� On Monday, July 11, 2005 at 11:52 PM EST WWE Raw
Live! From East Rutherford, NJ
July 11, 2005
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry “The King” Lawler, and Jonathon Coachman
Reported By: Hunter Golden of WrestleView.com
A video aired documenting last week’s events regarding Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels.
The opening pyro hit and here we go! JR welcomed us to New Jersey as Carlito’s music hit the arena.
Carlito’s Cabana
Carlito grabbed the mic and said that as of late, there was a lot of reasons as to why people should be watching Raw. He said the main reason was himself. He said he had a big match against Shelton Benjamin for the IC title later tonight. He said the Cabana was the only show on Raw guaranteed to have everyone talking.
He said that last week his guest was Hulk Hogan and look what happened to him. He said the fireworks always happen on his Cabana and without further adieu, the man who super-kicked Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels.
Out of nowhere, Chris Jericho’s music hit and he made his way down to the ring. Suprisingly, there were a lot of Y2J chants.
Carlito said that everyone wanted to be a guest on his Cabana. He said he was flattered that Jericho came on the show and asked him to take a seat and see how a real show was conducted. He gave Jericho an apple and Jericho then cut him off. Jericho said his segment last week was trumped last week and put over that his guest last week was John Cena, the WWE Champion. He said he sent the champ packing and upstaged the cabana. He said he’d do the same tonight.
He asked the ring crew to get rid of the lawn sale garbage and lower the Jeri-tron 5000 and that HBK would be on his show. Carlito said that wasn’t going to happen and HBK wanted to be on his show instead.
He said the Highlight Reel was just like Jericho; Very boring and really out-dated. He then said it sucked. He said Jericho was a little older, a little sadder, and a little fatter. He said he should probably get that apple back. He said his love handles poured through his tights. He said love handles weren’t ‘cool’.
Jericho said that ‘gordo’ didn’t have abs of steel himself. He said that Carlito didn’t dictate what was cool to him, because he was Canadian. He called himself “Chris Canadian Cool”. He called Carlito sideshow bob and made fun of his attire. He said that Shawn Michaels was a unique individual and that he didn’t want to be on an imposter, amateur, ho-dunk imposter show like the cabana. He went to announce HBK and Carlito cut him off again. Jericho cut him back again and said that HBK wanted to be with the Johnny Carson of Raw, not the Carson Daly. He then introduced Michaels.
But HBK’s music didn’t hit. ROWDY RODDY PIPER’S did!
Piper asked if he heard Jericho say that the Highlight Reel was the original deal. He told Jericho and ‘buckwheat’ that there was only one original and that they were looking at him. He said as for interviewing Shawn Michaels, neither of them would do it. He said that by the time the show ended, he’d have HBK in Piper’s Pit. He said everybody has to pay the Piper.
JR put over the pit and King put over the Intercontinental Championship match between Carlito and Shelton Benjamin. Coach put over the Diva search. JR put over the Kane-Edge main event as well.
****Commercial****
A video recapping the Raw brand’s overseas trip to Japan aired.
Chris Masters v. Tajiri
Tajiri hit the ring hard but got cut off by some Master’s stomps. Masters hit an under-hook suplex and a few boots. He choked Tajiri on the ropes before whipping him into the ropes. Tajiri reversed it though and landed his big kick. He hit the ropes and hit a few more kicks that knocked Masters to the apron. He dropkicked the youngster to the floor.
Tajiri pursued him to the floor and tossed him back in the ring. He landed two more kicks before hitting a wheel kick. He went for the cover but only got a one count. Masters kicked out and whipped Tajiri into the ropes but Tajiri hit him with his springboard elbow, two count on the cover.
The action spilled to the corner and Tajiri went for a tornado DDT but Masters tossed him off. Masters turned around and got caught with a big super kick. Tajiri had another near fall. Tajiri chopped the heck out of Masters before heading into the corner. He went for the tarantula but Masters countered it and slammed him hard to the mat. Masters immediately clamped on the Master Lock and Tajiri passed out.
