WWE RAW
April 27, 2009
Bridgeport, CT
Commentators: Michael Cole & Jerry ?The King? Lawler
Reported By: Hunter Golden of WrestleView.com
Raw GM Vickie Guererro is in the middle of the ring getting huge heat. She said she was so proud of her husband Edge, who won the World Heavyweight championship last night defeating John Cena at Backlash. She said as the new GM of Raw, she had another new champion to introduce us to.
WWE Champion Randy Orton’s music hit and he came down to the ring with the Legacy. He posed with the belt on the four corners as his music played.
Orton got on the mic and said the McMahon family was mourning. She said their champion, their protector… has fallen. He said last night after five long years, he beat Triple H. He didn’t just pin him, he beat him. He kicked him in the skull as hard as he could and put him out on the shelf just like he said he was going to do. He said no other superstar backstage can say that and none of the fans could say that either.
He said all the people in the arena and all the people watching TV were exactly the same. He said those of us in our 20s and younger hoped for big things and huge success but in the end, the odds are they would all amount to nothing. He said those of us in our 30s and older, the chances are, they already are nothing. But not him. He is a success. Orton said he succeeded in destroying the entire McMahon family. A video aired of all this
Vickie said she wanted to say she was excited that he was on her brand. She was happy to announce his first title defense in a few weeks at Judgment Day. There’d be a match to determine the #1 contender. It’d be a match between Big Show and Batista.
Randy Orton grabbed the mic and said all the people had left was him. He said they might not like him, but they would respect you. Orton said the locker room had better to answer to him, and if they didn’t like it, they’d end up just like Triple H.
All of a sudden, United States Champion MVP’s music hit and he came out to the stage. He said what Orton did, was extremely impressive, he was the WWE champion. But he said he wanted to put him on notice, he was the US champion, and that meant he didn’t answer to anyone. Ted Dibiase got on the mic and said he knew MVP was new to Raw but he didn’t seem to bright. He said unless he wanted his first night on raw to be the worst in his life, he’d better leave while he still can.
MVP said he better check himself and ask Randy permission to speak. MVP said this wasn’t the Randy Orton show. Last he checked, he was drafted to Monday Night Raw. He called Cody and Ted ?Abercrombie? models. MVP said if Batista and Big Show didn’t get the job done at Judgment Day, he would.
Orton motioned to Vickie, and she stood up and said there’s be a champion v champion match later tonight between Orton and MVP.
****Commercial****
Brian Kendrick v. Kofi Kingston
The two countered whips at first before Kendrick fought back with a forearm and hit a missile drop kick from the top rope for a two count. Kendrick stalked Kingston and slapped on sleeper clutch on Kingston. Kofi struggled out of the hold and managed to toss Kendrick to the side and hit a huge double knife edge chop before a big chop and drop kick to lay him out.
Kofi connected with the big double leg drop for a two count but Kendrick kicked out. Kendrick rolled out of a body slam and hit a wheel kick for a two count of his own. Kendrick went for sliced bread, but Kofi countered out and bounded off the ropes with a cross body block that Kendrick rolled through for a two count. Kingston hit ‘trouble in paradise’ and won the match.
Winner: Kofi Kingston via pin fall
Big Show met up with Vickie Guererro in her office. He wanted to thank her for putting him in the #1 contenders match. He went to kiss her but Vickie backed off. She said from now on they’d have to be professional.
****Commercial****
Santina Marella, Mickie James, Kelly and Brie Bella v. Beth Phoenix, Jillian Hall, Rosa Mendez and Maryse
Beth and Santina started things off. Beth chopped her one and she tagged out. Brie Bella tagged in and took a scoop slam before eating a serving of rights on the mat. Jillian tagged and went for the hand spring leg drop and whiffed.
Brie fled to the outside and went under the ring. She popped out with her sister which freaked out Rosa Mendez a bit. What really freaked her out was when Hornswaggle popped out from under the ring. He ran around the ring while Beth and Maryse gave chase. He went under the ring and the two ladies went to get him only to get sprayed with a fire extinguisher. Santina snuck up behind a distracted Jillian and rolled her up for the win.
Winners: Santina Marella, Mickie James, Kelly Kelly and Brie Bella via pin fall
****Commercial****
Matt Hardy came out to the ring and said his brother was a heartless, careless barbarian. As a result he had his hand broken. He said he did not quit and he wasn’t a quitter. He said he never quit anything in his entire life. After Jeff broke his hand, he had no other option. Much like he had no option tonight, he was being forced to wrestle. He said he just wanted all of us to know he was wrestling under protest.
Matt Hardy v. Goldust
Hardy backed off into the corner and kept on pointing to his hand being broken. Matt seemed none too excited to lock horns. Matt retreated to the outside constantly avoiding the fight. Once the referee distracted Goldust inadvertently, Hardy pounced and clubbed Goldust with his cast and made the pin for the win.
Winner: Matt Hardy via pin fall
WWE Champion Randy Orton is on his way to the ring.
