-We start with Coach live, backstage, addressing us, the fans. He touts the RAW brand at the Bash last night. But now, he wants to look forward at SummerSlam. It also means, a new number one contender for the championship. Coach says by the end of the night, well know who will face Cena at SS. He then previews tonights main event, John Cena and Candice Michelle vs. Cade, Murdoch and Umaga. Not exactly looking forward to that one.
-RAW Open.
-JR and The King (Lawler, not Booker) welcome us to Sacramento, California at the Arco Arena. King says Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton will also go one-on-one tonight. But right now, in the ring is quite the spread, and cue King Bookers muzak. JR takes us back to the dust-up the two RAW royalty had last week. I love when Booker calls Lawler, Jerome. Booker has a compromise for Lawler. I guess itll be a verbal battle, which each stating why they should be King. Lawlers mic cuts in and out, and he trades it for another. While he does that, Booker runs down his credentials (and runs down the local NBA team, including petitioning commish David Stern to re-name the team the Sacrament Peasants). Bookah calls himself the one true King of WWE. As Lawler tries to rebut, Sharmell does her All hail King Booker! Crowd is into it. Lawler pulls no punches in putting down Booker. Booker challenges Lawler to say it to his face, while Lawler decides to get physical and Booker ends up on the outside, with the fruit getting tossed onto him by Lawler. Good opening segment, but the down-side is itll lead to a Booker/Lawler match.
-Weve got a Divas tag match coming up next!
[Break]
(1)- Melina & Beth Phoenix vs. Mickie James & Maria Maria is accompanied by Santino Marella, who joins the commentary team., Mickie (looking damn good tonight) starts off with Beth. Hurricanrana by Mickie, but she gets picked up and slammed into the corner by Beth. Melina tags in and gets a side kick to the gut. Maria comes in and the faces double-team Melina with a back-drop. Maria gets kicked by Beth illegally, and Melina capitalizes with a headbutt. Tag in to Beth, who hits a snap-mare then gets a near-fall. Maria fights out of a chin-lock, but Beth chicken-wings Maria and throws her to the ground. Its all Maria, all the time apparently for Santino. Melina is in and she prevents Maria from making a tag. Melina pulls the hair but Maria escapes and tags Mickie. Headscissor take-over on Melina, then she knocks Beth off the apron. Thesz press onto Melina and Mickie gets a good pop. Mickie fights off Beth then chops Melina down for a two-count. Maria tags back in and shes coming off the top rope. Flying bodypress on Melina wouldve won it, but Beth interferes. All four in the ring and ref Marty Elias tries to get Mickie out of the ring. Santino has seen enough, and he trips up both Beth and Melina as they hit the ropes on an attempted double-team. Maria grabs Melina and bulldogs her down for the three.
Winners: Maria and Mickie at 4:58
-We get footage of the Great American Bash main event from last night.
-Coming up later, a champions only match, as Cena and Candice face Cade, Murdoch and Umaga.
[Break]
-Gerry Brisco is backstage, giving advice to Cody Rhodes for his match with Orton when Randy approaches the scene. The dialogue runs so quick between the two at first I feel like Im watching Sports Night. Orton says Cody should be afraid of what happens in that ring tonight.
-In a pre-taped promo, Snitsky and his yellow teeth talk about how he feels no remorse. Your pain, is my pleasure.
-Todd Grisham is backstage with John Cena. He makes Grish close his eyes and imagine Candice Michelle coming on to him, but interrupted by two guys from Brokeback Mountain and a Samoan. To Grish, thats a nightmare, but for Cena, thats reality tonight. The promo veers back toward normalcy somewhat, as Cena is asked about the number one contender that will be named tonight. He doesnt seem to be too intimidated.
[Break]
(2)- Sandman & Jim Duggan vs. William Regal & Carlito Regal goes after Sandman with left hands, but that doesnt las tlong as he gets Regal down, then nails Carlito. Regal backs Sandman into the heel corner as we see Coach, with a contemplative look on his face, watching this match. Cant imagine theres a #1 contender here. Regal walks Sandman to the middle of the ring for a suplex, but Sandy reverses it. Duggan tags in, and he lays the soupbones in on Carlito. Back-body drop by the Hacksaw, and he does the ten-count punch in the corner AND fends off Regal. Duggan sets up for the three-point tackle, but Carlito moves; Duggan hits the buckle and Carlito takes advantage with the back-cracker for the win.
Winners: Carlito & Regal at 2:12
-Tonight, Jeff Hardy faces Kennedy and of course, the champions match.