Winner: Chris Masters via submission
Shawn Michaels was shown in the back drinking a cup of coffee.
****Commercial****
Edge was in the back with Lita. Snitsky came in and the two welcomed him. They were watching the wedding video from a few weeks ago. Edge fast forwarded to the Matt Hardy music playing segment. Edge said the night didn’t end like they wanted it to. He said that it was Kane’s fault. He told Snitsky that he had a match with Kane later and said he knew that Snitsky had a foot fetish. He said that if Snitsky patted Edge’s back, he’d pat Snitsky’s back with Lita’s feet. He asked him if he wanted a taste of Lita’s feet and Snitsky really obliged almost biting them. Edge said that tonight if he helped him, he’d let Snitsky have Lita’s feet. He said he’d see those toes later.
A video aired of Triple H leaving the ring after his Hell in a Cell match at Vengeance. They said they had no idea when Triple H was coming back because he got so hurt in the match. JR said someday we’d probably see a new Triple H someday.
Carlito v. Shelton Benjamin for the Intercontinental Championship is next!
****Commercial****
WWE Intercontinental Championship
Carlito v. Shelton Benjamin
The two circled and locked up. Benjamin hit a quick knee and a punch before tossing Carlito into the ropes and hitting a reverse elbow. He whipped Carlito hard into the corner and followed it up with a snap suplex. He went for the cover and got a one count. He moved Carlito into the corner but was tossed back in and hit with a chop. He reversed the second attempt and hit a dropkick and another near fall.
He backed Carlito up and kneed him in the corner before attempting an inside cradle for a two count. He whipped in Carlito but Carlito ducked and hit a drop kick. He jawed with the crowd and Benjamin nipped up. He whipped Carlito but Carlito took off under the ropes. Shelton hit a baseball slide drop kick to knock Carlito back as we went to commercial.
****Commercial****
We came back with Carlito holding Benjamin in a headlock. Benjamin tried to fight out with some elbows and was successful. He came bounding off the ropes but Carlito side stepped him and tossed him through the ropes to the outside. He followed the challenger out to the floor and whipped him into the guardrail. He landed another stomp before tossing Benjamin back into the ring. He went for the cover but only got a two count. He stomped away and Benjamin before clamping on a rear chin-lock.
Carlito broke his own hold and landed a few stomps and some elbows. He got another near fall before putting the challenger back in another reverse chin lock. The crowd cheered Benjamin to his feet, but Carlito slammed him back to the mat. Carlito choked him on the mat with his boot twice before moving Shelton to the opposite ropes and choking him on them. He stomped Benjamin again and got another near fall.
Carlito snap-marred Benjamin and put him in a rear-headlock. Benjamin fought to his feet yet again but Carlito caught him and went to slam him but Shelton reversed his weight and fell on the champion for a two count. He tried a bunch of flash pins but couldn’t get the three count. He went for a punch but Carlito caught him in a DDT and planted him. He got another near fall before going for a suplex that was reversed into a modified neck-breaker. Shelton went for the pin but got a two count.
The Irish whip was reversed and Shelton caught him in an inverted back breaker and got another near fall. He went for a roll up but Carlito reversed it and held the tights but Benjamin still kicked out. Carlito backed the challenger into the corner and perched Benjamin on the top rope. Shelton and Carlito fought up top before Carlito hit a super-plex and another near fall. Carlito got frustrated and left the ring and retrieved his Intercontinental championship belt. He came back in the ring with it, but the ref took it away. Shelton regained his senses and hit a Samoan drop on Carlito.
Carlito went to retreat to the outside but Benjamin caught him by the hair and tried to yank him to the inside. The two blocked successive suplex attempts before Shelton hit him with a spinning heel kick and sent the champion to the floor. Carlito regained his senses and retreated to the back and was counted out.
Winner: Shelton Benjamin via count out
John Cena was in the back arguing with Eric Bischoff. Cena shoved Bischoff’s arm away and walked off.
****Commercial****
WWE Champion John Cena’s music hit the arena and he made his way down to the ring.