****Commercial****
MVP v. Randy Orton
Orton grabbed a side headlock, only for MVP to grab a top wrist lock. Orton reversed into a hammer lock and then decked MVP in the gut. Orton went for a big right hand only for MVP to start firing back with big right hands. MVP hit a few knees to the gut and then hit a running variation to put him to the ground. MVP dropped a knee for a two count.
Orton slammed MVP’s head off the corner buckles and laid in some uppercuts before whipping MVP and charging him. MVP dodged and hit an arm drag out of the corner, who held on to an arm bar. Orton powered to his feet and threw MVP into the corner and whipped him again.
Orton went after MVP in the corner again and was tripped up and his head collided into the middle buckle. MVP bounded off the ropes and hit the big boot to the face and sent Randy Orton tumbling over the top rope and to the floor.
****Commercial****
Over the break, Orton hit his suspended DDT and had him in a rear chin lock as we came back from commercial. MVP fought out of the hold only to get hammered with an inverted back breaker for a two count. Orton slapped on a big side headlock. MVP again fought out, this time with a back suplex.
MVP blocked an Orton right before the two had a big slug fest in the middle of the ring. Both cut each other off in the ring on the criss cross before Mvp hit a belly to belly overhead suplex. MVP hit a throat thrust and a face buster. He fired up the crowd and went ‘ballin’.
MVP went for the cover but Orton kicked out. The two reversed whip attempts before MVP missed a big boot attempt, and gave MVP a receipt, dumping him to the floor.
All of a sudden, Shane McMahon came running out of the crowd with a kendo stick and laid into Randy something fierce. Ted and Cody came running down to the ring to save Randy and Shane escaped through the crowd. King kept saying; ‘its not over!’
Winner: NO CONTEST
****Commercial****
The Miz’s music hit and he came down to the ring. He said he was the most valuable draft pick in the WWE. He said he is a television icon. He said if fans Google his name, he has more hits than all of us. He listed off celebrities and put over the fact that they didn’t know who the people were, but they were in his cell phone. Miz said he was here to wrestle the biggest star on the show. He said he wanted to challenge John Cena tonight. He said he knew Cena was in a Last Man standing match last night, but he knew Cena wouldn’t make any excuses. Cena’s music hit but no one came out.
Miz said Cena was afraid of him. Miz said Cena was right, he ‘couldn’t see him’. He said that was probably because his movies weren’t ever in theaters long enough. He demanded he be announced the winner by forfeit. When Lillian refused, he just did it himself.
****Commercial****
Primo & Carlito v. Chavo Guererro & Jamie Noble
Chavo grabbed an arm bar to start Carlito worked to his feet and grabbed an arm wringer of his own before Chavo countered to a hammer lock snap mare combo. Carlito monkey flipped Chavo before tagging in Primo who hit a diving head butt. The two cleared the heels from the ring before stooging around a bit.
Chavo rushed Primo from behind once Noble distracted the ref. He hit a European uppercut before Noble caught a tag and hit a kick to the gut before going for a cover. Noble worked a rear chin lock but Primo fought out. Noble didn’t allow him to get the hot tag and was able to get Chavo involved in the match again. Chavo hit a senton before exchanging Irish whips. He went for a second rope Axe handle only to eat a drop kick to the mid section.
Carlito got the hot tag and the two criss crossed before Carlito hit a back body drop and a baldo bomb for a two count. Carlito ended up on the apron and snap marred Noble to the mat before hitting a springboard senton of his own. Primo took out Chavo before Carlito hit a back stabber for the win.
Winners: Primo & Carlito via pin fall
Batista is being interviewed. He said he felt for Triple H. He said he was going to become #1 contender by beating Big Show and then he was going to take away Randy Orton’s title and ‘hurt him’.
****Commercial****
Batista v. Big Show
The two locked up and nobody went anywhere. Show bump butted Bats off of him. Batista laid in some rights and tried to whip him, but Show caught him easily and went for a quick choke slam. Batista looked for a Batista bomb only for Show to throw Batista to the corner.
****Commercial****
Batista slammed Batista into the corner and hit the big right hand body shots, wearing Batista’s core out. Batista fired up and rushed Show to the corner but was hammered to the mat and got stood on. He brought Batista to the ring post and stretched him around it for a little while before sauntering back to the ring.
Show continued his assault, slamming Batista to the mat and dropping a huge elbow to the small of his back before slapping on a camel clutch. Show sat out on the back a couple of times before hitting a right hook on it and slapping on the bear hug of doom.
Batista fought out of the hold and after a series of clotheslines, he hit a spine buster only for Show to connect with a choke slam. Batista rolled to the outside only for John Cena to pop up. He stared down Cena and lost track of the count and got counted out.
Winner: Batista via count out
Batista hit a big spear afterwards. Big Show was seething after the match, screaming ?you’re mine!? at Cena from the ring.
Show Thoughts— Ah, these episodes in limbo.
Tonight was weirdly positive, in that everything felt awkward, but it was a good awkward. A lot of really unfamiliar faces or at least familiar faces playing on a new shtick. It felt completely fresh, but kind of that awkward first conversation with a girl on your first date with her. All good awkward, but still a totally different vibe than the show’s had in recent months.
