Soulpower
Guest
I am back after a one week hiatus due to.... laziness. On tap for tonight's RAW. Vince McMahon will speak out on William Regal's shenanigans (IE:Cutting off the show last week). A first-time matchup between Randy Orton and CM Punk and some other stuff. On to the show!!
Vince McMahon is the RAW ramp to start the show. He calls William Regal's action reprehensible (I call them WCW-Like) but also says that Regal is a visionary. Vince endorses Regal for GM and tells the fans to give William the same respect we give Vince... You know, NONE!
William Regal comes out (to new music) and once again demands respect. A huge asshole chant break outs and Regal tells the monkeys in the back to dim the lights and once again states that he will not tolerate disrespect.
KENNEDY!!!!
Kennedy interrups and tells Regal that if he wants respect, all he has to do is go one-on-one against him. Regal declines and makes a Kennedy vs The ECW roster match. Apparently, Regal made a deal with Estrada in exchange to shill ECW's 100th episode (Tonight, on SCI-FI at 10:00 PM).
Time to play the gaaaaaaame!!
HHH (or Triple Haitch) interrupts. HHH says that Regal disrespected him by cutting off his match with Orton next week. HHH says that William does NOT want to go war with him. Regal turns the ME into HHH and Kennedy vs the ECW roster.
Commercial... Mickie James vs Beth Phoenix in a Lumberjill match after the break.
Mickie James vs Beth Phoenix (Women's title/Lumberjill match)
Lockup to start. Beth overpowers James and manages to get a 2 count after a Shoulder Block. Mickie is tossed to the outside where the heels attack her, until the faces make the save. Back in the ring and James makes a comeback with some forearms and a Neckbreaker. Mickie runs the rope but gets tripped, which prompts her to go to the outside.
COMMERCIAL!!!
We come back and Beth is applying a Bow and Arrow. Mickie gets up and Beth misses a Forearm amd Mickie goes for a roll-up but Beth just lifts her up. Mickie counters with a Dropkick. Forearm exchange by both women until Mickoe gets to the top rope and hits a Thesz Press. Mickie hits an enzuiguiri and all hell breaks loose on the outside. Melina manages to get in the ring, and tries to hit James with her boot but hits Beth instead. Mickie throws Melina out of the ring, gets the pin and the win!
Winner:Mickie James
Backstage, Jericho is with Regal and Chris once again insinuates that Shawn is faking an injury. Regal books Michaels and Jericho vs Miz and Morrison.
COMMERCIAL!!!!
We are back, and Trevor Murdoch is singing. Trish Stratus randomly pops up (To a huge pop.) and she is NOT amused. Ron Simmons shows up and says: My word, Trevor. You have an exquisite singing voice... Either that or he said Damn!
We get a video package of Ron Simmons being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
The Grish is with Orton and I immediately tune him out. Something about Judgement Day, The Age of Orton, gold and Punk.
Time for out next match.
Paul Burchill and Katie Lea vs John Cutler (SQUASH!!!)
THE Mike Adamle is brought out to do commentary and he comes out to a chorus of boos. We don't know much about Cutler, except that his last name rhymes with Butler (Adamle's words, not mine). An extended squash, Burchill and Katie win after Paul hits The Curb Stomp, no one cared.
Winners
aul and Katie Burchill
Backstage, Jericho tells HBK to have his back tonight. Shawn says that he'll do what he can.
COMMERCIAL!!!
Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho vs The Miz and John Morrison
Shawn gets booed during his entrance. It seems that Canadians hate him for some reason. To be honest, this match was nowhere near as good as it could have been. Jericho is in the ring for most of the time (Which admittedly, isn't much). Morrison cheap shots Michaels and goes for the Moonlight Drive. HBK Superkicks him and Jericho follows up with the Lionsault for the win.
Winners:Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho
COMMERCIAL!!!
We are back and we go right into our next match...
Randy Orton vs CM Punk
Orton grabs a Side headlock to start and knocks down Punk with a Shoulder Block. Another Side Headlock, another Should Block. Punk comes back with kicks and Clotheslines Orton out of the ring. Punk goes for a Plancha, but Orton sees it coming and Punk lands on the apron. Orton just pulls CM down who goes crashing to the outside. Back in the ring and Randy hits the Orton Stomp on Punk (A Move which Randy DEFINITELY didn't borrow from anyone). Punk makes a comeback with another flurry of kicks. He goes for a Springboard Plancha but Orton ducks and gets a two count. Orton applies a wait for it... ORTONLOCK. Punk comes back with a Kick to the gut, a kick to the face then whips Randy to the corner and hits the Running Knee/Bulldog Combo. Punk takes Orton down, Regal comes out and instructs the monkeys to turn off the lights.
