WWE Monday Night Raw
Richmond, VA
April 26th 2010
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry “The King” Lawler & Matt Striker
Report by: David Stephens of Wrestleview.com
Are you ready? Then stop questioning your heart and join me, because it is time for Monday Night RAW!
The show opens with The Miz & The Big Show in the ring demanding Bret Hart show up and announce them as the greatest Tag Team of all time. This is because of an agreement made that when Miz defeated David Hart Smith in singles action. Bret says he is a man of his words. He also says that The Monte was the greatest Intercontinental Champion of All-Time. Also, that David Arquette was the greatest World Champion of all time. Bret says that he can say anything he wants. For instance, The Miz is a horse faced idiot, that’s about as close to the truth that he’ll get. Hart says that tonight they will have no choice but to declare The Hart Dynasty the NEW World Tag Team Champions!
Unified Tag Team Championship Match
ShoMiz v. The Hart Dynasty w/ Natalya
The match starts off with some quick back and forth action between Miz and Tyson Kidd. Tyson gets control and tags in Smith. David lifts Miz up high into the air for an extended delayed vertical suplex! Miz is slammed down hard to the mat, but manages to kick out of the cover.
****Commercial****
We are back, and The Miz has David Smith in a rear headlock. Big Show is cheering him on from the apron. Smith has the strength advantage, and lifts Miz into the air for a side slam to escape. Both men are down and headed for their corners. Tyson and Show both get the tags into the ring. Tyson hits a springboard dropkick, but Show stays on his feet. Tyson tries a couple of kicks, but only winds up face down on the mat. Big Show lifts Tyson high into the air and drops him with head butt. Show back Tyson into the corner and gives him a monstrous chop. Show then proceeds to stretch Kidd’s back by applying pressure with his boot. Miz is tagged into the match.
Miz starts off by gloating to the crowd. Tyson sees his moment and hits a quick neckbreaker. This is not enough as Miz follows up and goes for the cover. Kidd kicks out. Miz locks on a rear headlock to wear down the Canadian Superstar.
Both Big Show and David Hart Smith take to the ring to try and clear house. In the end, we are once again left with Miz and Tyson squaring off. Kidd locks on the Sharpshooter… and this match is over!!
Winners & NEW Unified Tag Team Champions: The Hart Dynasty
After the match, The Big Show delivers the Knockout Punch to The Miz, to show his displeasure.
****Commercial****
We head to the locker room where the World Heavyweight Champion, Jack Swagger is with Josh Mathews. He puts over his win against Randy Orton at last night’s Extreme Rules PPV. Swagger is now apparently going to be embarking on a financing gimmick. He mentions his perfect gpa of 4.0 in financing. If Swagger was on Wall Street, he claims we would not be in such debt. Edge interrupts and says that Swagger needs to focus a bit more on keeping his Title, because Edge is next in line. Forget the 4.0, if Swagger doesn’t get drafted back to RAW, Edge claims he’ll be taking that belt in 4 days!
Up Next: Diva Tag Team Match & First Draft Pick of 2010!
****Commercial****
Maryse & Eve v. Michelle McCool & Layla
The winner of this match earns a draft pick for their brand. Eve and Layla are the first to start things off. Layla is laid out with a shoulder block, but kicks out of the cover. Eve pushes Layla into the corner, but gets caught with a counter. Eve goes for the cover, but Maryse kicks her in the gut instead. Eve isn’t going to take it, and charges out of the ring and takes her out. Eve is determined to keep fighting and rolls back into the ring.
Layla tags in McCool. Michelle hits a strong clothesline, and follows up with a leg choke. Eve is laying on the ropes, and Michelle uses the ropes to apply pressure to the back. Michelle then distracts the ref while Layla gets in a cheap shot.
Matt Striker just said (talking about the draft) “Joey Styles is getting drafted to future endeavors dot org”. That’s awesome.
Eve escapes, and apparently Maryse decides to actually take the tag this time. Her and Eve are still having words, as Michelle comes in and hits a huge boot to the face. This match is over!
Winners via Maryse’s Ego: Michelle McCool & Layla
Smackdown’s First 2010 Draft Selection
Matt Striker is muttering, “not Mae Young, not Mae Young”.
SMACKDOWN RECEIVES KELLY KELLY
Damn! I lost her when I was recapping ECW, and now I lost her from RAW!! We are just not destined to be together. If I lose Hornswoggle I’m going to cry.
