Reported by Hunter Golden of WrestleView.com
On Monday, July 2, 2007 at 11:41 PM EST

WWE RAW
July 2, 2007
Dallas, TX
Commentators: Jim Ross & Jerry “The King" Lawler
Reported By: Hunter Golden of WrestleView.com

The pyro went off and dammit, it’s good to see wrestling a little back to normal.

Mr. Kennedy’s music hit and he came out to the ring. Kennedy’s got a pretty crazy look in his eye. Why do I have a feeling this is going to be great? Kennedy told us who he was and that he SHOULD be the WWE Champion. He said the reason he couldn’t be WWE Champion because he couldn’t cash in money in the bank. He blamed the people for making him compete when he wasn’t ready to. He said from this moment on, his actions will serve one man and only one man alone. He said that man would be the next WWE Champion and his name would be “MISTERRRRRR". John Cena’s music hit and out came the champion.

Cena came in to the usual mixed reaction. He said it was the usual Monday night Raw except for this ‘new guy’. He extended his hand and welcomed him to the show. He said he couldn’t remember who he was. He said he remembered him as the guy with the microphone and then called him “Mr. Camel Toe". These two have some pretty fantastic chemistry.

Cena said he heard a rumor that Kennedy liked to talk….. A lot. He said the rumor was that he was a big mouth. He told Kennedy to look around him, that this was Monday Night Raw and anything could happen on this show. He said sometimes all men had to stand on was their word. He said Kennedy blamed the fans and asked them if they were to blame. Of course they said nothing. Cena called him Kenney G., Colostomy bag, etc. Cena said Kennedy’s word was worthless and he didn’t trust him. Cena said there was one person responsible for throwing away the biggest moment in WWE history and that was “Mr dflkjdfqwerklj".

King Booker’s music hit and he started giving us a ‘bravo’. Bookah said he was the only one royal enough to challenge Cena. Booker called us peasants. He is right. He put over his undefeated record against Cena in the champion of champions match as well as making Cena kiss his feet. Booker said on this day (royal proclamation coming in five seconds) he proclaimed a challenge to Cena for the WWE Championship.

Randy Orton’s music hit and he came out as well. Orton said since both were new to Raw and not that bright, that he would explain how things work on Raw. Orton said he had been around for a while on Raw and said he never had a one on one championship match with John Cena. He said these idiots could talk all they wanted, no one DESERVED a title shot more on the roster than him.

Lashley came out talking about cold, hard facts. Kennedy lost the MITB he said. Booker and Orton had lost their titles in the past. He never LOST his title and he wanted to take the title from Cena. Cena said they’d have to do something about that.

William Regal came out to the ramp and said he was in charge of Raw because Coach was on holiday. He said after tonight, we would have a #1 contender and a contract signing in the ring. It’s going to be ‘beat the clock’. All five men would compete in singles matches and whomever won his match in the quickest time would compete for the WWE Championship at the Great American Bash against John Cena.

Regal said Orton’s beat the clock match was next.

****Commercial****

Beat the Clock #1
Randy Orton v. Jeff Hardy

The two locked up and Orton grabbed a side headlock. Orton immediately went for a pin. Hardy snagged a roll up but Orton quickly kicked out and hit a drop kick to send Jeff to the outside. Orton went for another cover and again Jeff kicked out.

Orton charged Hardy and Hardy avoided him and back dropped him to the floor before hitting a baseball slide drop kick and a flying body press to the outside. Hardy went for a cover of his own and only got a two count. Orton reversed an Irish whip but no one was home. Hardy turned around only to get lambasted with a lariat that turned into turn near falls.

Orton hit a body slam before hitting the Garvin stomp and an uncharacteristic leg drop. Orton stretched out Hardy from behind as the crowd cheered on their hero. Hardy tried to roll out of the hold but found himself stuck in a rear bear hug. Orton continued to work over Hardy with some clubbing blows and a scoop slam for a two count.

