WWE RAW
May 18, 2009
Louisville, KY
Commentators: Michael Cole & Jerry ?The King? Lawler
Report by: Hunter Golden of WrestleView.com
WWE Champion Randy Orton came out to the ring and proclaimed his still being champion to the crowd. Orton said he wasn’t looking to retain his title last night, he was looking to take Batista out for good. He said as he went to go accomplish that, he was stopped. By Ric Flair. He said he should have expected it, as Flair wasn’t fond of him in their Evolution days. Orton said one of his favorite memories was kicking Ric Flair in the head in 2007. He said maybe had Flair not been punted, he wouldn’t have lost to Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania in 2008. He said he’s kicked every member of Evolution in the skull, and they’ve never been the same. He said they didn’t get it, and maybe they never will. Orton dared Flair to get in his business again. He said if he did……
Flair’s music hit and he came out to the ramp. Flair strutted around the ring and woo’d in Orton’s face a few times. Flair said Orton might be champion, but Orton didn’t beat Batista. Flair said the way he saw it, he was THIS close to losing the match, so he slapped the referee to get himself intentionally disqualified. Flair said when it came to Evolution, Orton was the chosen one, the next big deal, the heir apparent. The man. He said Batista blew by him and never looked back. He said Batista became that man that Orton couldn’t dream of being.
Flair said Orton might have his little group, might talk trash, but until he hasn’t beaten the man, he hasn’t accomplished nothing. Orton said whether Flair liked it or not, he was the man. Orton said he could Batista at any time, anywhere. Flair said he visited Vickie Guerrero an hour ago and she was upset about the outcome. So Flair gave her an idea. An idea she liked. Flair said in three weeks, there’s a pay per view called Extreme Rules. Orton would defend his belt against Batista. This time though, Orton wouldn’t have to worry about any of the extra curricular crap, because this time the match would be a steel cage match.
Orton said since Flair was so kind as to give him that message, he had a message for Flair to give to Batista and he popped him in the face. Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase came down to the ring only to cut off by Batista. Eventually odds caught up with Flair and Batista and they were on the receiving end of a beat down by the Legacy until John Cena came swooping down the aisle to make the save.
****Commercial****
John Cena was with Todd Grisham. He made his intentions clear, that whomever emerged from the Extreme Rules championship match, that he’d be challenging them. Vickie Guererro interrupted and said the main event would be The Legacy v. Batista & John Cena.
Divas Battle Royal
Beth Phoenix v. Rosa Mendez v. Nikki Bella v. Brie Bella v. Mickie James v. Jillian Hall v. Kelly Kelly
Order of elimination:
1. Rosa Mendes
2. Brie Bella
3. Nikki Bella
4. Jillian Hall
5. Beth Phoenix
6. Mickie James
During the finishing stretch, Maryse sprayed some sort of perfume or hair spray in Mickie’s face, allowing Kelly to get the win.
Winner: Kelly Kelly
****Commercial****
Chavo Guererro v. Santino Marella
Chavo got some European uppercuts in before hitting a big atomic drop. Santino ‘walked’ off the injury before Chavo hit him with a clothesline After a brief control segment, Marella tried to power out of a bow and arrow but Chavo cut him off.
Santino ‘hulked up’ and shockingly hit a big right hand and a few more shots with his ‘guns’ before eating a boot to the face in the corner. Chavo went for a frog splash, but Santino rolled to the corner and cowered. Chavo charged him but Santino ducked and Chavo hit the buckle. Marella rolled him up for the three count.
Winner: Santino Marella via pin fall
Chavo was furious after the match and announced that Santino had better tell his sister to suit up, because she was slated to defend her ?Ms. Wrestlemania? crown. Against Vickie Guererro.
****Commercial****
The Miz was with Maryse in the back. He’s trying to hit on her and it doesn’t really work. He tries to blow her off in retaliation.
Josh Matthews was asking Matt Hardy if Vickie awarded him for his help last night at Judgment Day. Matt denied it and put over Vickie as a ‘fair’ general manager. He said the only reason she was granting him a title match was because he’s earned it.
Vickie’s upset with Chavo for putting her in a match. Randy Orton storms into the office and the two get into a heated back and forth. Orton warns her to stay on his good side.