****Commercial****
Winner’s Brand Receives Lottery Selection
Evan Bourne v. CM Punk w/ The Straight Edge Society
Evan charges right at Punk to start things off. Punk catches his attempt at a tilt-a-whirl, and counters it into a backbreaker. Punk has Bourne on the mat and is kicking him repeatedly. Bourne goes for a quick roll up, but Punk kicks out. Punk hits a slam and goes for a cover, but Bourne kicks out. Punk’s attempt at a suplex is blocked by Bourne. Evan hits two consecutive knees to the face of Punk! CM Punk kicks out.
Michael Cole & Striker must hate each other. Cole just called Striker “weird”.
Punk rolls to the outside. Bourne dives to the outside to take him out! Both men are back in the ring now, and Evan has Punk set up near the turnbuckle. Bourne is looking for the Shooting Star Press, but Serena distracts the referee. The “mystery fan” knocks Bourne off of the apron before he disappears back into the crowd. Punk connects with the GTS for the win.
Winner via Hooded Society Member: CM Punk
Smackdown wins 2nd Draft Selection
SMACKDOWN RECEIVES THE BIG SHOW
****Commercial****
In the back, Teddy Long welcomes Big Show to the Smackdown brand. He extends his hand for a shake, but Show just stares him down. Long asks if there is anything he can do to help him out. Show finally laughs and puts his arm around Teddy. Long celebrates with a little dance. Yup, he just did a little ditty.
Sheamus makes his way out to the ring. He takes the mic and says that HHH will not be drafted to Smackdown. The bad news is that he’ll never wrestle again. This is because HHH made the mistake of underestimating Sheamus. His career has ended because Sheamus made it end.
Randy Orton has apparently taken exception to this fact, and makes his way out to the ring. He says that he wants to challenge Sheamus to a match. Sheamus tells him to get out of his way, or he’ll put him on the sidelines just like he did to HHH. Randy Orton threatens to RKO him right now in the ring, and then punt his head off! Sheamus says that he won’t deal with losers, he is going against Cena for the Title and there is nothing that Orton can do about it.
Cena’s music hits and he makes his way out onto the entrance ramp. He says that there is a problem, because they have a problem here. Cena says this is the best time to introduce tonight’s guest host… No one comes out. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone. Apparently it is WWE Global. Cena starts to make a series of cracks on Sheamus. The super white star is mad and tells Cena to cut the jokes. John says fine. He says he was told at the beginning of the night that it was up to him to pick the #1 Contender for the Title. He announces Sheamus v. Randy Orton for later tonight! They each try for their finishers, but end up countering and staring each other down.
In the back, Kane, R-Truth, Rey Rey, Drew McIntyre & Shad Gaspard are preparing for action… NEXT!
****Commercial****
Winners brand receives THREE draft picks!
Battle Royal
Kane, R-Truth, Rey Rey, Drew McIntyre & Shad Gaspard v. Ted Dibiase, Yoshi Tatsu, Santino Marella, Mark Henry & MVP
1st eliminated – Drew McIntyre
2nd Eliminated – Yoshi Tatsu
****Commercial****
3rd Eliminated – MVP
4th Eliminated – R-Truth
5th Eliminated – Shad Gaspard
6th Eliminated – Mark Henry
7th Eliminated – Kane
8th Eliminated – Rey Mysterio
Winners: Santino Marella, Ted Dibaise & Monday Night RAW
Santino celebrates with Ted after the match. Dibiase hits him with Dream Street for his troubles.
RAW Receives 3 Draft Selections!
1st pick – JOHN MORRISON
2nd pick – R-TRUTH
3rd pick – EDGE
****Commercial****
Chris Jericho heads out to the ring for his match, which is up next. He picks up a mic, and looks like he is about to cry. He whines on about losing to the maniac Edge last night at Extreme Rules. Jericho also blames himself for being mentally shaken by losing to that guy (Heath Slater) on NXT last week. Jericho says that he is the best in the world, and that he’ll never lose a match to a nobody over again. He calls Heath Slater down to the ring, to apologize for de facto causing him the loss to Edge at last night’s PPV!
Heath makes his way out to the ring. He apologizes… for Jericho not being good enough to beat him or Edge. He says that he is sorry that his NXT Pro, Christian, is about to beat him right now!
Winner’s brand receives Draft Pick
Chris Jericho v. Christian w/ Heath Slater
The match starts off with Slater pushing Jericho out of the ring from behind. Christian hits a baseball slide to the outside while we head to commercial.
****Commercial****
We come back and this match is well underway. Jericho springs for a lionsault, but Christian moves and gets up his feet. Christian follows up with a missile dropkick from the second rope! Christian lays Jericho on the second rope and then drops out of the ring to hit him with a punch to the face! Christian looks for another missile dropkick, but Jericho counters into a roll up! Christian kicks out. Jericho hits an enziguiri, but Jericho also manages to kick out of that.