Winner:N/A... Or Regal
COMMERCIAL!!
Backstage, Orton wants to know what's going and says that he's going to Regal's office (Which gets a big pop).
Carlito is in the ring for his Cabana and his guest is Rowdy Roddy Piper. Carlito says that Piper went to far last week (when he slapped Santino). Piper says he's been taking it too far all his life. He beat Piper, he beat Hogan and he beat Cancer (Fun Fact:Its easier to beat Cancer than Hogan >_>). Santino comes out and boasts about how it only took him one night to become IC champion, while it took Piper 8 years to do the same. Piper says that Santino needs a designated driver (BURN!!). Carlito and Santino interrupt until a CAW from the SVR series interrupts. It (It=The CAW) says that this is no way to treat a legend. Carlito says that Holly isn't here, but Rhodes says that he has some backup. Cryme Tyme come out and the bad guys bail. They say that tonight isn't about that money, money... its about that Rowdy, Rowdy, yeah, yeah. Piper has a seizure... Wait, he's dancing!
Commercial!!
JBL comes out and he will face DH Smith. He says that not Davey Boy Smith, Bret Hart nor God (Why did he mention Bret twice?) can help him.
JBL vs DH Smith (SQUASH!!!)
Big Boot, Big Boot, Elbow Drops, Clotheslines and then The Lariat From Hell for the win.
Winner:JBL
Backstage, Regal tries to pump up the ECW roster. He promises not to turn off the lights, but expects the ECW dudes to get the victory. Oddly enough, Orton never made it to Regal's office. Randy died on his way back to his home planet (Poochie'd).
COMMERCIAL!!
We are back and we get the SB rebound with Taker stripping the title. Of course, you can READ KAEDON'S SD REVIEW WHICH ON THE SITE TO FIND OUT EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED ON SD.
Kane is the only ECW guy that gets his entrance (And rightfully so).
HHH and Mr.Kennedy vs The ECW roster (All 6 of them)
This is pretty much what one would expect. The ECW guys dominate a large portion of the match. Kofi is in the ring and applies a side headlock on Kennedy. Shelton makes a blind tag, but inadvertently knocks down Benjamin. Kennedy ducks a Clothesline and hits a Back Suplex on Shelton. Nunzio is tagged in, but Kennedy manages to comeback and hit the Green Bay Plunge. He goes for the rag, but Chavo interrupts. HHH comes in anyways and takes down a couple of guys until he's knocked down by a Shelton Benjamin kick. Kennedy takes out Striker but walks right into a Chokeslam by Kane. Kane stops Chavo from hitting the Frog Splash, Neely goes after Kane, and Chavo hits the Frogsplash on Kennedy anyways to get the win.
Winners:The ECW roster
A wild brawl breaks out. The ECW guys fight amongst themselves (some of them, at least) while the others attack HHH. Hunter is sent to the outside and grabs a chair. He goes to town on the ECW guys until the lights go out. Lights are on once again and HHH turns around right into an RKO as the show ends with Randy standing tall.
Overall Thoughts: I liked that Vince's appearance was kept short and to the point. There's no use in having him dominate the show like in the past. It was expected that Vince would side with Regal because... well, because its Mr.Mcmahon. I liked the exchange between Kennedy/Regal and HHH, but I hated that we got a handicap match. It seems that every couple of weeks we get one of those. Mickie vs Beth was a good match, though it was hurt by the commercial in the middle. With Mickie scoring another victory over Beth, one has to wonder where both women go from here.
The Murdoch segment was what it was. We saw Trish, we saw Ron. Pointless? Yes, but it was kept short. Paul and Katie vs generic jobber was too long for a squash and as evidenced by the crowd, they don't care about Paul (Probably because he always faces jobbers). As I stated, I thought HBK-Y2J vs Miz/Morrison was too short, but it helped further the angle between Jericho and Michaels. Orton vs Punk was good while it lasted, but I really don't think that they should be cutting matches short week in and week out. It might give Regal some heel heat, but it might anger and drive away some of the viewers.
The Carlito/Santino/Piper was entertaining. Even today, Piper is more entertaining than most of the WWE roster. Take that for what its worth. JBL vs DH was another squash, but this one at least served a purpose. JBL is doing what he can to build up a match without John Cena ever making an appearance on RAW. The ECW roster winning over Kennedy and HHH was the right call. Anytime that its 14 against 2, the 14 SHOULD win. Of course, HHH got his heat back by taking everyone out at the end. Orton being on top at the end of RAW was good, and it leads me to believe that Orton will soon take Regal's side (Orton said he would talk to Regal, and sure enough, the lights went out at the end of the show).
All in all, it was a good show and it gets an easy thumbs up. I would like to see the matches get some more time, but at least they're advancing the storylines and building towards Judgement Day.
