Raw began with the Power Trip standing in the ring, wearing their belts. The camera cut to show the rest of the roster assembled on the entrance ramp, as if this was a pep rally. Noticably absent were Mick Foley and the Undertaker, the former on vacation and the latter still out of action following Mark Henry's attack at In Your House 20. Hunter began to speak.

"For two years now, I've had this plan in place. Since I came to the WWF, I've been sowing the seeds, and today, I can stand tall and say I've pulled if off. When I was in WCW, I saw a talent. More than that, I saw potential." He stepped aside, and Austin stepped forward, beaming with pride as he showed off the WWF Championship around his waist. "Steve Austin was the best damn wrestler in that locker room, and they didn't have a fucking clue what to do with him. When Bischoff fired him, and he spent that little layover in Philadelphia, I knew I didn't have to wait too long for him to make his way to the WWF. And wouldn't you know it, he opened the floodgates. DiBiase got his hands on him before I could, but Steve caught on quick that staying around Dibiase wouldn't get him anything but a gold-plated trinket and a losing record, and soon enough he was his own man. I just had to explain my plan, and the Two Man Power Trip was born."

Steve stepped back, and Hunter took center stage again. "Our original plan was to get the singles belts and the tag belts, just between the two of us, but Vince threw us a curveball. A Pan-American curveball, and I'll admit, I wasn't prepared. Steve came through in the clutch, and brought in..." Hunter stepped back again, and Brian stepped forward, Tag Team belt around his waist. "Brian. He'd flown under my radar during my time in WCW, but not Steve's. Brian and Steve went way back, so he barely even had to ask before Brian signed himself a WWF deal and started to bide his time until he was ready to make his debut."

Brian stepped back, and again, Hunter took center stage. "All that was left was the final strike, the contract negotiations. Things were so hectic when HBO finally finalized terms that nobody noticed the musclehead in the glasses inserting one little clause." Hunter chuckled. "Everything was in position. We had the tag titles, Steve had the IC, and Brian had the Pan-Am. Hell, the Insane Clown Posse's little dig in Vince's ribs meant he didn't even have to defend it until Wrestlemania! But even before the Rumble, things started to fall apart, when Austin had to trash the Intercontinental title because Vince just would not get off his case, and the Brave Lions took the tag titles at the Survivor Series. But whoever won the Rumble, we were back on track! We would retain the Pan-Am, regain the IC, and finally, FINALLY, we would attain the crown jewel: the WWF Title. But... it just wasn't in the cards. The time wasn't right, and we had to regroup, and restructure."

Hunter turned to face the roster, addressing them directly. "That night, not an hour after the bell had been rung in the main event, we held a summit. We identified the primary threats to the plan: Bret, Owen, and Shawn. Shawn was by far the easiest to control, as it just took one magic word: "Bret". As long as we could promise him a shot at Bret, he was under our spell. And Bret and Owen weren't exactly hard, either. The Harts put a lot of weight on their honor, and that's their greatest weakness. It just took one hard blow to knock them off the path to title contention--Thanks, Dustin!" With that, Hunter gave a little wave in Goldust's direction, and Goldust just scowled back. "Ever since Goldust cashed in, we kept needling at the Harts, and they just kept falling for it! I swear, it was like dangling car keys in front of a baby. And while we kept them occupied, we were on the hunt for talent to recruit."

As Hunter turned back to hard cam, Joanna stepped forward, a belt on each shoulder, and Hunter gave her a kiss before continuing. "When I asked Vince to sign Joanna here, he must have assumed I was just thinking with my cock. If I'm being completely honest, that factored into it, but it wasn't the whole of my motivations. I took her under my wing, trained her, and helped her develop her... particular physical gifts. I'd been making a stink about this, that, or the other for a while, so Vince jumped at the chance to shut me up. And then Shawn wanted in. I wasn't really against it, he's a fine wrestler, but he brought in Jericho, and Jericho was way more trouble than he was worth. We let them into the group, but by no means would we let them in on the plan.

And then Vince wanted in. He didn't just want in to the group, he wanted in on the plan. Not just that, he wanted to get things going into high gear. We were intending to take power at Mania, like we tried and failed to last year, but just like Veruca Salt, he wanted it now--or as close as he could come. He'd had enough of the Box Office Bossman pushing him around, and he had a hard look-see at that HBO contract. Thankfully, Jericho made his own way out before he could catch on, but that still left Heartbreak. As soon as Vince knew, Shawn knew."

Austin stepped forward and took the mic. "Brian damn near gave me a heart attack when he brought up the idea of letting Shawn be an integral part of the plan, teaming up with him to get those sweet tag team belts. Thankfully, I took action and killed two birds with one stone, getting Shawn distracted and taking out Jericho. But I knew we couldn't dawdle, and the timetable had to move up. We were going to play along, give Vince a little joyride at the controls, before giving him and his little Golden boy a harsh wake-up call at the Royal Rumble. But, again, the timetable moved up, and that wake-up call became a Christmas present. We just couldn't wait, we couldn't risk Brian becoming attached."

Hunter took the mic back, and turned back to the roster. "Now, don't get me wrong, Heartbreak, I like you. I like you a lot. This is not personal, not by a long shot, but here's the thing... you were in the way. You were a good soldier, you did your part, and it was time to sacrifice you. But we haven't forgotten what you've done for us, and for that, we're giving you a severance package, a parting gift. We're giving you Bret Hart tonight, and whoever wins, they get a title shot at the Royal Rumble. So go lace your boots up, and tell Vince I said hi!"

Hunter laughed as Bret and Shawn made their way to the back. Before HBK left the stage, Skunkrocker made an ill-timed joke, and ate a Sweet Chin Music that knocked him right out. Hunter chuckled at that before continuing.

"But hey, I didn't just come out here and yap for this long just to toot my own horn. I mean, that's part of it, but not all. You, all of you, have a choice: bow or suffer. If you bow, if you know what's good for you and submit, we've got no beef. You can go about your petty feuds in peace. But if you don't, we will show no mercy. So... if you're smart enough to fear us, smart enough to respect us, bow down."

Nobody knelt at first, but one by one they started falling to their knees. Kane didn't seem to realize this order applied to him, and Paul Bearer had to coax him to his knees. Shamrock was staring a hole in HHH, but Sanguinia tugged him down, fearing he might suffer the same fate as Skunkrocker. Goldust seemed resolute, but was forced to his knees by Okada. Liger and Owen shared a glance before Liger knelt as well.

This left Owen Hart, Chris Jericho, Taz, Rocky Maivia, and Osamu Nishimura standing tall. Hunter dropped his jovial tone. "So be it. If you stood, you're going to regret it. If you didn't, very good. You'll learn why you were wise not to. But for now, we've got a show to put on." As the Power Trip and the people who stood stared each other down, the people who bowed made their way backstage, with Sanguinia and Shamrock carrying Skunk's KOed body to the back.