Christian is looking for the KillSwitch, but Jericho locks on the Walls of Jericho! Christian is trying everything he can to get to the ropes… he reaches! The referee breaks the hold. Wow! Jericho charges at Christian, but gets caught with a slap to the face! Christian is heading to the top rope. He leaps, but is caught with the Code Breaker! Jericho covers, and picks up the win.
Winner via Code Breaker: Chris Jericho
Smackdown Wins Draft Selection
SMACKDOWN RECEIVES KOFI KINGSTON
He heads right to the ring, and hits Jericho with the Trouble in Paradise!
****Commercial****
We come back as Swagger appears to be in control of the match. Swagger lifts Morrison high into the air, but Morrison goes for an Amazing Red style roll up. Swagger kicks out. Morrison is caught in between the ropes, and Jack uses their elasticity to apply a devastating abdominal stretch.
Morrison is starting to get momentum and knocks Swagger down to the mat. He follows with a Standing Shooting Star Press! Morrison goes for the cover, but Swagger kicks out! Morrison does not let up as he throws Swagger into the turnbuckle via a see-saw, and then hits a running knee to the face. John goes for the cover, but doesn’t get the bacon. Swagger heads out of the ring for a reprieve. Morrison heads out after him, not wanting him to catch his breath. Both men are back in the ring, and Swagger looks for his finisher. Morrison counters and sets up for Star Ship Pain. Before he can leap, Swagger pulls him down and hits his Blue Thunder Bomb!
Winner via Blue Thunder Bomb: Jack Swagger
Smackdown Wins Draft Selection
SMACKDOWN RECEIVES Christian
****Commercial****
Next Week’s RAW Guest Host is Wayne Brady! I have a feeling he is going to do a great job. Mark your calendars because it’s going to be a fantastic show.
In the back, Carlito and Ted Dibiase are chatting in the locker room. Apparently Dibiase is trying to make a deal with Carlito, but for whatever reason Carlito says he’d rather keep doing it his way. R-Truth is the next approached, and takes exception to some of the things that Ted is asking for, such as carrying his bags. Truth calls him out on the fact that he is looking for his own “Virgil”. His dad had one, and now he wants one. Ted offers him “a lot of money”. This causes R-Truth to pause. He says that he will think about it, but then slaps him in the face!
Video package airs of John Cena’s interaction with the USA Military
****Commercial****
Winner’s Brand Receives Draft Selection
Dolph Ziggler v. Hornswoggle
The match starts and ‘swoggle runs out of the ring. Dolph follows after him. Hornswoggle is in the ring, and throws his shoes to the outside to frustrate Dolph. Before he realizes it, the referee reaches the count of 10, and ‘swoggle wins!
Winner via Count Out: Hornswoggle
After the match, Ziggler comes in and attacks Hornswoggle. He locks on the sleeper and brutalize the poor guy. Where the hell is Finlay?
RAW Wins Draft Selection
RAW RECEIVES CHRIS JERICHO!
****Commercial****
Batista runs down to the ring, before the #1 Contendership is set to happen. Batista says that what happened last night was a joke. He says, “duct tape? Are you kidding me?” For those that didn’t see, Cena duct taped Batista so that he could not get up in the Last Man Standing Match. He says that Cena owes him this match. He won’t leave the ring for anyone.
Sheamus’ music hits and he makes his way down to the ring. Sheamus calls Batista a loser just like Orton. Randy’s music hits. All three men are staring each other down and looks like we are about to have a triple threat on our hands.
Nope, Orton says that how about he fights Sheamus tonight, and then when he wins he’ll face Batista. The winner can have the Title Shot! Sheamus is not too pleased about that and calls them losers again. Nope, Cena comes out on the ramp and makes it a Triple Threat Match!
#1 Contender’s Match for Cena’s Title
Sheamus v. Batista v. Orton
The match starts with Batista heading to the outside of the ring. Orton is backed itno the corner by Sheamus. Sheamus turns his head to Batista, so Orton grabs him and hits a couple of punches and two European uppercuts. Sheamus slams him to the mat and goes for a cover, Batista comes in to break it up. Batista throws Sheamus to the outside.
Orton backs Batista into the corner, and pounds on him with his boot. Orton hits a couple of European Uppercuts. He then stomps away on Batista and hits a hard knee to the head. He goes for the cover, but Batista kicks out.