****Commercial****
The Colons v. THE Brian Kendrick & Goldust
A quick exchange resulted in a stalemate. Kendrick didn’t seem excited about Goldust’s performance and tagged himself into the ring and grabbed a rear chin lock. He moved the chin lock to a dragon sleeper before Carlito began to fight back with right hands.
Kendrick barked orders at Goldust who didn’t seem too excited about breaking the rules. Carlito hit a drop kick to the jaw and tagged in Primo, who was able to hit a nice back elbow followed by a side Russian leg sweep. Kendrick hit a right to the face and went for sliced bread #2, but Primo rolled out and hit a springboard cross body for the win.
Winners: The Colons via pin fall
After the match, Kendrick blamed Goldust for the loss. Goldust stared Kendrick in the ring before Hornswoggle showed up and booted Kendrick out of the ring.
The Miz is dressed up like John Cena and on his way to the ring.
****Commercial****
The Miz came out to John Cena’s old theme music.
The Miz said he’s 4-0 against John Cena and Cena still won’t come out and face him. The Miz said he was going to do a remix to ?Word Life? called ?Nerd Life?. The Miz ran down Cena something fierce, making fun of Cena’s movie, his sex life and just about everything. He dared Cena to come out and face him.
Lawler eventually interrupted Miz and came into the ring. Lawler said the commercials were getting better ratings than he was. Just because he called someone out and they didn’t come out, doesn’t mean they beat them. Lawler said if Miz wants a match so bad, he should ask Vickie Guererro for one.
Miz agreed and went to head back, before Big Show’s music hit and he came down to the ring.
Big Show looked at Miz and said make-believe time was over. He said John Cena might think he’s done with him, but he’s not done with him by far. Big Show said he’d face Cena at Extreme Rules, in a match Cena can’t physically can’t win, a submission match. Show said until then, the Miz could just wait. Miz mouthed off to Show and took off. Show was so angry he just punched Lawler in the back of the dome and put him in a camel clutch.
****Commercial****
United States Championship
MVP v. Matt Hardy
The two tussled for position before MVP was able to back him up into the corner with strikes. Hardy booked out of the way of a big boot before fleeing to the ring apron. MVP brought him in with a suplex for a two count before getting another near fall on a back slide.
Hardy hit a cut block and then went to undo the corner turnbuckle. The referee went to tend to the corner before Hardy used his cast to attack MVP’s leg. Hardy went to work on the leg, wrapping it around the rope before hitting a big elbow to the back of the knee. Hardy knocked the knee off the ring post, before re-entering the ring for a two count.
Hardy again wrapped the leg around the middle rope, keeping pressure on the damaged leg. Hardy laid in with a ton of left hands before MVP pushed him back and exploded out of the corner with a clothesline. MVP threw some right hands and then connected with a side slam for a two count
MVP hit a knee lift before signaling for the ‘ballin’ elbow drop for another near fall. Hardy begged briefly before throwing MVP to the outside of the ring. MVP reversed a whip and slammed Hardy’s head off the ring post before slamming his arm off the ring steps. MVP followed him into the ring and floored him with a series of right hands before stomping on his broken hand.
MVP hit a big boot in the corner and then the playmaker for the three count.
Winner and STILL United States Champion: MVP via pin fall
****Commercial****
Santina Marella v. Vickie Guererro
Santina has called for a time out. She’s got something to say. She said she knew Vickie was jealous. Santina said she was a lesbian, and one who liked it rough. Chavo just made this No DQ.
Chavo jumped in and began hitting European uppercuts. The two rolled around trading shots before Chavo was backdropped to the arena floor. William Regal showed up and hit a big Regal plex before hitting the running knee. Vickie waddled over and made the cover for the win.
Winner and NEW Miss Wrestlemania: Vickie Guererro via pin fall
Vickie had an awesomely ridiculous celebration after the match.
****Commercial****
The Legacy v. John Cena & Batista
Cena and Cody started things off.
Cena grabbed a side headlock and Cody backed to the corner before Cena whipped him but ate a back elbow. Orton tagged in and hit a right hand before blowing a back body drop. Orton quickly tagged out once Batista tagged in.
Batista began laying it in on Ted Dibiase and hit a big lariat. Ted wiggled out of a power slam and Cody tried to give him some back up, but both ate successive shoulder blocks and were dumped to the outside.