Orton hit another hard body slam and went for yet another cover and yet Hardy kicked out. Orton repeated the body slam-pin combo before going back to a body scissors. Orton seemed to lack a sense of urgency as the clock began to tick over the four and a half minute mark. Sensing that he needed to get going, Orton brought Hardy to his feet and began connecting with European Uppercuts. Hardy fought back with some kicks and then hit his takedown for a two count.

Hardy connected with the mule kick before hitting his sling shot double drop kick in the corner. Hardy almost got a three count but couldn’t quite hold down Orton’s shoulders. Hardy hit an inverted suplex and looked for the Swanton but Orton rolled out of harm’s way. Orton snapped Hardy’s neck off the top rope and got another two count.

Orton looked for a whip but got nailed with whisper to the wind. Orton barely kicked out at two before Hardy looked for the twist of fate. Orton countered into the RKO and that is all she wrote.

Winner: Randy Orton via pin fall at 7:06

Melina and Maria are on their way to the ring for their match which is next!

****Commercial****

A video aired putting over Candice’s WWE Women’s Championship victory from Vengeance.

Women’s Champion Candice Michelle is going to be a guest commentator.

Melina v. Maria

Maria hit a Thesz press only to get nailed with a lariat after getting up. Melina picked up Maria and connected with a giant spin before Melina grabbed Maria’s head and ground it into the mat.

Melina did her surfboard with the hair in hand before booting Maria in the face. Maria fought back with some kicks before Melina hit some vicious blows to the back of the head. Melina slapped on a pseudo-guillotine choke before just slamming Maria around the ring. Maria connected with some nice knees to the gut and a fun standing bulldog.

Maria bullied Melina to the corner and went for her ten punches. Things were going well until Melina slammed Maria’s head off the buckles. She connected with her split legged leg drop for the win.

Winner: Melina via pin fall

Melina came out after Candice afterwards and the two began brawling. Candice hit some STIFF forearms in Melina’s face and then tossed her like yesterday’s garbage into the guardrail. She posed for the fans with her newly won championship on top of the table. Nice to see some more intense stuff in the women’s division.

****Commercial****

A video package aired of Triple H undergoing surgery. Looks like he may be back quicker than planned.

Dusty Rhodes is in the back with Dusty Rhodes and his son Cody Rhodes. Randy Orton popped up and asked Dusty Rhodes to introduce him to his son. He said someday he’d be like him and said Cody may be better than Dusty. Cody told him to lay off his father. Dusty said Randy was being a little disrespectful. Randy mocked the disrespectful thing and slapped Dusty in the face. Cody wanted to mix it up but it didn’t go to well.

A video package aired putting over the mini-feud featuring Umaga and Santino Marella, who will clash again for the Intercontinental Championship tonight.

Maria was in the back icing her neck. Santino checked on her and Maria thanked her for his concern but said she was really more concerned about him. She asked him to be careful. Santino said that people didn’t think he should be champion and don’t take him seriously. He said he needed to prove his worth. He give her a big kiss on the lips and said good bye.

****Commercial****

WWE Intercontinental Championship
Santino Marella v. Umaga

Santino went right at Umaga but was easily tossed aside before Umaga decided to yell for a little while. The crowd now pops for Umaga flip outs. Beautiful. Santino avoided a diving head butt and hit a low drop kick to send Umaga to the outside. Umaga dragged Santino from the middle rope and threw Marella like a lawn dart into the announce table.

Umaga had fun with the ring post before tossing Marella back into the ring. Umaga screamed at the crowd and the crowd responded fondly again before Umaga began chopping Marella into steak tips. Marella avoided a splash in the corner and began connecting with some big kicks. He went for a cover but was tossed hard to the outside. Marella looked for the high cross body block but Umaga caught him and drilled him with a Samoan Drop. Umaga began punching away in the corner before lining up Marella in the corner and hitting the running bump butt which he connected with.

Umaga picked up Marella and hit the spike for the easy win.