Sheamus heads back into the ring to try and interrupt the damage that is occurring. Orton takes him and throws Sheamus shoulder first into the steel post. Sheamus falls to the outside. Batista sets Orton up in the middle of the ring, and hits him with a running knee to the face. Orton kicks out.
Batista locks on a rear submission lock, Sheamus runs into make the save. Orton chucks Sheamus right back out of the ring. Batista flings Orton into the ropes and then connects with the Spinebuster!
****Commercial****
We are back and it is Sheamus in the ring with control over Orton. We see that during the commercial, Batista was sent into the steel steps and is on the outside. Sheamus is connecting with a series of boots on Orton. Randy slides to the outside, and Sheamus follows after. Batista catches Sheamus on his blind side and then throws him right back in the ring.
Batista backs Sheamus into the corner and hits him with a couple of shoulder thrusts. Sheamus is able to throw Batista to the outside. Orton comes back into the ring, but is met with a harsh back-breaker from the Irish Superstar. Sheamus locks in a neck hold. This gives Batista time to get back into the ring. He attacks Sheamus, and then Orton throws Batista down. Orton is setting Sheamus up for a DDT, but Sheamus throws him to the outside. Batista then hits a huge bomb on Sheamus, but Orton runs into the ring to make the cover. Sheamus kicks out.
Orton has Batista set up on the rope and and hits the DDT! Sheamus picks Orton up for the Celtic Cross, but Batista comes out of nowhere with the Spear. Sheamus kick outs! Craziness is erupting in the ring. Sheamus sees Batista and hits his big boot! Sheamus goes for a boot on Randy, but Orton hits the RKO! Orton is now looking to pounce on Batista. But out of nowhere Edge barrels into the ring and hits a spear on Randy Orton! Batista finds the fortitude to reach Orton and gets one hand on Orton for the victory. What a match!
Winner via Edge’s Interference: Batista
Batista is the NEW #1 Contender for the WWE Championship!
RAW Thoughts
Ah, the WWE Draft! You have to love it. I’m just as interested in the supplemental draft which will be Tomorrow (Tuesday) at noon! Keep your eyes out for those results, because you will see a lot of changes made that will affect the undercard. Sure they may not mean as much, but they often use it to transfer or separate groups. Plus, Howard Finkel usually live blogs which is hilarious.
As someone who is essentially bound to root for RAW (cause… it’s my job) I’m pretty happy with what happened tonight. The first and most important thing is that I did NOT lose Hornswoggle. That was my biggest fear coming in to tonight. I honestly don’t know if I could bear to have him ripped from me again. Last time he was taken from ECW while I was recapping that show, and it killed me. My second biggest fear DID happen, as Kelly Kelly is leaving for Smackdown. She is another one that I lost while on ECW and it is like getting my heart ripped out twice now. Somehow, I know that we will be able to persevere through this loss. Damn.
There was a very important title change with The Hart Dynasty winning the Unified Tag Team Championships. I could not be happier with their victory. I was hoping from the first day that Bret returned to the WWE that this would happen. I’m a big Tyson Kidd fan, and it is great to see him with the belt.
Segment of the night has to go to R-Truth and Ted Dibiase in the locker room. The Virgil reference and Truth slapping him was… priceless!
I’m not going to get too in depth with the Draft but let’s at least look at the 8 picks that occurred.
RAW Draft Picks:
John Morrison – fun and exciting high flyer that adds flair to all of his matches.
R-Truth – without a doubt this guy is over with the crowd. I can’t explain why, but I really like him
Edge – is apparently going to turn heel. With the rumored departed of Batista this makes perfect sense
Chris Jericho – oh hell yeah! One of the most valuable guys in the WWE right now. He can wrestle ANYBODY and make it a great match and feud
Smackdown Draft Picks:
Kelly Kelly – *sigh*
The Big Show – ok, honestly I thought he was on Smackdown already
Kofi Kingston – meh, no big loss
Christian – I’ve been a fan since he returned to ECW. That being said, I think Smackdown will be a great place for him right now. He deserves great things. He and Swagger worked a really good program on ECW, so I would like to see it happen again.
Alright, for now, that’s all I have for you guys. I’ve been typing for over three and half hours doing the live play by play and getting this thing edited, so I’m ready to rest my weary fingers. Look for my column ‘That’s a Wrap’ where I’ll go in depth looking at the WWE Draft, and the Supplemental Draft. Send me any of your thoughts and maybe I’ll include some in the column!
Have a safe week everyone!
So that’s RAW…. Love it? Hate it? Disagree with everything I said? Just want to chat wrestling? I’m always up for reading your thoughts and do my absolute best to reply to every message I get. Send them over to me at david@wrestleview.com.
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