****Commercial****
Orton was in control of Batista when we came back. Orton began stomping away on Batista on the mat before dropping a big knee to the face. Ted tagged in and grabbed a drop toe hold before dropping a series of elbows for a near fall. Dibiase grabbed a rear chin lock. Batista snap marred his way out but quickly ate a boot to the chin from Dibiase, who tagged in Cody Rhodes.
Cody laid in some stomps before tagging Ted back into the ring who reigned down right hands on the Animal. The two collided in the ring, and we have a race to the corners.
Cena got the hot tag and he unloaded with a big shoulder block. He called for a five knuckle shuffle and connected before loading Cody up for an FU. Cena hit the move, but Orton caught a blind tag and jumped Cena from behind. The crowd tried to rally Cena, but Orton dropped a big knee on his head.
Orton choked Cena out on the ropes before decking him back down to the mat. Orton smashed Cena’s stomach with a series of stomps before tagging Ted back into the match. Ted looked for the second rope double stomp but was able to cut Cena off with a running lariat. Dibiase followed up with a series of fist drops before going for a cover.
Cody tagged in and began working over Cena’s mid section, laying some stomps to his back before slapping on a modified cross face. Cena began to fight back but missed a splash in the corner. Cody hit a big moonsault for a two count
Orton tagged in and began stomping away on Cena’s head before working him over on the ropes. Cena fought back with big right hands only for him to eat a drop kick for another two count. Orton slapped on a chin lock and wore Cena down, eventually getting his legs to give out. Cena was able to drag Orton to the corner and tag in Batista.
Batista came in guns blazing and hit a big power slam for a two count. Big Show showed up and Cena fought him off while Batista began dispatching of Legacy. He hit a spine buster on Orton and when Cody tried to interfere, Flair popped up and sent him crashing to the mat. Batista turned around just in time to hit a spear on Orton for the win.
Winners: John Cena & Batista via pin fall
Show Thoughts— Tonight was one of the more fun editions in quite some time.
This is the first Raw I’ve seen where I can legitimately say there really wasn’t a dull moment. Not a single, solitary one. All the promos were good, the matches were fun and the pacing seemed right on the button. We got a hot main event and a fun sampler of what the brand has to offer in the mid card.
Ric Flair returning obviously has people buzzing for a lot of reasons, but really, I don’t think at this point its anything that people should be getting as hysterical about as they have been. They seem to be dancing around things well for the most part and even are hesitating to make the ‘engagement’ next week and actual ‘match’. So long as McMahon and Shawn Michaels are OK with it, I don’t think there’s really much of a case as to why Ric Flair can’t wrestle again. If Lou Thesz and Fritz Von Erich can come back after HUGE Flair-like send offs, then there’s no reason Naitch can’t.
The whole tone of the show tonight was different from the normal show following a pay per view. In the past, they’ve tried almost too hard to knock it out of the park so to speak, and have come up short many times. They had a lot of positive momentum heading out of last night’s show, so I’m kind of glad that they more or less used this to be a ‘fun’ show.
The mid card is really exciting now, with The Miz, Matt Hardy, MVP, Santino Marella, Maryse and others getting a ton of TV time and all seem to be in interesting programs. We seem to get a decent main event every week with a good secondary main event, and that delivered again. The Funny stuff was legitimately fun and funny, not something trying to be funny.
Its hard to knock something when you don’t have a 100% clear direction to be able to formulate that kind of an opinion around, so I’m not. There just wasn’t hardly anything to get down on about tonight’s show. Everything felt like a lot of fun and was amplified by the hot Louisville crowd. Its nice to see the company in a building that doesn’t have a crowd that’s trying to outsmart the show.
Overall Grade: B+
Quick Results
Kelly Kelly won a Divas Battle Royal
Santino Marella def. Chavo Guererro
The Colons def. The Brian Kendrick & Goldust
MVP def. Matt Hardy to RETAIN the US title
Vickie Guererro def. Santina Marella to become the NEW Miss Wrestlemania
Batista & John Cena def. The Legacy
Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?
Biggest Pops
1. Batista
2. John Cena
3. Ric Flair
4. Santino Marella
Most Heat
1. Randy Orton
2. Vickie Guererro
3. Big Show
4. Matt Hardy
Match of the Night: John Cena & Batista v. The Legacy **3/4
Points
4 Points= World Title defense/win
3 Points= Singles PPV Win
2 Points= Tag PPV Win
2 Points= TV Singles Win
1 Point= TV Tag Win
0 Points= Loss
1. WWE Champion: Randy Orton 7-5-3, 17 pts. (Last Week: WWE Champion)— Orton was pretty solid tonight between the strong promo early on and then the Vickie confrontation. His offense looked like a million bucks in the match tonight, so all in all, a good rebound performance after a mediocre showing on the pay per view.