I really liked how they rolled out the new characters on the show, getting them mostly involved with mainstays on the show while closing the book on some loose ends and opening up new feuds to head forward with for their headliners.
Of course, the first big piece to touch on was the new WWE Champion Randy Orton. Orton was sensational tonight, I thought. His mic work was particularly good, he milked the heat well and overall came off more ‘the man’ than he ever has at any point ever in his first run. From the way he conducted himself in the first segment with Vickie to how he wrestled his match with MVP, you just got the sense that this is the guy who should be where he is right now.
I like the fact they’re opening up characters for Ted Dibiase and Cody Rhodes, I like the new whiny Matt Hardy heel character, I enjoyed The Miz’s promos, even if there were a few weird spots with Cena not coming out and then coming out later. One of the things about this ‘draft class’, at least from the mid carder’s point of view, is that they’re all guys who more or less have it in the ring, but haven’t flushed out a character yet. That or they’re in the midst of a turn and are looking to forge new identities for their respective baby face and heel personas. The next few weeks will definitely be telling and we’ll see whom is going to be up to what. They’re all fresh, interesting names, so I’m looking forward to seeing what will transpire.
I’m a huge fan of this Cena/Big Show program. These guys really click together and Big Show’s been on fire of late. His offense has improved ten fold, but so has Cena’s. So bank on this pay per view match being a huge, huge step up from what you got in ’04 at Wrestlemania XX. These two knocked it out of the park on Smackdown in late February and worked a pretty good match a couple of weeks ago. The best is certainly yet to come.
Overall though, I thought this was a good lay up show to kind of cool things down a bit and get us acclimatized to the new characters they’ve brought onto the program. Time will tell how well the whole mix will work, but I am pretty optimistic. A week ago I don’t know if I could have safely said that.
Overall Grade: C+
Quick Results
Kofi Kingston def. Brian Kendrick
Santina Marella, Brie Bella, Mickie James & Kelly Kelly def. Maryse, Beth Phoenix, Jillian Hall & Rosa Mendez
Matt Hardy def. Goldust
Randy Orton v. MVP went to a No Contest
Batista def. Big Show
Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?
Biggest Pops
1. John Cena
2. MVP
3. Batista
4. Santina Marella
Most Heat
1. Randy Orton
2. Vickie Guererro
3. Big Show
4. Matt Hardy
Match of the Night: Batista v. The Big Show, **
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 6-3-2, 15 pts. (Last Week: 1)— Orton seemed like a bonafide big deal tonight, far more than he has in the past. He seemed like THE go to guy on the show. I’m expecting big things from this reign.
United States Champion: MVP 0-0-1, 0 Points (Last Week: US Champion)— Great interruption spot. He caught the big break, being the guy to go out and work as strong promo segment with the Legacy and then deliver a fairly entertaining match.
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)— Decent performance at the pay per view and not much to speak of on the show tonight other than the stare down with Show. I’m really looking forward to these two on pay per view.
3. Shawn Michaels 6-3, 10 pts. (Last Week: 2) — Not in Action.
4. Batista 3-1, 5 Points (Last Week: 5)— Seems to be very deliberately headed for a feud with Triple H. Whether that means he’s a heel or Triple H is the heel, it makes enough sense. Hopefully we get a decent title match with Orton at the pay per view and they can work both Dave and Triple H away from Orton for the mean time.
5. Kofi Kingston 6-3, 10 points (Last Week: 7) — Ok-ish if not fairly generic junior type match with Kendrick tonight. Again, I want to see an actual character come out of this. I think he’s unique enough to stay watchable, but to move anywhere, we’re going to have to see some promos and maybe a feud or two.
6. Cody Rhodes 5-2, 6 points (Last Week: 8) — I Really enjoyed these two this week. Fun on the mic, they were great at the pay per view last night. Of any of the mid carders, I think these are the guys we’ll get to know the best in the immediate future.
7.Ted Dibiase, Jr. 4-1-1, 5 Points (Last Week: 9)— See Cody.
8. Matt Hardy 2-1-0, 4 Points (Last Week: 10) – – Fun whiny heel promo tonight. Looks like the might be able to work a Bob Orton cast angle around this injury and figure out a way to make it work. Which I like. More heel Matt Hardy in the mid card, the better.
9. The Miz 0-1-0, 0 Points (Last Week: NR)— I thought he came across pretty well. There’s going to take a little while to establish him, but Miz has the tools to be a successful career upper mid carder/occasional main eventer. Just a matter of fleshing out this character more. Stay tuned, because I think he’s going to end up being one of the bigger surprises from the draft.
10. Big Show 1-1-0, 2 Points (Last Week: NR)— Strong weekend for him despite the losing effort tonight. Given their performances together over the last two-three months, I am REALLY amped for the upcoming Big Show-Cena program.
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 0-0-0, 0 Points (Last Week: NR)
Carlito Colon 0-0-0, 0 Points (Last Week: NR)
Brian Kendrick 0-1-0, 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