole it.

(Commercial break)

Orton was running around backstage looking for the money, but ran into Flair, who wanted to be sure he still had the money. Orton couldn't bring himself to tell Flair that the money had been stolen from him.

(5) Women's Tag Match: Victoria (w/Stevie Richards) & Molly Holly over Trish Stratus & Lita. Lawler, who could talk of nothing but Molly's big butt several months ago, now calls her Molly Hottie.

Trish and Molly started off with fierce action. Victoria made the tag and seemed about to tie Trish into a knot. Molly went up top for a Molly-Go-Round, but nobody was home.

Lita tagged in and was dishing out clotheslines to Molly and Victoria. Interference by Stevie caused Trish to land badly. It turned into a brawl and Victoria made the winning pin. Stevie joined them in the ring to continue the celebratory beat down.

Christian came out and rescued Lita, much like Jericho had rescued Trish. Meanwhile, Trish was still out on the mat with the referee tending to her.

(Commercial break)

Quarter Hour 7

(6) Ric Flair pinned Maven. Flair hadn't even had a chance to take off his sequined robe when Maven was on the attack. Maven with a back body drop on Flair on the outside. The action returned to the ring and Maven got a taste of the famous Flair chops. A knee to the head by Flair, and the crowd was "whooing" along with him. Maven went up top for a crossbody and a near fall, but Flair won it with a fist full of tights. Good match, and Maven was certainly up to the task.

Flair caught up with Orton backstage. Orton tried to explain about the robbery, and Flair was livid. Orton said he knew Hunter would kill him.

Suddenly the "police" came rushing down the hallway. Kane had arrived.

(Commercial break)

Quarter Hour 8

Kane was headed to the ring -- with hardly a mark on him -- and had some words for Shane. Kane wanted him to know how his mother had begged for her very life when he'd given her the tombstone. She'd told Kane "no," but Kane said he'd learned that "no" means "yes." Inflicting pain turned him on. (More information than I needed.) A burning dumpster hadn't stopped him, a truck wreck hadn't stopped him. He'd give Shane another chance at Survivor Series. He was looking forward to pulling out Shane's guts and jamming them down his throat. The cops escorted Kane away from the ring.

In the parking lot, Triple H took Cade and Jindrak out with a 2 by 4 and reclaimed his money.

(Commercial break)

In their dressing room, Flair and Orton were talking about how to cover up for losing the money when Hunter walked in and joined them.

(7) World Heavyweight Championship Match: Goldberg vs. Shawn Michaels ended with outside interference. One good thing about the delay was getting to hear "Sexy Boy" a second time tonight. Then Goldberg made his entrance, no-selling the earlier door shot.

They started out nose-to-nose. Well, maybe nose-to-chin. Michaels was playing mind games with Goldberg, then hammered Big Bill into a corner.

Quarter Hour 9

Goldberg pressed HBK over his head and slammed him to the mat. HBK managed to toss Goldberg to the outside, then drove his back into the ring steps.

"Goldberg" chant as Michaels chopped him in the corner. HBK went up top and dropped an elbow on Goldberg. It resulted in a near pin. HBK tuned up for some Sweet Chin Music, but Goldberg put a stop to it. Powerslam by Goldberg, then Goldberg started to sell the earlier injury inflicted by Mark Henry. He went for a spear on Michaels, but speared the referee by mistake. Sweet Chin Music by HBK, but the ref was out cold.

Charles Robinson came out as the substitute referee and began to count both men out. HBK began to rally, but Batista took him. Batista with a spinbuster slam on Goldberg, followed by a sit-down powerbomb and Goldberg looked like he was really hurting.

But Batista wasn't through. He brought a chair into the ring and wedged it over Goldberg's ankle, then went up top and jumped. Suddenly, Big Bill was selling to beat the band. He was writhing in pain as Evolution came out with smirks on their faces.

Batista collected the $100,000 for taking out Goldberg, then joined hands with Evolution as the show ended.

You are encouraged to send in your comments on tonight's show to TVFeedback@pwtorch.com. Please include your name, hometown, rating from 1 to 10, and your thoughts in ready-to-publish format.

You can reach me at mallory_m_@hotmail.com. See you in The Lounge on Saturday.

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