Cena got on the mic He tried to amp up the New Jersey crowd and got a huge response. He said that it felt good to be in New Jersey because of the energy. A big Cena chant broke out. He said he’d level with the crowd and said he had a pretty bad day. He said Eric Bischoff was up his ‘ass’. He said Bischoff sounded like his mother from Jr. High School. He then said that Jericho was wrong about who kicked whose ass on the highlight reel last week. He said he turned it into the Jerry Springer show. He said Jericho thought he could take his title at any point.
He said if Jericho wanted a title shot that he could come and get some. Eric Bischoff’s music then hit the arena. Bischoff stormed to the ring and grabbed a mic.
He said that he was trying to get through Cena’s head that he couldn’t defend his title whenever he wanted to. He would only defend the title when Eric Bischoff wanted him to. He said those were the rules and he makes them. He said he had an opportunity to get on his good side but he blew it. Cena cut him off calling him ‘frosty tip’ and asked him if he was threatening him. He told him they were in dirty Jersey. He said if he ever came at him with that tone, that they’d ‘get dirty’.
Y2J’s music hit and he made his way down to the ring but Bischoff stopped him. He said he knew Jericho wanted to get in the ring right now. He said he knew Jericho was a competitor but it wasn’t worth getting his hands dirty on a thug like Cena. Bischoff said Jericho could get something great by waiting. He said that Cena would defend the WWE title at Summerslam against Y2J.
Jericho thanked Bischoff for his decision by calling him sir. He told Cena that last week he said he’d take that title whenever he wanted to. He called Cena a disgrace. He said it was ridiculous to call him Y2 cheap when Cena was cheapening the legacy of the WWE Championship by just having it. He bashed his clothes and his attitude and called him a loser. He said he didn’t deserve to be the champion.
Cena asked him if he didn’t deserve to be champ because he loves his fans. Jericho said he didn’t care what they thought because he deserved to be champion. He said when he beat Cena, he’d be bigger than Cena ever was. He said he’d be the biggest multi-media star in the WWE. Cena mocked him calling him cheap again and told him to get off himself and to get off his own ****. He said it wasn’t about movies and CD’s, that it was about real taking care of real. He said if he wanted to settle the issue they could right then and there. He took off his shirt and Jericho took off his jacket.
Jericho then paused and said he could come in the ring but he wasn’t going to. He said at Summerslam, he would be the new WWE Champion and his name would be Chris Jericho. The two stared each other down and Y2J walked back up the ramp.
Cena mocked Bischoff saying he and Jericho were in cahoots. He said they were a team. He said since Jericho wasn’t there, that he’d settle the issue right then and there. He hoisted Bischoff up in the air, showed him to the crowd, and FU’d him. He said ‘welcome to the new Raw, bitch” and walked out showing off for the crowd.
King put over Piper’s Pit later tonight. Coach put over the Raw Diva search which is next!
****Commercial****
Raw Diva Search Segment
Christy introduced the contestants and Coach said that before we got to the competition, he said they’d have to eliminate someone. Alexis was cut. She waved and left the ring.
Christy said the rules were simple. They each had 60 seconds to show off their special talent.
Ashley’s talent was that she had trained with wrestling. She said this wasn’t American Idol, it was WWE. She backed up and went for Coach. He tried to leave so she went to Christy and monkey flipped her out of the corner.
Leila was up next and said she needed the referee from last week and wanted to dance for him. Earl Hebner came down to the ring. She gave Earl and little dance and grabbed his balls hard and stomped him and said it was for Dqing her last week.
Summer wanted to show off flexibility, athleticism, and some sexuality. She did a reverse summersault and a big split and then repeated it. She shook her boobies and did another reverse summersault.
Krystal was up next. She said she would do a self portrait for Christy. She took her clothes off and poured paint all over herself and rolled around on the paper. She got paint all over the ring.
Elizabeth was next. She said we were all arrested. She shook her but and did a little sexy dance. She took off her robe and danced around some more. She whipped out the handcuffs and cuffed Christy to the ring ropes and spanked her.