[Break]
-Carlito and Regal are backstage and Carlito says things are finally going his way. He takes a bit out of an apple, but it must be bad, because he looks for a place to spit it.....then finds a spot- right on Lashleys chest. Carlito high-tails it out of that situation, and actually runs from backstage into the ring. Carlito tries to defend himself and says it was an accident, but since hes a big man, hell apologize anyway. Lashley stalks to the ring and Carlito jumps on him before he can enter the squared circle. After a missed move, Carlito tries to run to the back, but Lashley catches up with him and tosses him into the ring. Running powerslam for Carlito.
-Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton is next!
[Break]
-Still to come, the Champions only match.
(3)- Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes Rhodes looks quite confident coming to the ring. Side head-lock take-over and again from Orton. After a counter, both men get to their feet and Orton slaps Cody. Cody replies with a dropkick. Orton starts hammering away, but Cody gets a springboard cross-body for a near fall. Orton goes back to work, but Cody gets a sunset flip out of the corner, and again, Orton reacts first after the pin attempt to go back on offense. Orton starts stomping some body parts methodically. He paint-brushes Cody in the head, but Cody fights back. He gets met off the ropes with a sweet dropkick though. Orton throws Cody hard into the opposite turnbuckle. After a missed knee-lift, Cody gets a roll-up for two. Rhodes fights out of a side headlock and hits a Goldust-like hit the mat and punch the guy when they set up for a back-body drop. Rhodes misses a big move and Orton sets up for the RKO. He hits it right in the middle of the ring and gets the pin.
Winner: Orton at 5:45
-As expected, Orton wants to go for the kick to the head, but Big Dust comes out and hits some elbows that sends Randy to the outside. As Dusty consoles Cody, Orton sneaks back in and hits the big boot to Dusty. Referees have to hold Orton back from doing further damage. Dusty, old-school that he is, does a stretcher job.
[Break]
-We see what just transpired, with Orton and the Rhodes, plus some bonus footage from during the break.
(4)- Mr. Kennedy vs. Jeff Hardy Kennedy wants to be the next #1 contender. Lock-up into the corner, Kennedy tries to screw up a clean break with a slap, but Jeff sees it coming and dodges it. Kennedy works the arm, but it gets reversed. Back to their feet, Kennedy backs Jeff into the ropes, but then misses a dropkick. Kennedy then misses a kick and Jeff takes him down, then hits the double-leg drop to the abdominal area. Kennedy shrugs off a Hardy kick and goes back to work, stomping Jeff down. Kennedy with a hammer-lock, but that gets countered and Kennedy gets out of it by sliding to the outside. That leaves Jeff open to hit a dive onto Kennedy as we go to break.
[Break]
Kennedy counters an attempted head-scissors take-over by hitting the Alabama Slam for a near-fall. Kennedy then has Hardy set throat-first on the middle rope, and he gets a running start and brings the leg right down over his neck. Hardy comes back, but its short lived, as the former Mr. Anderson hits a neck-breaker for a two-count. Hardy fights out of a front-facelock, then tries something split-legged off the top rope, but sickly but lands on his head. Kennedy goes for a cover after the ref checks him out, but doesnt get the pin. Hardy even makes an offensive comeback off the top and hits some forearms on Kennedy, then his spinning back-kick. Kennedy fights back as JR uses the term resilience while I think no long-term selling. Kennedy goes to the outside, and Jeff runs the rail and hits the clothesline. Up the ramp we go, as Jeff smashes Ken face first into the Titan-Tron, sprints back to the ring and wins via count-out.
Winner: Hardy at 12:14
-JR and King talk about the Rhodes/Orton situation. Moments ago, the Dream was loaded into the medical van and taken to the local medical facility. Thank God Hacksaw was on the scene to oversee things.
-The champions-only match is still to come.
[Break]
-Triple H is coming......back. Apparently, hes the Six Million-Dollar Man.
(5)- Paul London & Brian Kendrick vs. Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas Haas and Kendrick start things off, but in a nice move, Benjamin sneaks in and hits Kendrick before the start then sneaks back out. Kendrick uses his speed to get the best of Haas, then Benjamin. Back inside the ring, Haas grabs Kendrick and tags Shelton. Kendrick fights out of a rest-hold, but gets kicked right in the face by Benjamin. London breaks up a pin attempt. Haas is in and he applies a body-scissors to Kendrick. Kendrick hits an enziguiri on Haas and both men are down. Tag is made to London, and he knocks Shelton off the apron, then goes hard after Haas. Atomic drop followed by a hurricanrana. Benjamin gets dropkicked out of the ring, but Kendrick splats on the outside trying to hit Benjamin. Double-team inside the ring, while Haas hits a German suplex with a bridge for the pin.