Winner and NEW Intercontinental Champion: Umaga via pin fall

Umaga put the belt in his mouth after the match. Freaking AWESOME. Umaga ate the belt.

Booker’s up against the clock next!

****Commercial****

Beat the Clock #2
King Booker v. Val Venis

The two circled it up before locking up and Venis grabbed a side headlock. Venis hit a shoulder block before Book looked for the roll up. The two got back to their feet and we’ve got a stalemate.

Val got tossed aside by book before eating a kick to the face. Booker got a near fall before hitting some chops and elbows to Venis’ face. Val countered out of a suplex attempt and hit a back drop suplex of his own for a two count.

Val came bounding off the ropes only to get hammered with a clothesline from our king for yet another near fall. Booker tossed Val into the ring post before the King gathered him and went for an MMA style arm bar. Venis made it to the ropes before Book got on top of Val and hit some mean blows to his chest. Book looked for the suplex and it ended up looking more like a brain buster. We got another near fall before Val fought back once more only to get hammered with a reverse elbow from the King.

The two exchanged whip attempts before Val eventually hit a clothesline and some body slams. Val hit a pretty sweet hanging neck breaker and got a near fall of hits own four minutes in. Booker ate a whip to the buckles before Val connected with a big boot. Booker caught a back kick and then hit the scissors kick out of nowhere for the win.

Winner: King Booker via pin fall at 4:30

Booker Is our new leader.

Kennedy was in the back with Super Crazy. He asked Crazy if he understood the concept of the match tonight. Kennedy suggested that Super Crazy lay down for him. Super Crazy seemed surprised. Kennedy said he’d slide a few pesos his way. Super Crazy agreed to do it and Kennedy called him a ‘good kid’. Kennedy walked off and looks like Crazy’s got a ruse going on here.

****Commercial****

Beat the Clock #3
Mr. Kennedy v. Super Crazy

Kennedy grabbed his little mic. He told Super Crazy to never ever disrespect him like that again. He went to introduce himself and Crazy snuck up from behind and grabbed a roll up. That’s all she wrote.

Winner: Super Crazy via pin fall

****Commercial****

Booker and Sharmell were trying to convince Shelton Benjamin to help them out tonight. Booker proposed that all he had to do was last four minutes. He said when he won the WWE Championship, Shelton would get the first shot. Shelton said they had a deal. Booker extended his ring to kiss. Homosexual moment of the night!

Then Booker Turned around and gave a hell of a kiss to his Queen. He switch hits!

Dusty Rhodes challenged Randy Orton to a match next week.

Carlito was in the back with Jillian Hall. Sandman interrupted him in the back. He said he liked to drink a lot, but he liked to fight more. Carlito spat apple in his face and Sandman returned the favor, spitting some beer in his direction.

Ah yes, Ron Simmons and ‘damn’.

****Commercial****

The Sandman v. Carlito

The two locked up and moved into the corner before being broken up. Carlito eventually hit a nice left to Sandman’s face before being admonished by the official for it. Sandman fired back with some punches before clothes lining Carlito to the mat. Carlito was eventually able to hang up Sandman’s neck on the top rope and assume control.

Carlito hit some boots to the gut and connected with a fist drop before slapping on a neck vice. Sandman fought back with some elbows to the gut and whipped Carlito to the corner only to eat a reverse elbow. Carlito went to use Sandman’s cane only for the official to try and take it away. Sandman stepped in somewhere in the exchange and took the cane himself and slugged Carlito with it, causing a DQ.

Winner: Carlito via DQ

****Commercial****

Beat the Clock #4
Bobby Lashley v. Shelton Benjamin

The two locked up and Lashley immediately grabbed a take down and maintained control with a front face lock. Benjamin was frustrated and dipped out of the ring in short order to stall some. Shelton hit a kick to the gut but the fun didn’t last long as Lashley started tossing him all over the place. Lashley went for a spear and Benjamin freaking took off through the middle rope to stall some more. I love heel stalling.