Simone was up next. She said she didn’t have a talent but she had a fantasy. She imagined herself as a lawyer chick and would fight men off in a barbarian suit with a suit. She tried to do the seduce Coach thing and kissed him and shook her but.
Cameron said she was a straight A student and that she could use a lesson in exotic chair dancing 101. Christy sat down and so did Coach. She then did a little strip tease thing Christy. She gave her a lap dance thing and a kiss.
That did it for the talent competition and Coach put over the voting on WWE.com.
JR put over Piper’s Pit as we went to commercial.
****Commercial****
Kurt Angle Invitational
Angle got on the mic and said that no one had even come close to beating him on Smackdown, he thought he’d give someone on Raw a chance. He said he’d give a hometown hero an opportunity to win his gold medal. He said he didn’t have to beat him, he’d just have to last three minutes with him.
Angle said he looked familiar and asked him who he was. He said he was Matt Martel and that he was from New York. He said it wasn’t Martel, it was Striker, the teacher who got fired. He put over his being fired as a teacher. He said since he had his fifteen minutes of fame, he’d get three minutes of pain.
The two locked up and Angle clamed on an arm bar and cranked it in hard. Angle then clamed him in a headlock before going into a fujiwara arm bar. He hammered away at Striker’s arm and hit him with a huge uppercut forearm in the corner three times. He hit a huge back suplex but Striker fought back. Striker was gaining momentum before getting caught in an overhead belly to belly suplex. He went for the ankle lock but Striker kicked him to the outside. Angle hit his head hard and struggled into the ring. Striker went right after Angle but Angle fought back and went for the angle slam. Striker avoided it though and hit a low blow while the ref was distracted. He went right back after Angle with ten seconds left but Angle caught the ankle lock and Striker tapped quickly with one second left.
Winner: Kurt Angle via submission
Kane was in the back with Todd Grisham. Grisham asked him for his thought on facing Edge next and Kane just laughed and walked away.
Lita and Edge were shown walking to the ring and out of nowhere, MATT HARDY attacked Edge and quickly ducked out the door.
****Commercial****
Lita looked genuinely bothered coming to the ring.
Edge v. Kane
Kane came right for Edge but Edge ducked and landed some punches. Kane reversed the ship and landed a big boot. He whipped Edge into the corner but Edge caught him coming in. Kane went for a big boot but ducked. He stomped away at Kane on the mat and baseball slide drop kicked him to the floor. Edge landed some forearms on the outside before Edge tossed him back in.
Edge went to the top but got smacked to the apron by Kane. Kane whipped Edge again and once more got caught coming in. He went for the choke slam but Edge fought out of it. Edge came off the ropes but got snared in Kane’s sidewalk slam. The Big Man ascended to the top rope and clothes-lined Edge.
Kane went for Lita and when he grabbed her, Snitsky came out of nowhere and hit Kane, resulting in the DQ.
Winner: Kane
After the match, Kane demolished Snitsky and fought into the crowd. Out of nowhere came MATT Hardy from the crowd. He went right after Edge but it was broken up by security.
He grabbed the mic and said he’d make both of their lives miserable. He called Lita a whore and told the WWE to kiss his ass before he was tackled by security. He screamed about the ROH show briefly as security knocked the mic out of his hands and cuffed him. The cops paraded him up the ring and out of the arena.
****Commercial****
JR and King put over how wild this week had been. They then showed a video of the HBK heel turn last week.
Piper’s music hit the arena and he made his way down for the segment.
****Commercial****
Piper’s Pit w/ Shawn Michaels
Piper was on the mic and introduced Shawn Michaels who came out to a chorus of boos.
Piper said he’d make it real simple and he’d talk as one pro to another. He asked HBK why he blindsided Hulk Hogan and take such a cheap way out.
HBK said for the last twenty years he had come into the ring with one intention only and that’s to leave them with something that the fans would never forget. He literally broke his back to give the fans that. He felt he delivered. He said that no one had created more Raw and pay per view moments than he had. He said no one left him with more Wrestlemania memories than him. He said no one had a greater impact on the direction of the industry than him.
