Disclaimer: I do not own WWE.

SmackDown: 22/8/2002

SmackDown was live at the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The show kicked off with Brock Lesnar walking to the ring next to his agent, paul Heyman.

Heyman stated that Brock killed Hulk Hogan's career and the Next Big Thing would do the same thing to The Rock at SummerSlam. But Heyman said that Brock wanted The Rock to have a taste of SummerSlam, so he promised that the two would collide on SmackDown!

Brock took the microphone and said that he felt the same way that he felt on the night he fought Hulk Hogan. As Lesnar promised to make The Rock cry like a little bitch, the People's Champion strutted out onto the stage! The Rock said that despite all the talk, Brock had yet to back it up. The Great One stated that since Brock refuses to bring it to The Rock, The Rock would bring it to him! The Rock took off his sunglasses and started down the ramp. But he was assaulted from behind by Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit! The Rabid Wolverine latched on the Crossface while Heyman and Lesnar laughed in the ring!

Moments later, Benoit and Guerrero launched another savage attack on Edge as he arrived at the arena!

The first match of the night was The Hurricane and Shannon Moore vs Jaime Noble and Tajiri. Shannon Moore slithered out of Jamie Noble's powerbomb attempt and got the pinfall on a quick rollup! All four men continued to battle in the ring. Just as Hurricane and Moore disposed of their opponents, Matt Hardy came to the ring to add support and even celebrated as if he had muscled out Noble and Tajiri.

Staphanie McMahon berated Benoit and Guerrero backstage, saying that the two had put SummerSlam in jeopardy with their attacks on The Rock and Edge. Stephanie said that if The Rock couldn't compete on Sunday, the two would receive a dramatic cut in pay. Stephanie said she had no problem if the men unleashed their fury in a competitve match. She said she would protect her SummerSlam! main event. As she continued, Edge rushed in and chased Benoit and Guerrero away with a steel chair! Edge demanded that Stephanie make a tag team match for the evening featuring him and The Rock against the Wolverine and Latino Heat! Stephanie agreed.

Matt Hardy bragged to The Hurricane and Shannon Moore about the reaction he got from the crowd, saying it wasn't just because he's from the area. He said that if he went back into the arena right there, he'd get twice the reaction. Matt went down the entrance ramp and indeed got a loud cheer. But it was cut short when Chavo Guerrero came out and said they'd see what kind of reaction he got when they got through in the ring!

Matt was ready to hit the Twist of Fate, but Kane's fiery entrance theme hit the TitanTron. While Matt stared at the screen, Chavo rolled him up and got the 1-2-3!

Backstage, Funaki said he would be going inside a place no man had ever been before: the women's locker room! True to his word, Funaki walked in and found Nidia changing! Molly Holly walked in to view and ordered him to leave because he could have seen her changing. Nidia said she didn't have a problem and told Funaki to stay. Molly said that Nidia is loose. Nidia said she's just open. She also promised to show everyone in the arena what they wanted to see that night when she beat Molly in the ring.

Kurt Angle told Rey Mysterio that he requested a match against Billy Kidman that night so his SummerSlam opponent could see what is in store for him on Sunday. Angle promised to break Mysterio's ankle if he got involved in the match.

The referee was knocked to the mat, allowing Rey Mysterio to rush in and deliver a missile dropkick to Angle! Mysterio dashed away with Angle in hot pursuit. The ref had no choice but to count Angle out, but the Olympic hero did return to the ring to take out his frustration on Kidman.

The Rock told Edge that sore ribs were nothing and that nothing could keep him from taking on Brock at SummerSlam.

The next match was Rikishi and John Cena against D-Von and Batista. D-Von and Batista got into a shouting match in the middle of the ring which ended with Batista nailing his partner with a spinebuster! Rikishi dragged D-Von to the corner for a Rump Shaker and got the easy pin!

Backstage, Jamie Noble convinced Nidia to take off her top to give a security guard a sneak preview of what everyone else would see once she defeated Women's Champion Molly Holly!

The next match was Nidia vs Molly Holly. After kicking away Jamie Noble, the Women's Champion hit the Molly-Go-Round and got the pin! Noble rushed to his girlfriend's aid and said despite the loss, she should still give the people what they want to see! Nidia began to strip off her top, but Molly rushed in and knocked Noble into his girlfriend to prevent any indecency.

Next up was Hulk Hogan's return and his response to Bladewolf's challenge for SummerSlam.

Hulk Hogan's theme hits to a pop and out comes the Hulkster himself, doing his usual entrance and slapping a few fans' hands along the way as he walks down the ramp and rolls into the ring. His theme dies down as he grabs a microphone.

"Well let me tell you something, brother!" Hogan began, getting a pop from the fans. "The Immortal Hulk Hogan is back...and I accept Bladewolf's challenge for SummerSlam this Sunday."

"Oh it's on!" Tazz said over the cheers.