Shelton got up on the apron and delayed for just long enough to break the count and allow him to stall some more. Lashley got his hands on Benjamin and started doing the toss the baby thing before Shelton countered a back drop with a phenomenal DDT for a two count.

Shelton tried to do something stupid and found himself tossed aside with a T-Bone suplex. Lashley hit some clotheslines and then an inverted gut buster on the smaller Shelton.

Lashley only got a two count on the cover attempt so he started looking for more ways to destroy Shelton. He went for the running power slam and Shelton snuck out of the hold and hit a crescent kick. Shelton got greedy though and went for a top rope drop kick only to get speared out of his boots in mid air. That’s all she wrote.

Winner and #1 Contender for the WWE Championship: Bobby Lashley via pin fall

It’s Lashley-Cena at the Bash. Ugh.

Lashley paced around for a bit before they showed John Cena on his way to the ring.

****Commercial****

William Regal came out to the ring to introduce us to the main event at The Great American Bash. Lashley was introduced as the champion and he signed the contract Regal was holding. Cena came out and said he was looking forward to the signing.

Kennedy and Booker came running out saying everything was a farce. Cena and Lashley fought off the villains to the crowds pleasure. Cena signed the contract only to get speared out of his boots by Lashley. Lashley posed with the WWE Championship over the fallen Cena.

Our parting shot was Lashley smiling like he was in a kindergarten classroom.

---

RAW THOUGHTS
Show Thoughts-- Well I KNOW I’ll be getting a lot of emails from people complaining about Cena facing Lashley at the Great American Bash and to be honest, people shouldn’t be surprised, especially considering what’s sort of going on in the wrestling world right now.

Lashley-Cena is easily the biggest draw on Raw RIGHT NOW. Business is going to hurt a bit thanks to the Benoit debacle and they’re going to go with the safest bet. Plain and simple. Lashley will push Cena and get a good rub, but he won’t win the title. It’s WAY too early for him to get a run yet. Cena’s a good enough worker to carry Lashley. If Khali is carry able then Lashley’s VERY carry-able.

The second thing I’m likely to hear a lot about is how Ken Kennedy got jobbed out to Super Crazy. I’ll be the first to say I think it’s a good move. Sure the main event scene is pretty badass on Raw these days, but the mid-card is pretty darn good. It looks like Umaga and Jeff Hardy will be the tippy top of an INSANELY strong mid-card featuring William Regal, Super Crazy, Sandman, Santino Marella and Carlito. It could use a little bolstering. Kennedy’s still coming off injury and there’s PLENTY of time to build him up. A quick flash pin loss to Super Crazy does a lot for Crazy and does virtually no damage to Kennedy.

King Booker’s gimmick is simply the best in pro wrestling right now… That is with the exception of Umaga, who ate a freaking’ belt tonight. How the hell cares what else happened. BTW, am I the only one noticing the frequent face pops for Umaga?

WWE seems to be in cruise control for the time being. Triple H is due back sooner than planned, Rey Mysterio is looking to be coming back as well, and they’re pulling the immediate trigger on Lashley-Cena. Give the circumstances, they’d be idiots to not do it.

Overall Grade: B

Quick Results
Randy Orton def. Jeff Hardy
Melina def. Maria
Umaga def. Santino Marella to WIN the IC Championship
King Booker def. Val Venis
Super Crazy def. Ken Kennedy
Carlito def. Sandman
Lashley def. Shelton Benjamin

Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?

Biggest Pops
1. John Cena
2. Mr. Kennedy
3. Sandman
4. Lashley

Most Heat
1. Randy Orton
2. Umaga
3. King Booker
4. Mr. Kennedy

Match of the Night: Lashley-Shelton Benjamin **1/4

Power Rankings
5 Points= Title Win
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

WWE Champion: John Cena (18-7-1, 51 points) (Last Week: WWE Champion)— Another pretty strong night for Cena who, btw, seemed to have some incredible chemistry with Ken Kennedy during their promo segment. Lashley makes a lot of sense right now from a dollars and cents perspective. Also, the fans that hate Cena will probably be kept guessing a bit, even though Lashley may not be their #1 favorite guy to take the gold from John. Regardless, it’ll serve as a strong filler feud.

