WWE RAW
May 4, 2009
Buffalo, NY
Commentators: Michael Cole & Jerry ?The King? Lawler
Report by: Hunter Golden of WrestleView.com
WWE Champion Randy Orton’s music hit and he came down to the ring.
Randy Orton v. Shane McMahon
No one showed up during Shane’s entrance until Shane showed up from behind. Shane charged Orton and knocked him outside the ring. The two battled down the entrance way before Shane caught Orton around the side of the stage and landed a flurry of body blows. Orton fought back as the clash continued on through the crowd. They battled up through the floor seats before Shane threw Orton over the barricade and then leapt
over with a flying lariat.
Shane cleared the announce table off and laid Orton out. He went to move to the top rope but Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase showed up and cut him off. They laid a big beat down before the crowd erupted as MVP ran in to try and make the save. After a frantic fight, the numbers game caught up with MVP. The Legacy put a beat down on the United States Champion before Batista came bounding to the ring to clean house.
Raw GM Vickie Guererro came storming out to the ring and put an end to the chaos. She said since everyone wanted at each other so badly, we might as well make it legal. She said that tonight, Randy Orton would face Shane McMahon in the main event. Batista would face Ted Dibiase and MVP will face Cody Rhodes for the right to be in the fight. If they win, they’re in.
****Commercial****
Kofi Kingston v. Matt Hardy
Matt began the match begging off, but Kofi was able to try and roll him up for a two count. Matt began trying to use his legs to fight back, selling the arm injury before Kofi came off the ropes with a cross body for a two count. Kofi went on the offensive, hitting his boom boom leg drop for a two count before ducking under a Hardy clothesline. Kofi hit Trouble in Paradise and scored the pin fall. As Kofi celebrated, Matt leveled him with the cast and left the ring.
Winner: Kofi Kingston via pin fall
****Commercial****
Santino was talking to Kelly about how awesome it will be for Santina to tag team with Kelly. He said that last week she was breathed on by Vickie Guererro and given swine flu. Chavo Guererro showed up none to pleased. Santino gave an insincere apology before squealing away like a pig.
A video played about the shenanigans between Big Show and John Cena.
Big Show walked into Vickie Guererro’s office. He demanded a match with John Cena. Vickie said that was impossible because of the condition Show put him in at Backlash. She did say however, that she could make the match at Judgment Day. She asked Show if that made him happy and Show just glared at her.
MVP was approached by the Bella Twins. They asked him out on a date in stereo. MVP said he had to win a match first. He walked off saying ?I think I’m going to like it here?.
****Commercial****
Cody Rhodes v. MVP
The two locked up and exchanged a few roll up attempts before trading some stiff forearms. The two criss crossed and MVP won the first big exchange with a shoulder block. Cody caught him with a stiff knee to the calf on the next run however, and then zeroed right in on the US Champions’ leg.
Rhodes used a spinning toe hold for about two minutes before MVP mounted a fun comeback with punches and forearms before Porter threw him to the corner hard. Rhodes kicked at the leg and while it momentarily brushed MVP back, it didn’t stop the onslaught. MVP hit a body slam and a non running ‘ballin’ elbow before dumping Rhodes to the outside.
MVP chased Rhodes to the outside and was standing on the apron when Cody wiggled into the ring. He distracted the referee and that enabled William Regal, who was on commentary to pop up and chop block MVP off the apron. MVP couldn’t recover and was counted out.
Winner: Cody Rhodes via count out
Regal stared at MVP who was rolling around on the floor after the match.
****Commercial****
Jerry Lawler is in the ring and we’re going to have a sing off. Aweeeeesomeeee.
Jillian sang her song and it was beautiful. Then Festus had his turn. He didn’t sing at first, but when the bell rang he gave a stirring rendition of The Sun Will Come up Tomorrow. He wins. By eleventy billion points.
The Miz popped up and threw the catatonic Festus from the ring. He called out John Cena and asked him where his self respect was. Cena popped up on the titan tron. He looked like he was walking towards the ring as we cut to commercial break.
****Commercial****
Cena didn’t show up and the Miz began running him down even more. He called Lillian Garcia worthless and as he did that, Cena’s music hit and he came out to the stage. Cena gingerly made his way down to the ring. Just as he climbed into the ring, Big Show’s music hit and he came up.
The two squared off and Cena didn’t look in any shape to fight. Show finally kicked him in the ribs and Cena just writhed on the mat before Show crushed his ribs with a body blow and then followed up with a second. Show kept pressing the assault and eventually slapped on a camel clutch until Cena passed out. He hit him with the right hand for good measure and let him in a heap in the ring.
****Commercial****
Jared from Subway is in the ring as a special guest ring announcer.
Mickie James v. Maryse
Maryse tried posing a second time before Mickie jumped her and chased her out of the ring. Mickie hit some stiff bows to the back before Maryse pushed her off. Mickie came flying back at her and hit a thesz press before Maryse took off to the outside. Mickie whiffed on a baseball slide drop kick and was thrown into the barricade. Maryse stomped on her head and threw her back into the ring.
