The Hardys and Edge and Christian Have a Forgotten Ladder Classic on Free TV - WWF RAW 9/25/00 Review

Raw moves to TNN. Austin is back on Monday night for the first time in almost a year. The Viacom suits need to be impressed. Tommy Blacha and Rob Pasbani review WWF RAW from Penn State University on September 25th, 2000, a show that hotshots two pay-per-view quality matches in one night and still finds time for Tommy to notice that the machine is getting too big.

Austin opens the show, stuns Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit in the same segment, visits Undertaker backstage in a scene that felt like a western, and walks in on William Regal reading Shakespeare before stunning him before he can finish a sentence. The Hardys and Edge and Christian have a ladder match that Rob calls forgotten and incredible in the same breath. Edge pulls off a spear from the top of a giant ladder onto a dangling Jeff Hardy, the same spot he will use six months later at WrestleMania 17, and nobody in the building even knows it yet.

Tommy, still loosely working on things for the company at this point but feeling the ground shifting, talks about what it smells like when the writing staff gets too big, the synergy people start showing up, and creative gets convoluted. He also raises the question nobody on screen seems to be asking: every time Austin stuns someone, is there a next week?

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Other major discussion points include:

Kane vs Rikishi barely starts before Rikishi grabs a chair and the whole thing collapsesRaven DDTs Lawler and Bubba Ray Dudley in the same night; a Tazz and Raven alliance appears to be formingChyna cuts an emotional promo about her Playboy cover; Right to Censor immediately interrupts; Eddie Guerrero challenges them for the IC title on the spotKurt Angle reads the USA Today while Trish Stratus puts his gold medal somewhere he does not notice until he looks upX-Pac smashes a glass bottle over Jericho's face to win the first blood match; Jericho puts him in the Walls of Jericho on the announce table after the bellTriple H inadvertently helps Rock retain the title by throwing Benoit into a Rock Bottom; Benoit headbutts Stephanie on his way out

Chapter Marks0:00:00 Cold Open0:00:29 Welcome / RAW on TNN0:02:01 First RAW on TNN Overview0:06:40 Penn State / Show Context0:11:14 Austin / Foley / Benoit / Angle0:21:28 Kane vs Rikishi0:24:58 Austin Visits