And remember, to read Kaedon's SD column and his NSZ. We're the only two columnists left standing (or sitting). So show us some support, DAMMIT!
Vince McMahon is the RAW ramp to start the show. He calls William Regal's action reprehensible (I call them WCW-Like) but also says that Regal is a visionary. Vince endorses Regal for GM and tells the fans to give William the same respect we give Vince... You know, NONE!
William Regal comes out (to new music) and once again demands respect. A huge asshole chant break outs and Regal tells the monkeys in the back to dim the lights and once again states that he will not tolerate disrespect.
KENNEDY!!!!
Kennedy interrups and tells Regal that if he wants respect, all he has to do is go one-on-one against him. Regal declines and makes a Kennedy vs The ECW roster match. Apparently, Regal made a deal with Estrada in exchange to shill ECW's 100th episode (Tonight, on SCI-FI at 10:00 PM).
Time to play the gaaaaaaame!!
HHH (or Triple Haitch) interrupts. HHH says that Regal disrespected him by cutting off his match with Orton next week. HHH says that William does NOT want to go war with him. Regal turns the ME into HHH and Kennedy vs the ECW roster.
Commercial... Mickie James vs Beth Phoenix in a Lumberjill match after the break.
Mickie James vs Beth Phoenix (Women's title/Lumberjill match)
Lockup to start. Beth overpowers James and manages to get a 2 count after a Shoulder Block. Mickie is tossed to the outside where the heels attack her, until the faces make the save. Back in the ring and James makes a comeback with some forearms and a Neckbreaker. Mickie runs the rope but gets tripped, which prompts her to go to the outside.
COMMERCIAL!!!
We come back and Beth is applying a Bow and Arrow. Mickie gets up and Beth misses a Forearm amd Mickie goes for a roll-up but Beth just lifts her up. Mickie counters with a Dropkick. Forearm exchange by both women until Mickoe gets to the top rope and hits a Thesz Press. Mickie hits an enzuiguiri and all hell breaks loose on the outside. Melina manages to get in the ring, and tries to hit James with her boot but hits Beth instead. Mickie throws Melina out of the ring, gets the pin and the win!
Winner:Mickie James
Backstage, Jericho is with Regal and Chris once again insinuates that Shawn is faking an injury. Regal books Michaels and Jericho vs Miz and Morrison.
COMMERCIAL!!!!
We are back, and Trevor Murdoch is singing. Trish Stratus randomly pops up (To a huge pop.) and she is NOT amused. Ron Simmons shows up and says: My word, Trevor. You have an exquisite singing voice... Either that or he said Damn!
We get a video package of Ron Simmons being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
The Grish is with Orton and I immediately tune him out. Something about Judgement Day, The Age of Orton, gold and Punk.
Time for out next match.
Paul Burchill and Katie Lea vs John Cutler (SQUASH!!!)
THE Mike Adamle is brought out to do commentary and he comes out to a chorus of boos. We don't know much about Cutler, except that his last name rhymes with Butler (Adamle's words, not mine). An extended squash, Burchill and Katie win after Paul hits The Curb Stomp, no one cared.
Winners
aul and Katie BurchillBackstage, Jericho tells HBK to have his back tonight. Shawn says that he'll do what he can.
COMMERCIAL!!!
Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho vs The Miz and John Morrison
Shawn gets booed during his entrance. It seems that Canadians hate him for some reason. To be honest, this match was nowhere near as good as it could have been. Jericho is in the ring for most of the time (Which admittedly, isn't much). Morrison cheap shots Michaels and goes for the Moonlight Drive. HBK Superkicks him and Jericho follows up with the Lionsault for the win.
Winners:Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho
COMMERCIAL!!!
We are back and we go right into our next match...
Randy Orton vs CM Punk
Orton grabs a Side headlock to start and knocks down Punk with a Shoulder Block. Another Side Headlock, another Should Block. Punk comes back with kicks and Clotheslines Orton out of the ring. Punk goes for a Plancha, but Orton sees it coming and Punk lands on the apron. Orton just pulls CM down who goes crashing to the outside. Back in the ring and Randy hits the Orton Stomp on Punk (A Move which Randy DEFINITELY didn't borrow from anyone). Punk makes a comeback with another flurry of kicks. He goes for a Springboard Plancha but Orton ducks and gets a two count. Orton applies a wait for it... ORTONLOCK. Punk comes back with a Kick to the gut, a kick to the face then whips Randy to the corner and hits the Running Knee/Bulldog Combo. Punk takes Orton down, Regal comes out and instructs the monkeys to turn off the lights.
Winner:N/A... Or Regal
COMMERCIAL!!
Backstage, Orton wants to know what's going and says that he's going to Regal's office (Which gets a big pop).