She went for a cover or two and got a two count, before slamming Mickie off the apron. Maryse slapped on the camel clutch. Mickie fought to her feet but got hammered back to the mat by Maryse who peppered her face with a forearm. The two exchanged blows before Mickie hit a drop kick combination for a one count.
Mickie backed up Maryse with kicks before Maryse countered a whip to the corner. She yanked Mickie off the ropes and went to follow up but Mickie countered herself and hit an implant DDT for the win.
Winner: Mickie James via pin fall
Batista is in the back warming up.
****Commercial****
Batista v. Ted Dibiase
Dibiase bolted at first and was able to lour Batista into the ring and gain an early advantage. Batista fired back with a big body slam and a short arm clothesline. Batista went for a power slam, but Dibiase wiggled out but got caught and decked tot he mat with a right hand.
Batista hit a forearm to the back before Dibiase ducked out of the way and hit a drop kick. Batista pounded away on Batista before booting him in the face and connecting with a big neck breaker. Dibiase went for the cover attempt, but Batista kicked out. He cranked in a rear chin lock as the crowd attempted to rally the Animal.
Batista fought out of the hold and hit some shoulders in the corner, but Dibiase hit a nice drop toe hold before looking for an axe handle. Batista caught him with a leg to the face and then hit some more shoulder thrusts in the corner before catching a Dibiase cheap shot. Batista lost his cool and went bananas on Dibiase in the corner, hitting a flurry of shoulder thrusts and then choked him out with his boot. He failed to break and got DQ’d.
Winner: Ted Dibiase via DQ
****Commercial****
Chavo is with Vickie saying he was going to make Santino payed. Chavo is really sucking up to Vickie. He said if MVP interfered, he would DQ him if he were Chavo. If Batista interfered, he’d strip him of his title shot. Chavo said he was really glad she made that decision without even asking her. He went to inform us of her decision.
THE Brian Kendrick v. Carlito
Kendrick hit aright hand to Carlito’s face before following him around the ring with right hands. He hit an Irish whip but got quickly shoulder blocked to the mat and laid out with a big spine buster for a two count.
Carlito went for a springboard move, but ate a kick and took a two count. Kendrick looked for Sliced bread #2, but Carlito crotched him on the middle rope and hit the back stabber for the win.
Winner: Carlito via pin fall
The Smackdown rebound aired.
****Commercial****
Batista apologized up and down to Shane McMahon for ‘blowing it’.
Randy Orton, Ted Dibiase & Cody Rhodes v. Shane McMahon
Shane rushed at Cody early on and tried an Irish whip only for Cody to cut him off and take him to the other corner. Shane hit a clothesline only to get rushed to the corner but Shane scampered away.
Cody charged him and ate an arm drag for his efforts, but was able to drag Shane to the corner so he could tag in Orton. Shane popped Orton a few times and chased Orton, but Dibiase was able to make a blind tag and cut Shane off at the pass. Ted whipped Shane to the buckles, but Shane came flying off with a clothesline.
Shane went to work on the arm but Dibiase was able to fight off. Shane cleared Orton and Rhodes off the apron long enough to keep Dibiase in the middle of the ring and hit a neck breaker. Shane went to the top rope and came flying off with an elbow drop and went for a cover but Rhodes broke it up. Rhodes distracted the referee long enough for Dibiase to knock Shane to the outside. Shane kind of no sold it though and continued along on his Dibiase beat down. He grabbed a chair and went to hit Dibiase, but Orton blind sided him and was able to get a tag.
Orton began his assault and began stomping away at what was left of Shane on the mat. Rhodes tagged in and dropped some knees of his own before going for a big moonsault but he ended up whiffing. Dibiase got a tag and whipped Shane, but McMahon hung around with a clothesline. Orton finally got the tag and Shane went to work with big lefts and rights.
Shane hit a wheel kick and Shane dropped all three heels to the outside. He tripped Orton up getting back in the ring and Orton’s face slammed off the apron. Shane began setting the table up and laid Orton across it.
Shane scaled the ropes and came flying off only for Orton to move out of the way and Shane nailed the table and was wiped out. The three picked the bones of Shane and set his leg up on the stairs. Shane lined up a chair shot on the steps and connected, shattering Shane’s leg. Orton told the gang to follow his lead and they laid the other leg out. Orton grabbed the chair then threw it away. He looked at the ring steps and walked over. Shane pleaded for him not to do it as Orton picked up the stairs and smashed them down on Shane’s leg. Both of Shane’s legs were broken.
Batista’s music hit and he ran them off, but seemed more concerned with Shane than anything else. The trainers put the struggling McMahon on a stretcher as Orton spoke from the stage. He said Batista’s Judgment Day was coming and glared at Batista from the stage as we went off the air.
Show Thoughts— Certainly not the best night to be a baby face.
I enjoyed tonight’s show for the most part. I really like the direction they’ve headed with most to all of their bookings post-draft so far. We seem headed into a pretty deliberate Batista heel turn, which is OK, The Legacy looks super strong by heel standards and the revamped mid card has been fun. The only total-miss segment was the Carlito/Kendrick match, so all in all, this was a decent show.