"I gotta tell you, brothers, I've watched the Bladewolf ever since he walked into this company and ever since then he has been one of the toughest, baddest, dominant superstars in this company." The crowd cheered in agreement with Hogan's words. "He walked in here five years ago and started destroying everyone that stepped up against him without a shred of mercy for them! And within the first six months of his career here, he becomes WWE Champion and main events his very first WrestleMania. Since then, he's gone on to be the baddest of the bad. He's great, one of the greatest stars here. But he is going to learn the hardy way of who he is messing with. So, Bladewolf, wha-"

OOOOOOWHOOOOOO!

'Oh, ah, ah, ah, ah! Get up, come on get down with the sickness!'

Down with the Sickness plays to a mixed reaction and out comes the Bladewolf who has his baseball bat in hands as he makes his way down the ramp towards the ring with a blank expression on his face.

"And here comes the Bladewolf, baseball bat in hand." Cole said. "Wonder what he thinks behind that blank expression of his."

"I don't think I want to eve known." Tazz shakes his head.

Bladewolf steps onto the ring apron and enters the ring as his theme dies down and he stands across from Hogan. The two superstars staring each other down.

"You know something, Demon Wolf? You can fool these people with your words." Hogan said. "But me, the Hulkster? I've been around too long to be fooled. I know who you are and I know what you're all about. So tell me, what makes you tick?"

Bladewolf grabs a microphone. "You wanna know what makes me tick, Hulkster? It's WWE! World Wrestling Entertainment! that's what makes me tick! It's almost like you're asking ME what MY agenda is Hulkster! My agenda is the same as it was five years ago when I walked through those doors here in WWE. And that is to become one of the greatest wrestlers in the world, to be the greatest in this company! I love this company, I love everything about it. And when I think, Hulk, all of those years that you were here, you had this veil of protection over you the whole time! And with WCW, it was the same veil of protection. But now, things have changed, Hogan, It's no longer WWF...It's WWE! I'm going to tell you something that our own ego won't allow you to admit to yourself, nor will anyone back there have the balls to say to your face...You are NOTHING, Hogan. You were just HANDED everything in this company, the same with WCW, it's your ego that led to WCW's downfall and you know what? I'm glad I didn't pass that opportunity to join WCW all those years ago, because if I joined then, I wouldn't have had the chance to shine because I would be getting buried by you over and over again like you do to every younger talent, even to other guys like Randy Savage, Bret Hart, Sting. You bury them because your ego and pride can't handle being out of the spotlight, can;t handle being off the top of the mountain as king of all. Look at what happened in WCW. Your debut match? Against Ric Flair for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship! A match and title shot you were once again HANDED! Younger guys had their chance to shine then, but no, no, you don't like that. You always made sure things went your way with creative control and that made you protected, because guess what? Your first WCW Championship reign went fifteen long months, over 400 damn days because you whined and complained whenever you were told you would be loosing the title and that made plans change. Then you joined the nWo. You're ego knew no bounds as you called yourself 'Hollywood' Hulk Hogan. Hogan...your movies sucked balls."

The crowd cheered as the two were eye to eye now.

"And now...let;s talk about that WCW writer, Vince Russo. You had a title match with Jeff Jarrett in WCW, but when Russo said he was going to have Jeff win the title, you whined, complained and wanted to take the title. I don't care if you were confused how that night went, you still wanted to take the title when creative said otherwise. I watched that match, you know. I remember seeing Jarrett lay down when the bell rang, and you pinned him to win the title again. And what was revealed You had a creative control clause over you where you can do whatever you want without anyone telling you no. And right now, this isn't Bladewolf talking to Hulk Hogan, this is George Edwards talking to Terry Bollea. After that night, when you walked with that title, what happened? You filed a lawsuit because you couldn't accept the damn storyline you had. Speaking of which, how goes that lawsuit? Oh wait, it was dismissed this year. I don't care if you admit this to yourself or not...YOU are responsible for WCW's downfall because of your ego, because of your whining and complaining. Nobody back there will tell you anything because they don't have the balls to say something, but I am, and I don't care if I get fired or fined for it, I am speaking my damn mind and telling you the truth, right here! That truth is this...you are nothing more than a self centered, arrogant old son of a bitch!"

Bladewolf...CLOBBERS HOGAN WITH THE MICROPHONE!

"Oh god!" Cole exclaims.

"Wow..." Tazz said.

Bladewolf glares down at Hogan. "Oh, and the reason, terry, why you don't have any comeback for that? Is because I just buried your old ass and can't wait to do the same at SummerSlam...because our match is No Holds Barred!" Bladewolf drops the microphone before he leaves the ring as his theme plays and heads back up the ramp.

"Big fighting words from Bladewolf." Tazz said.

Bladewolf stops on the stage and looks back at Hogan before he beads backstage.

And that is how you do a truthful promo. I really hated how Hogan had this creative control clause over his character where he can do whatever with it and no one can say no.