Carlito is in the ring for his Cabana and his guest is Rowdy Roddy Piper. Carlito says that Piper went to far last week (when he slapped Santino). Piper says he's been taking it too far all his life. He beat Piper, he beat Hogan and he beat Cancer (Fun Fact:Its easier to beat Cancer than Hogan >_>). Santino comes out and boasts about how it only took him one night to become IC champion, while it took Piper 8 years to do the same. Piper says that Santino needs a designated driver (BURN!!). Carlito and Santino interrupt until a CAW from the SVR series interrupts. It (It=The CAW) says that this is no way to treat a legend. Carlito says that Holly isn't here, but Rhodes says that he has some backup. Cryme Tyme come out and the bad guys bail. They say that tonight isn't about that money, money... its about that Rowdy, Rowdy, yeah, yeah. Piper has a seizure... Wait, he's dancing!
Commercial!!
JBL comes out and he will face DH Smith. He says that not Davey Boy Smith, Bret Hart nor God (Why did he mention Bret twice?) can help him.
JBL vs DH Smith (SQUASH!!!)
Big Boot, Big Boot, Elbow Drops, Clotheslines and then The Lariat From Hell for the win.
Winner:JBL
Backstage, Regal tries to pump up the ECW roster. He promises not to turn off the lights, but expects the ECW dudes to get the victory. Oddly enough, Orton never made it to Regal's office. Randy died on his way back to his home planet (Poochie'd).
COMMERCIAL!!
We are back and we get the SB rebound with Taker stripping the title. Of course, you can READ KAEDON'S SD REVIEW WHICH ON THE SITE TO FIND OUT EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED ON SD.
Kane is the only ECW guy that gets his entrance (And rightfully so).
HHH and Mr.Kennedy vs The ECW roster (All 6 of them)
This is pretty much what one would expect. The ECW guys dominate a large portion of the match. Kofi is in the ring and applies a side headlock on Kennedy. Shelton makes a blind tag, but inadvertently knocks down Benjamin. Kennedy ducks a Clothesline and hits a Back Suplex on Shelton. Nunzio is tagged in, but Kennedy manages to comeback and hit the Green Bay Plunge. He goes for the rag, but Chavo interrupts. HHH comes in anyways and takes down a couple of guys until he's knocked down by a Shelton Benjamin kick. Kennedy takes out Striker but walks right into a Chokeslam by Kane. Kane stops Chavo from hitting the Frog Splash, Neely goes after Kane, and Chavo hits the Frogsplash on Kennedy anyways to get the win.
Winners:The ECW roster
A wild brawl breaks out. The ECW guys fight amongst themselves (some of them, at least) while the others attack HHH. Hunter is sent to the outside and grabs a chair. He goes to town on the ECW guys until the lights go out. Lights are on once again and HHH turns around right into an RKO as the show ends with Randy standing tall.
Overall Thoughts: I liked that Vince's appearance was kept short and to the point. There's no use in having him dominate the show like in the past. It was expected that Vince would side with Regal because... well, because its Mr.Mcmahon. I liked the exchange between Kennedy/Regal and HHH, but I hated that we got a handicap match. It seems that every couple of weeks we get one of those. Mickie vs Beth was a good match, though it was hurt by the commercial in the middle. With Mickie scoring another victory over Beth, one has to wonder where both women go from here.
The Murdoch segment was what it was. We saw Trish, we saw Ron. Pointless? Yes, but it was kept short. Paul and Katie vs generic jobber was too long for a squash and as evidenced by the crowd, they don't care about Paul (Probably because he always faces jobbers). As I stated, I thought HBK-Y2J vs Miz/Morrison was too short, but it helped further the angle between Jericho and Michaels. Orton vs Punk was good while it lasted, but I really don't think that they should be cutting matches short week in and week out. It might give Regal some heel heat, but it might anger and drive away some of the viewers.
The Carlito/Santino/Piper was entertaining. Even today, Piper is more entertaining than most of the WWE roster. Take that for what its worth. JBL vs DH was another squash, but this one at least served a purpose. JBL is doing what he can to build up a match without John Cena ever making an appearance on RAW. The ECW roster winning over Kennedy and HHH was the right call. Anytime that its 14 against 2, the 14 SHOULD win. Of course, HHH got his heat back by taking everyone out at the end. Orton being on top at the end of RAW was good, and it leads me to believe that Orton will soon take Regal's side (Orton said he would talk to Regal, and sure enough, the lights went out at the end of the show).
All in all, it was a good show and it gets an easy thumbs up. I would like to see the matches get some more time, but at least they're advancing the storylines and building towards Judgement Day.
And remember, to read Kaedon's SD column and his NSZ. We're the only two columnists left standing (or sitting). So show us some support, DAMMIT!
