It’s time for another Ruthless Aggression review as today we take a look at the July 4th 2002 edition of the blue brand Smackdown. Last week was quite a momentous show as John Cena made his debut against Kurt Angle in a match that was better than it had any right to be(as well as Batista’s in ring debut). Last week also saw Edge return to beat down the man who side-lined him Chris Jericho who was beating down Hulk Hogan. Hogan and Edge will challenge for the Tag team titles tonight against Billy and Chuck.

Also tonight is another title defence for The Undertaker following his win against Jeff Hardy in a ladder match on RAW, he will face Kurt Angle tonight in our main event. The show begins with a promo recap focusing on the ongoing feud between Edge and Chris Jericho as well as Jericho’s beatdown on Hogan. Michael Cole and Taz are on commentary tonight and we are in Boston at the Fleet centre.

As it’s Independence day in the US Lillian Garcia opens the show with a rendition of America the Beautiful, or tries to before she is interrupted by Christian, Test and Lance Storm. Lance Storm wastes no time calling America the Beautiful crap before claiming the crowd think they are celebrating the day Will Smith saved the world. The group mock the USA for their loss in Vietnam whilst also accusing America of turning their back on Britain as well as slating America’s war like hostilities. They say that America are hypocrites because they hate them for expressing their first amendment and claims it’s because America hate what the rest of the world thinks about them.

The promo ends with Test loudly declaring he hates America and that it sucks before Rikishi interrupts to begin his match with Storm.

Lance Storm v Rikishi

Summary: Essentially Rikishi dominates Storm for a bit before Christian and Test get involved with Test booting Rikishi in the head and Storm getting the win. Throw away match but gives Storm a win as they look to push Storm, Test and Christian heavily. Really not much to talk about here.

John Cena is told to report to Mr McMahon’s office.

Randy Orton & The Big Valbowski v D-Von Dudley & Batista

Summary: A new partner for Orton this week as he once again tries to tackle the team of D-Von and Batista. Val and Batista start with Val trying to throw punches but is ultimately taken out by a hell of a clothesline. Orton comes in but can’t build any momentum here, this leads to the match ascending into chaos with Batista being sent into the ring post. Batista then hits the spinebuster on Orton to pin him again for the second week running.

Stitch’s Rating. 5/10. Virtually a squash as we continue to watch Randy Orton try to tackle Batista, I like that they are trying to give him something here rather than just losing all the time. Batista once again comes out the best here, as he’s portrayed like a monster, as he should.

Backstage Chris Jericho is with Vince McMahon having a lovely rant about Edge returning and preventing him from ending Hulkamania. Mr McMahon responds to this rant by giving him a match with Edge at Vengeance, (presumably to get him to stop moaning) as John Cena enters the office. Cena offers his hand but this just leads to Jericho ranting again this time about Cena interrupting him running down his attire and hair which he deems to be the opposite of Ruthless Agression. John Cena, the kind man he is, deals with this scenario by smacking Jericho. Chris Jericho will take on rookie John Cena tonight.

Backstage Kurt Angle is being interviewed, he calls himself the poster boy of Ruthless Aggression and claims it only took him longer to beat Cena because he had the flu. Angle proudly reports that he’s 100% tonight so he will easily. He narrates video packages of him beating Taker and Hogan in recent weeks as well as last week where he was able to lock the Angle lock on Taker in a second. Angle continues claiming that who better to win the title on July 4th than him, he runs down Taker for not being fit to represent America, he ends declaring America needs someone with Intensity, Integrity and Intelligence.

Rico is backstage ordering Billy and Chuck to stop eating hot dogs and prepare for their match. Yep, this happened…

Tag Team Championship
Hulk Hogan & Edge v Billy & Chuck (c)

Summary: Hogan enters to Real American and an American flag to a huge ovation; as usual the crowd are very pro Hogan, and Edge just looks delighted to be there. Hogan and Chuck start us off with Hogan throwing him into the corner before doing some Hogan posing. Chuck gets a few punches in before hitting a body slam and the Hogan responds with the famous right hands and elbow drops.

Billy tags in but immediately gets right hands from both Hogan and Edge. Edge is in now and hits a edgo-o-matic for the two. Billy and Chuck double team Edge to stop his momentum whilst Hogan just stands and watches for some reason.

Edge is suplexed half way across the room but kicks out at two. Edge is being worked on by the champs with Chuck laying in an elbow to the chest whilst the referee is distracted. Edge is kicked about (literally) by Chuck before being body slammed. The crowd chant for Hogan and at this point even I want Hogan because it might liven this match up a bit.

Edge is bulldogged onto the steel steps by Billy and is thrown in the ring for the pin but Edge fires out. A bulldog from Edge gives him a chance to get the tag to Hogan and to the crowds delight he does! Hogan hulks up, unloading on both Billy (who’s now legal) and Chuck with the Hulk Hogan punches. Hogan hits the big kick following the headbutts but he is super kicked by Chuck for a two count.

Edge is tagged back in hitting a double clothesline from the top rope on the champs, a DDT to Chuck follows before Rico prevents Edge hitting the spear. Hogan atomic drops Rico on the railings for his troubles as Edge hits a spear on Billy! Chuck breaks up the pin as Edge and Hogan hit a double big right boot before they both hit leg drops for the three!!