He said at the Wrestlemania Hall of Fame dinner he heard the fans chants for one more match. He said right there he decided to sacrifice himself to give the fans what they wanted. He said that last week, he guaranteed that Hogan would have one more match. He just made sure that last match would be against him. He said he was known the world around as the immortal Hulk Hogan. HBK said he’d be honest with him, that he will never see that the way the fans do. He said that perception isn’t reality. He said that tonight he would lay down the challenge for Hulk. He then challenged Hogan to a match at Summerslam. He said at Summerslam, he would prove that mortality.. or immortality, has a price. He then handed the mic back to Piper.
Piper stared him down and said he didn’t answer the question why. He said he may be able to fool the people, but not him. He said the fans made HBK. The fans made him four time WWE Champion. He said they supported him at all times. He said he remembered back in the day when HBK used to ask him how to get into the main event. Piper said he shared his knowledge with him because he was worth it. But that’s changed. He said he was ashamed of him. He said that he had everything going for him and he nails Hogan from behind. He asked him why he’d ruin a reputation like that.
HBK asked him if he thought this wasn’t hard for him. He said he gave him the answer and walked away from him. Piper demanded he didn’t walk away from him. Michaels stopped. He said he knew the reason Michaels did what he did and that’s because he was a coward. HBK cold cocked him with the super kick and stared down at him. He then slowly walked away from Piper’s body, and stared as he exited the arena. He looked back from the top of the ramp as the show went off the air. RAW THOUGHTSThe Good-- WOW. It was like 1999-2000 all over again tonight. We had some seriously good moments tonight.
Although unlikely, IF the Matt Hardy thing wasn’t a work, then we’ve seen the biggest single real life moment in the WWE since the Montreal Screw job. IF it’s not, then we’ve all been worked like never before. Unreal and a reason to watch next week, even if you’re a smark.
HBK progresses well as a heel tonight. He super kicked Piper and everyone could see that coming, but the way they’re pacing this feud is brilliant. One step at a time is the way to go. HBK turns. HBK issues challenge. Step by step.
I was also pleased with the Cena-Jericho-Bischoff segment tonight. Although the Y2 Cheap thing seems very forced, if there’s anyone who can pull it off, I suppose Cena can. Jericho’s new character is so refreshing. I’m glad the WWE sucked it up and made this the main event for Summerslam. Jericho will likely carry Cena to a very watchable match.
The Matt Striker appearance was great too. Nice of Vince to give the guy a pay day after he got axed like that. I seriously thought he was going to survive angle.
I nearly had a heart-attack tonight though between Striker almost winning the Angle Invitational and Hardy coming back. I haven’t had that feeling in about four years.
Shelton and Carlito put on a very good match. It quite obviously appears as if these two are going to have a match at Summerslam. Carlito was the strongest he’s ever been in a WWE ring.
The Bad-- Who gives a crap about Chris Masters anymore? His whipping up on jobbers isn’t getting him anywhere. Big Show needs something to do. The feud makes too much sense not to do it. Why not just give it a go?
Um, please more matches too.
The Ugly-- The Diva Search is so disgracefully bad it’s nearly impossible to put into words. Tonight was the first inkling of boos that I heard from the crowd. I suppose it served its purpose, bringing the crowd down to prepare them for their multiple coronaries. It’s still awful though.
Overall—A- I’m giving this grade solely based on emotion. I haven’t felt like that watching Raw in a long, long time. For the first time in a long time, Raw felt like anything could happen. Not much in the way of matches, but the atmosphere was absolutely incredible. Take that Diva search out, inject one or two more decent to good matches, and do HALF of the shocker stuff they pulled off tonight, ratings go through the roof. Bank on it.
Quick Results
Chris Masters def. Tajiri
Shelton Benjamin def. Carlito
Kurt Angle def. Matt Striker
Kane def. Edge
Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?