Winners: The Worlds Greatest Tag Team at 3:46
-Champions-only match, still to come tonight.
[Break]
-We get clips of the Rhodes/Orton situation from earlier tonight. Again.
-More King Booker! Booker and Lawler will go at it next week. Your reign of blasphemy is over says Booker.
-Coach is backstage, and is approached by Grisham. He asks if Coach has made his decision on who will face Cena at SummerSlam. The decision has been made says Coach, but first, he has to inform the challenger. He runs into Candice before he leaves, and she raises concerns about her match tonight. Coach says tonight, shes not a diva, shes a champ. He wishes her good luck, as we see the three-man team walking backstage, heading to the ring.
[Break]
(6)- Umaga, Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch vs. Candice Michelle & John Cena- No DQ, Champions Only Match The bell rings at 10:59 ET, as Cena goes right after the heels. Umaga has him down, then Cade goes to work on him. Cade suplexes Murdoch onto Cena. Trevor treats Cena to some forearms right to the face. Another double-team, as the champs splash Cena in the corner. They tag in to Umaga, who uses the left hand to annihilate Cena. Murdoch tags in and Cena starts to come back, but Murdoch hits a Russian leg sweep. Left hands from Murdoch, but Cena hits the ropes and slams Trevor face-first into the mat. Suplex for Cade, but the third time isnt the charm, as Umaga catches Cena and sidewalk slams him. The tag champs surround Candice on the apron, so she heads into the ring. She crawls to the corner where the champs hold her arms for Umaga to splash. Out of nowhere comes Jeff Hardy with a chair to a huge pop. Candice runs to the back, while Jeff hits Umaga several times heading up the ramp, just throwing the chair at him. Back in the ring, its Cena-time. Cade gets tossed out of the ring, Murdoch goes shoulder-first into the post, then gets FUd and Cena overcomes the odds for the 1,337th time.
Winners: Cena and Candice at 4:41
As Cena celebrates, Orton comes from behind and RKOs him. Coach then announces that Orton is the number one contender. Orton looks on at his handiwork from the ramp as we fade out.
My Vengeance hangout report and more!: Experience It
Wow, almost a serious injury by Hardy there. Some quick thinking by Kennedy to shove his shoulders to make him at least complete the rotation so he didn't land right on top of his head.
The Hardy/Kennedy match was the hightlight of the night. I just hope Jeff is OK after the sick landing from the failed Whisper in the Wind (if that's what he was going for). Great camera work when Jeff came off the barrier with the clothesline.
A lot was made by the King and JR about Jeff's performance in the GAB against Umaga ... I would like to see that one. Then he makes the save for Candice wearing Umaga out with the chair. Could a push be on the horizon for Jeff? Oh wait, it's Orton. Again. Not that he isn't the best choice for the #1 contender at SummerSlam. I just hope he doesn't win.
Also a great match with WGTT and London & Kendrick - but a bit short, again .
Did Cena pin Cade with a four count? I swear the ref hit the mat four times.
Time for a haircut: 5: King Bookah 4: Jeff Hardy 3: Hacksaw 2: Santino (Is that a mohawk?) 1: William Regal
Not a bad RAW for me. I was pretty entertained throughout.
King Bookah and Jerome Lawler's promo was a throwback to some of the hilarious skits RAW used to have years ago. The "refreshments" Booker laid out for Lawler was a great touch. With Vince McMahon gone, Booker has taken the title of having the best heel facial expressions on any brand.
Divas tag match was pretty good. Santino on color and his concern/cheerleading for Maria was pretty funny. "Mama Mia!" His interfering so Maria could get the win was an interesting twist. If there's a heel turn here for Santino where he devolves into an asshole, it's gonna be down the road and will be a slow burn.
I don't know what Mr. Kennedy ever did to the RAW writers but they book him like an idiot. However, Jeff Hardy beating the shit out of Umaga with a chair was sweet. As I didn't see their Bash match, I'm eager to see Hardy and Umaga go at it.
I love William Regal's Tudor robe and Carlito shitting his pants and running from Lashley. My favorite call of the night was Jim Ross confusing Carlito's finish's name. "It used to be called the Backstabber, appropriately so... (pause) Backcracker, Backstabber..."