United States Champion: MVP 2-1-1, 4 Points (Last Week: US Champion)— Solid match with Matt Hardy this week. His offense looks pretty good and his selling is solid. He just needs to figure out how to bring it all together. The added exposure will benefit him greatly.
1. John Cena 11-6-2, 25 points. (Last Week: 2)— He looks and works so much better when he’s got the crowd behind him and the hot crowd made his comebacks look a lot better. More of the same from Cena this week, which is a good thing.
2. Batista 5-4, 9 Points (Last Week: 4)— He’s been a bit all over the place in the last couple of matches, but this week seemed way more pointed and sharp in a more structured tag team match. Hopefully we’ll get a decent cage match at the pay per view.
3. Triple H 1-2-0, 1 Point (Last Week: 1)— Not in action.
4. Shawn Michaels 6-3, 10 pts. (Last Week: 3) — Not in Action.
5. Cody Rhodes 7-3-1, 9 points (Last Week: 5) — Cody and Ted looked pretty strong tonight, being able to contain both Cena and Batista at various points in their match tonight. They’re looking WAY more well-oiled behind Orton as the weeks go by, so another positive week for them despite the loss.
6.Ted Dibiase, Jr. 7-2-2, 8 Points (Last Week: 6)— See Cody.
7. Kofi Kingston 8-3, 13 points (Last Week: 7)— Not in Action.
8. Matt Hardy 3-4-0, 4 Points (Last Week: 8) – – Hardy had a pretty strong match tonight despite coming up empty handed. His promo was pretty great and heck, it might be a direct Bob Orton rip off, but it works.
9. Big Show 1-2-0, 2 Points (Last Week: 9)— The problem right now is that you’ve got a guy in Big Show who looks like a million bucks and is molten right now, but you’ve also got a heel champion and when you’re working against John Cena there isn’t really much higher you can go.
10. The Miz 0-1-1, 0 Points (Last Week: 10)— His mic work has been pretty fantastic the last couple of weeks, so hopefully we’ll see something come around for him in the ring. He seems to be odd man out right now, but at least they’re keeping him in the thick of things and not just discarding him from TV.
OTHERS:
Chavo Guererro 0-2-0, 0 Points (Last Week: NR)
Mr. Kennedy 0-0-0, 0 Points (Last Week: NR)
Hornswaggle 0-0-0, 0 Points (Last Week: NR)
Primo Colon 2-0-0, 2 Points (Last Week: NR)
Carlito Colon 3-1-0, 4 Points (Last Week: NR)
Brian Kendrick 1-2-0, 2 Points (Last Week: NR)
Festus 0-0-0, 0 Points (Last Week: NR)
William Regal, 3-6, 4 points (Last Week: NR )
Santino Marella 2-2, 4 points (Last Week:NR)
Sim Snuka 1-0, 1 Point (Last Week: NR)
Jamie Noble 0-2, 0 Points (Last Week: NR)
Jerry Lawler 0-0, 0 points (Last Week: NR)
Jim Duggan 0-0, 0 points (Last Week: NR)
Goldust 0-1-0, 0 Points (Last Week: NR)
Kane 7-7, 12 Points DRAFTED TO SMACKDOWN
Mike Knox 3-3 4 points (Last Week: DRAFTED TO SMACKDOWN)
JTG 2-4, 2 points (Last Week: DRAFTED TO SMACKDOWN)
Big Shaad 2-3 2 points (Last Week: DRAFTED TO SMACKDOWN)
Charlie Haas 0-0, 0 points (Last Week: DRAFTED TO SMACKDOWN)
Dolph Ziggler 0-3, 0 Points (Last Week: DRAFTED TO SMACKDOWN)
CM Punk 9-7, 17 Points DRAFTED TO SMACKDOWN
Rey Mysterio 11-6, 22 Points DRAFTED TO SMACKDOWN
Chris Jericho 6-6 13 pts. DRAFTED TO SMACKDOWN
JBL 1-6, 4 points (Last Week: 7) RETIRED