The segment of the night, at least from a ‘well worked’ standpoint, was definitely the Show-Cena bit, which with any other two guys would’ve been your run of the mill beat down. But with a guy with the offense that Show’s sporting these days and a guy like who can sell like Cena, it made it a million times better. I adored their television matches, especially their match on Smackdown in February, so I’m looking VERY MUCH forward to what they’ll do on pay per view. Two styles that usually mesh well, so I’ve got high expectations for it.
The Legacy destruction of the McMahons seems fairly complete, so it seems like for the meantime, we’re going to get a slow burn to a Batista heel turn. No real problem with that on my end. My fear is that the Legacy’s momentum might lag a bit in the coming weeks, but so long as they transition out of this effectively enough, they should be fine.
The mid card looked really strong tonight. I’m very big on the Kofi/Hardy pairing as I think Hardy is as good as anyone in terms of being someone who’ll be able to showcase Kofi in the ring, which is something he really needs right now. The Miz cut another strong promo but it remains to be seen what they do with him in the ring. MVP is everywhere it seems and he looks like he’s going to be the guy whose gonna get a pretty strong push out of the newbies. The Regal pairing is really strong and again, its a good deal in terms of MVP being with a guy who’ll make him look like a million bucks.
Overall though, tonight’s show was a pretty strong one schematically. Next week will go a long way to getting everything up and moving heading down the stretch for Judgment Day. While it wasn’t a spectacular show, it was solid enough episode and a strong step in the right direction.
Overall Grade: B-
Quick Results
Matt Hardy def. Kofi Kingston
Cody Rhodes def. MVP
Mickie James def. Maryse
Ted Dibiase def. Batista
Carlito def. Brian Kendrick
Randy Orton, Ted Dibiase & Cody Rhodes v. Shane McMahon went to a no contest
Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?
Biggest Pops
1. Batista
2. MVP
3. John Cena
4. Shane McMahon
Most Heat
1. Randy Orton
2. Vickie Guererro
3. Big Show
4. Matt Hardy
Match of the Night: Matt Hardy v. Kofi Kingston **
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 6-3-3, 15 pts. (Last Week: 1)— What a difference a few weeks makes. Orton looks incredibly strong as champion right now, and they’ve got him positioned right where he should be. Hopefully they keep this up. I’ll be very interested to see where they go with him once Judgement Day is done.
United States Champion: MVP 0-1-1, 0 Points (Last Week: US Champion)— MVP’s been everywhere since the draft and putting him in with Regal is going to make him look like a million bucks in th ring. Regal’s the ideal booking for him right now, and I’d love to see a pay per view match between the two.
1. Triple H 1-2-0, 1 Point (Last Week: WWE Champion)— Not in action.
2. John Cena 9-6-1, 21 points. (Last Week: World Heavyweight Champion)— With anyone else in the segment, the Show segment would have been just another beat down. With a dude like Cena to sell it, it just comes off a million times better.
3. Shawn Michaels 6-3, 10 pts. (Last Week: 2) — Not in Action.
4. Batista 3-2, 5 Points (Last Week: 4)— I feel like the heel turn is being deliberately booked, which in and of itself, isn’t a bad thing. Batista could use some freshening up, at least for the remainder of the year.
5. Cody Rhodes 6-2-1, 8 points (Last Week: 6) — WWE’s really going out of their way to make these two look stronger and more viable as threats and their strong records prove it. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when they let these two free of Orton for a little while to have some matches with other guys on the card.
6.Ted Dibiase, Jr. 5-1-2, 7 Points (Last Week: 7)— See Cody.
7. Kofi Kingston 7-3, 12 points (Last Week: 5) — Kofi falls this week a bit due to everyone else looking so strong, but he had a good week.
8. Matt Hardy 3-2-0, 4 Points (Last Week: 8) – – Moves up the ladder with a strong showing against Kofi tonight. I like the Bob Orton shtick and the heel character is coming along fairly well. SO far, the revamped Raw mid card has looked strong.
9. Big Show 1-1-0, 2 Points (Last Week: 10)— Man he totally stomped the guts out of John Cena tonight. Of all the matches at Judgement Day, their match is the one I’m looking forward to the most. If their TV matches are any indication, their PPV offering should be really strong.
10. The Miz 0-1-0, 0 Points (Last Week: 9)— Miz had a strong promo tonight to keep him looking OK. They’ve got a nice little TV thing set up for him and Cena down the road. I’d probably bet he gets an actual match next week.
OTHERS:
Chavo Guererro 0-1-0, 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 1-0-0, 1 Points (Last Week: NR)
Carlito Colon 2-0-0, 3 Points (Last Week: NR)
Brian Kendrick 0-2-0, 0 Points (Last Week: NR)
Festus 0-0-0, 0 Points (Last Week: NR)
William Regal, 3-5, 4 points (Last Week: NR )
Santino Marella 1-2, 2 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)
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