Second favorite call from Jim Ross was his appropos description of Randy Orton as a "snake...slithering." If this were Harry Potter, Randy Orton would absolutely be a Slytherin. He's a complete scumbag. Orton as number one contender is fine with me. They've done a fine job building him up as a bastard heel who's out to end careers. Orton won his only World Championship three years ago at Summerslam against He Who Must Not Be Named. Lightning could strike twice for the Legend Killer.
Can't blame Candice for getting the hell out of dodge at the end. The heels were obviously planning to kill her for no real reason.
I'm not sorry I missed the Bash but JR scolding everyone who missed Cena vs. Lashley amused me. I'll have to take a look at it on DVD sometime.
I thought Raw was pretty good. Loved the Bookah and Jerome skit. Good matches from Hardy vs. Kennedy and TWGTT vs. London and Kendrick. The only thing I don't like is that Coach dislikes Cena. Plucky babyface vs. evil boss is OLD. Cena is the champ so couldn't wrestlers want to beat him for the title? Or just find him annoying? Cena has improved a lot over the last 2 years but the way they write his character is still pretty stupid.
Marge I am just trying to get into heaven not run for Jesus.
I love King Bookah. In a manly kinda way of course.
Beth Phoenix offense looked super weak, maybe she just needs to adjust to being on the main roster again.
Is Lashley going from Cena to Carlito? If so I'm putting the over/under at 4 times Carlito gets squashed.
Is it just me or has Randy Orton really turned it on since his last screw up? I've really been enjoying his character since around that time. I love the koncussion kick. Maybe we can get Cena one of those?
Glad Hardy didn't kill himself tonight. It seems to me that WWE is trying to keep Kennedy as over as possible without ever giving him that legit main event push. And since I'm a huge Kennedy mark that makes me a sad camper.
Loved Hardy blitzkrieging Umaga with the chair and loved the camera work on Orton standing behind Cena lining up the RKO. I hafta say that if Orton wins the belt at SS I won't be upset
- King Booker is still the highlight of Raw for me, but ...
- Jeff Hardy has been on fire, and he might get one of the biggest reactions on the roster right now.
- I really don't see the need to overreact that much to the kick given by Randy Orton. He really needed to connect with another one or just be a lot stiffer with the first one.
- Good ole' JR was all over the place with his calls, moreso than usual, tonight.
First RAW I've watched in weeks, and I thought it was pretty decent and enjoyed myself quite a bit. Some thoughts:
* ALL HAIL KING BOOKAAAHHHH
* Santino as the creepy heelish boyfriend of Maria could work. Too bad HE can't. HA HA HAAAAAAAA AM I RIGHT?!
* Orton saying "you brought this on yourself" to a departing Cody Rhodes immediately reminded me of all the issues he has with women.
* If they want to make Cena a "cool guy" they need to remove Todd Grisham from any and all segments immediately. He's dorky and lame to the point where it makes it painful to watch.
* The William Regal mark in me has me happy just to see him on TV (even if it's in a total throwaway role as Carlito's tag partner) while the 14-year-old Sandman mark in me still can't accept him teaming with "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan.
* Cody Rhodes looks a lot less green than he had any right to look, and his transitions in this match were super-smooth. It's amazing what being trained by people who know what the Hell they're doing can do as opposed to being trained from the ground-up in Developmental. And what's up with Orton's soccer kick being more devastating than a seven-pound metal object? Is his boot loaded a la The Iron Sheik (I mean when Sheik had the loaded boot gimmick as opposed to the loaded lunatic gimmick he currently has)?
* From what I'm reading, I regret not paying attention at all to the Hardy/Kennedy match. But hey, Metzler's swan-song on JLA (latest issue) is a damn good read.
* If HHH is now the Six Million Dollar Man, what dollar amount was he the last time he got fixed from the same "freak injury"?
* London/Kendrick and WGTT are far too good to be getting as little reaction as they're getting.
* The "Champions Only Match" was goofy but had some fun booking. They made Jeff Hardy look like a total star and the crowd totally bought into it. This was quite possibly Jeff's best moment since "HEY THAT'S MY PAINTING MAN!!!"
* Orton vs. Cena. Meh. The way they built the Dusty thing this week, I would've much rather have seen an angle where Cody picks up a few wins, calls him out for SummerSlam, and tries to redeem himself for his loss and his inability to save his Dad from Randy Orton's loaded Sheik boot. I'm biased, though, because I hate Orton with a passion and don't want to see him in a main event ever.