Winners and New Tag Team Champions Hulk Hogan and Edge

Stitch’s Rating: 5/10. I might be a bit harsh here, it wasn’t a bad match by any means and they laid the match out so Hogan could be used to the best he’s capable of. It was all just a bit meh which is why I went for a average 5/10. Not a bad mad match, but just a very Hulk Hogan tag match where we waited for him to come in and win. The one thing they did well was make Edge look good and a proper warrior, he was great here and a title run with Hogan helps elevate him a little bit.

Chris Jericho v John Cena

Summary: Jericho unloads on the rookie right from the bell, punches and smacks from Jericho lead to a Lou thez press from Cena. Jericho regroups on the outside after avoiding a clothesline. Cena unloads on the outside before throwing Jericho back in the ring. Cena slingshots Jericho into the turnbuckle before hitting a spinebuster which Jericho kicks out of at two.

Jericho once again flees to the outside hitting Cena with a clothesline as he pursues, he then hits snake eyes on the announcers table before throwing the rookie back into the ring. Cena is choked on the ropes, which is followed up by a knee to the back.

Cena tries to fight back but Jericho hits a big boot, he goes to the top ropes but Cena hits a mid air dropkick before unleashing clotheslines. A body slam from Cena to Jericho gets a two count and so does a bulldog. Cena is holding his own here as Jericho goes for the walls, Cena rolls him up but gets a two. A DDT nearly wins it for Cena who again comes so close, Jericho hits a Sleeper slam before using the ropes to steal the win.

Winner Chris Jericho

Stitch’s Rating: 6.5/10. A good match and another showcase for the rookie John Cena here, you can see the potential pouring out of Cena as Jericho did everything he could to make Cena look like a star. It always seems unusual to see a rookie get this much offence in against two main event wrestlers two weeks in a row in WWE. They fall down a lot on this but not here, a good match.

Rey Mysterio is still coming apparently.

Torrie Wilson v Stacy Keibler

A bra and panties match which Torrie wins before stripping down to stars and stripes underwear, that’s it really.

The Undertaker cuts a promo about being angry at Vince McMahon for not believing in him, he tells us he looks forward to The Rock returning next week (they’ve been showing Rock throwbacks all night) and also beating him at Vengeance. He addresses Angle asking us who we would rather as champion, an American hero or an American badass.

WWE Undisputed Championship
The Undertaker (c) v Kurt Angle

Summary: The match begins with a lock up where Taker throws Angle into the corner. Angle regroups on the outside following a shoulder block from Taker; he returns as they lock up again, this time Angle gets a headlock in but eventually runs into another shoulder block from the champion.

Angle taunts Taker after nearly getting both the Angle lock and then the three count as Taker looks ready to decimate him. Angle back in and two hips tosses floor Taker before Angle celebrates a little too long taking a big boot from the champion. A spear from Angle follows but Taker gets up and hits a huge clothesline. Snake eyes and big boot time but Angle kicks out at two, he reverses the chokeslam into a German suplex as both men are floored here.

A backwards slam is hit by Angle as he goes for the pin with Taker kicking out at two. After Angle working on Taker in the corner, Taker responds with quick hands and a big shoulder tackle. Right hands from the champ lead to a DDT that gets Taker a near fall, he goes for the piledriver failing not once but twice. On the second attempt Angle locks in the Angle lock with Taker looking like he could tap here, he eventually reverses but walks straight into the Angle Slam 1..2.. 3! But Taker just gets his leg on the rope and we continue, the Angle lock is locked back on but Taker powers out. A chokeslam follows but Taker takes too long to make the pin and only gets a two!

Taker poses to the crowd before setting up the Last Ride, Angle reverse the ride into a triangle choke. Taker manages to push Angle onto his shoulders getting the three count but only right at the same time as he taps out. A referee disagreement ensues as some declare Taker the winner and some declare Angle. The replay clearly shows it was exactly the same time so it’s all ridiculous. After a stupid amount of time it’s declared a draw and Taker retains.

The Undertaker retains after an draw.

Stitch’s Rating: 7/10. I went back and forth on this because of the ending but truthfully this was a really good match. Taker and Angle are always going to put on a great match and they did exactly this with Angle looking one step ahead of Taker for most of the match. Taker was usual Taker here and he upped the pace from RAW which was welcome. The ending was frustrating but whilst it wouldn’t have been my call it was to set up the rematch so I’m excited to see where this goes especially with The Rock/Taker match coming up.

Angle locks in the Angle lock following this and storms off shouting at Undertaker as he leaves. That ends the show with Undertaker as the slightly disputed undisputed world champion.

Final Rating: 6.5/10. Another good showing from Smackdown who beat RAW again for me this week, I couldn’t really separate it from last week; a couple really good matches with storylines advanced and a lot to enjoy. On top of this Smackdown has introduced and already started develop young stars such a Cena, Batista and Orton. Smackdown is looking great so far so I can’t wait to see where we go in the following weeks as we quickly approach Vengeance.