Biggest Pops
1. Matt Hardy
2. John Cena
3. Rowdy Roddy Piper
4. Matt Striker
Most Heat
1. Shawn Michaels
2. Carlito
3. Chris Jericho
4. Edge and Lita
Match of the Night: Carlito v. Shelton Benjamin **1/4
Hunter’s Raw Power Rankings
WWE Champion: John Cena ( Last week’s Rating: WWE Champion)-- Cena had another good week. He’s finally starting to carve out a niche on the Raw brand. He established his status as the anti-hero and loner tonight with his spat with Bischoff. His mic work was forced, but it did the trick. Another good week for the Champ.
Intercontinental Champion: Carlito (Last Week’s Rating: IC Champion)-- This was a good week for Carlito. He got a good rub with a little verbal jousting match with Jericho. Piper coming out helped him a little more. The guy can really hold his own on the stick. The biggest thing this week though was his ring work. Very solid. Nothing special, just solid. He did well with his control spots and established his character well.
1.) Shawn Michaels (LAST WEEK: 1)—HBK did the trick again this week. Certainly, everyone could see the kick coming with Piper, but Michaels and the WWE are building him nicely. We have a reason to watch again next week. IF he wins the Hogan match, he’s for sure getting the title shot at Cena.
2.) Chris Jericho (LAST WEEK: 2)—Jericho doesn’t really move up or down this week. His character is fresh and he’s main eventing Summerslam. It’s hard to go against him in this spot right now. His segment with Carlito and Piper was great, and he completely carried Cena in their verbal joust. Solid stuff from Jericho tonight.
3.) Kane (LAST WEEK: 3)—The big red machine gets another win. Yes, it’s only a DQ win but a win is a win. They transitioned out of this Edge feud beautifully. Now we’ll see where Kane is headed. He’s on a hot streak, which is something I haven’t said since late 2003 about the man. The old Kane is back, and it’s great to see.
4.) Kurt Angle (LAST WEEK: 4)—Look’s like Kurt’s got nothing going on at the moment. They fed him Striker tonight and Angle helped make it great. I’ve got this feeling we’re waiting around for Triple H to get back before we see Angle do much of anything. Again, he’s in the doldrums, seemingly waiting around to do something.
5.) Shelton Benjamin (LAST WEEK: 7)—Shelton got a bump this week. He had a great performance in the ring and has set himself up nicely for the likely Summerslam feud with Carlito. Unfortunately, I again don’t see them getting much airtime, just a pay per view match. Shelton needs a feud, not just a match. He moves up, but his problem still remains.
6.) Edge (LAST WEEK: 8)—Even though Edge lost this week he moves up. It looks like there may POSSIBLY be that feud with Matt Hardy that the internet has been clamoring about for months. This was probably the most beautifully worked angle in a long time. While I doubt the real life situation was a work, the story line may be. Edge got a ton of heat this week.
7.) Triple H (LAST WEEK: 5)—Where or where has the game gone? Likely taking some much deserved time off after main eventing for the last eight hundred years. Still though, it’s nice to see all this stuff evolving on the show and the WWE not using Triple H as their kick stand. He’ll be back and feuding with Angle.
8.) Matt Hardy (LAST WEEK: NR)—I’m putting Hardy on here because he should be on here. He provided us with perhaps the most shocking Raw moment in a long time, if ever. I have to give them man his due for putting ROH over as well. And he called Lita a slut on national television. Enough for me.
9.) Big Show (LAST WEEK: 6)—He could really use some airtime. Again a feud with Chris Masters would be ideal. Of course Show does the job in that feud, but both men desperately need something to do. Why not work with each other?
10.) Snitsky (LAST WEEK: 10)— Am I the only one who thinks this guy is one of the funniest characters ever? The guy has the wrestling skill of a fork, but who gives a crap? The feet thing was so bad it was hilarious. The punting the baby thing was so awful it was funny. Did anyone SEE that thing hit the lights and then the look on Jericho’s face? This guy is a GREAT jobber. I am a Gene Snitsky mark period. And if you disagree… well that’s not my fault.
Any Questions, comments, or feedback send email me at Raw@wrestleview.com