This was the best wrestling on Raw since April. Orton/Cody and WGTTKL were good and Jeff/Kennedy was really good. All that plus JEROME, as well as the great broadcasting of Santino Marella. Even Lashley did something cool for once.
The main event wasn't all it could've been, but Jeff and those ridiculous chairshots was awesome. And it reminded me of a wonderful Raw main event from days of yore. It was December '01 and it was Rock & Trish vs. Kurt Angle & Vince. Trish did a hot tag and beat the shit out of Vince and it was just magical.
They've done a great job with Orton. Getting sent home from that tour (and ten other people getting injured) is the best thing that ever happened to Randy.
Somebody put Lashley and Orton and Kennedy in the washing machine and DONE SHRUNK THEM. Hmmmmmm.
Haven't seen the whole show, just caught Jeff's match. I am pained to say that I am actually becoming a Jeff Hardy fan. Landing on his head like that, and then exorcising the demon almost immediately and hitting it was awesome. SHEER BALLS. Now is the time to make him a main eventer, if they're ever going to.
Good first show in the Summerslam build. I've never been an Orton fan, but I've gotta say that he's been really solid in his role as of late. I can buy him as a main eventer now.
Cody Rhodes looks so much like Matt Sydal it scares me. The little confident sneer Cody has is the thing that puts it over the top. You can tell that Cody is itching to be a heel and be where Orton is now.
For a split second last night, I thought they might have Cody turn on Dusty and play the "I want to get out of your shadow and you shouldn't have lost at the GAB in your own match" angle. If you can't beat him, join him right.
Anyways, a pretty great Raw last night, made better by having two of the worst workers you just can't hate wrestle as a tag team (Sandman and Hacksaw). They need to beat Cade and Murdoch for the tag belts just so we can see who is the Shawn Michaels of the group, and who is the Marty Jannetty.
"Put on your helmets, we'll be reaching speeds of 3!" "It was nice of you to give that dead woman another chance." "All right, look alive everybody...oh sorry Susan."- MST3K: Space Mutiny Click Here (myspace.com)
Please remove Hacksaw from television. He sucked 20 years ago.
Would someone please give WGTT and Londrick at least 10 minutes?? The fans will get into it if you give them enough time.
As a mark for the 6 Million Dollar Man, I loved the HHH promo. Is this going to be another of his many nicknames?
Anyone getting too excited about Jeff getting a "big push", should look no further than his brother. We thought Matt was poised to get a shot at Edge, instead, he was built up as a strong challenger to job to MVP. Fool me once...
So did Stone Cold bitch about Sandman using the beer? Even though Austin stole the idea from him?
Dean! Have you been shooting dope into your scrotum? You can tell me! I'm hip!
Originally posted by Kei PosiskunkAnyone think HHH might still harbor some jealousy towards Stone Cold, and this might be a little bit of a jab at him?
No.
I just wish they didn't make him look so....asexual with that lumpy mannequin-like outline they used in the graphics.
Also, the scrolling list of all those DLL files really makes me worry about H succumbing to a blue screen of death in the future. At least he can replace the guy in the suit in the Mac ads if this wrestling thing doesn't pan out.
If they want to make Cena a "cool guy" they need to remove Todd Grisham from any and all segments immediately. He's dorky and lame to the point where it makes it painful to watch.
NEVER! As far as I was concerned, Grisham was the only thing holding that together. There he is, eyes closed, the dweeb in form, looking wistful... miming a boob grab? Awesome.
And then a Leno-esque reference to a movie that we got tired of hearing jokes about a year and a half ago.
Originally posted by Kei PosiskunkAnyone think HHH might still harbor some jealousy towards Stone Cold, and this might be a little bit of a jab at him?
No.
I just wish they didn't make him look so....asexual with that lumpy mannequin-like outline they used in the graphics.
Also, the scrolling list of all those DLL files really makes me worry about H succumbing to a blue screen of death in the future. At least he can replace the guy in the suit in the Mac ads if this wrestling thing doesn't pan out.
And is it just me, or did HHH look fat, or at least out of shape in those work out scenes in the promo? Especially compared to the comeback video in 2002. Then again, if it means he is not on roids, that might be a good thing.
Dean! Have you been shooting dope into your scrotum? You can tell me! I'm hip!
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Looks to be an awesome Smackdown. Can't wait to see the Eddie/Angle stuff. As for the APA/Rikishi&Scotty stare down, I think they will go with a 3 way or 4 way at WMXX with the WGTT getting a shot at the belts at well.