Intercontinental Champion: Umaga 15-9-1, 33 Points (Last Week: 2) — I’ve got a feeling Umaga’s going to get a super-dominant run with the IC title, what we should have had the first time. He’s the best young talent going in wrestling right now, and the title could use Umaga. It’s been forever since we had a credible IC Champ.

1. Randy Orton 8-16-2 , 19 pts. (Last Week: 1) -- WWE seems to be power-pushing Orton here, making him do the most skuzzy, dastardly things they can think up for him to do. It’s all set up obviously for Cena at Summerslam. I think we’re pretty much on course for that. The Dusty Rhodes thing will be nice fodder for the ‘legend killer’ stuff until they set him up for the big win.

2. Carlito 9-10-3, 15pts. (Last Week: 4) — Carlito moves up to his highest spot ever in the top 10 almost by default. Umaga moved up, Hardy lost and Booker doesn’t have the points yet. Carlito seems to always be a shade below .500 so let’s see if he can crack that in the coming weeks.

3. King Booker 2-1, 3 pts. (Last Week: 7)— Booker’s gimmick is so preposterous it’s wonderful. He’s a sensational heel sometimes and to be honest, I’d have really liked to have seen Cena-Booker for a brief period of time. For some reason I feel like we’ll get that through the fall while they search for stuff for Cena to do away from the title.

4. Jeff Hardy 21-10-1, 40 points (Last Week- 3) — The line between the mid card and the main event scene is between Jeff Hardy and up until recently, Randy Orton. Hardy’s always going to be booked strong but in terms of getting genuine, quality upper card wins, he can’t seem to break through. Man, could ECW use this guy right now.

5. Bobby Lashley 1-2, 2pts. (Last Week: 10) )-- Lashley moves way up with his supposed #1 contender-ship, which in a way, is probably for the best. A strong showing against Cena will establish him as the heir apparent baby face. Get him some good work with Booker, Kennedy and maybe even Umaga again, and they could go places with him. It’s way too early to give him the belt right now though.

6. Santino Marella 5-2, 13pts. (Last Week: IC Champion) -- Santino plays a GREAT underdog baby face but is so one dimensional it’s almost frustrating. Granted, when you’re feuding against Umaga, who cares if that’s your shtick but to be holding the IC title, you should have something else to bring to the table. I’m intrigued to see where they go from here.

7. Trevor Murdoch 5-10, 10pts. (Last Week: 5)-- Not really a surprise here in terms of the fall, but nothing going tonight for the tag champs.

8. Lance Cade 4-9, 8pts. (Last Week: 6)— See Murdoch.

9. Super Crazy 4-5-1, 7 points (Last Week: NR) — Crazy really got a good rub tonight and really, in the end, it’s good for everyone. He adds depth to an already strong Raw mid card.

10. Brian Kendrick 1-0, 1pt.-- No appearance tonight.

OTHERS :
Paul London 1-0, 1pt. (Last Week: 9)
Shelton Benjamin 1-9-1, 1pt. (Last Week: NR)
Charlie Haas 1-8-1, 1pt. (Last Week: NR)
Rory 0-4, 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
Robbie 0-5 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
JTG 4-5, 5pts. (Last Week: NR)
Big Shad 3-5, 3pts. (Last Week: NR)
Val Venis 0-2 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
Triple H 2-0, 4pts (Last Week: INJURED)
Ken Kennedy 0-1, 0 pts (Last Week: NR)
William Regal 0-0, 0pts (Last Week: NR)
The Sandman 0-1, 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
Snitsky 0-0, 0pts. (Last Week: ECW)
Daivari 0-1, 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
Mick Foley 0-1-1, 0 pts. (Last Week: NR)