� On Monday, July 25, 2005 at 11:39 PM EST WWE Raw
July 25, 2005
Cleveland, OH
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry “The King Lawler”, and Jonathon Coachman
Reported By: Hunter Golden of WrestleView.com
A video package aired recapping last week’s incidents between WWE Champion John Cena and Eric Bischoff.
Kurt Angle’s music hit the arena as our three commentators welcomed us to the show.
Kurt Angle Invitational
Angle said he spent the last two weeks making a liar tap out. He said tonight he’s waiting for some real competition and that he wouldn’t be wasting any time. He asked the challenger to come to the ring. Christy Hemme’s music hit.
Hemme came to the ring and Angle was excited for her to be in the match. He asked her to start on top or on bottom in the referee’s position. She told him not to flatter himself. She was there to introduce the opponent and that it would be Cleveland’s own EUGENE.
Eugene gave everyone hugs once he came into the ring. Angle asked him what the hell he was doing out there. He said he wasn’t from Cleveland. Then Eugene whipped his jacket off to reveal a Cleveland Browns jersey. Angle told him not to insult his intelligence that he wasn’t from Cleveland. The two got into a no you’re not, yes I am war until Angle told him to shut up.
Angle said he only knew him 30 seconds and that he already felt mentally challenged. Angle asked him if he wanted to pretend he was from Cleveland. Angle asked him if he just got back from injury. Eugene said yes and Angle said he was going to re injure him.
Angle went right after him stomping and ripping off the Browns jersey and whipping his butt with it. He choked Eugene with the jersey and hit some hard cross faces. Angle picked him up and hit him with two European uppercuts before stomping away and landing an elbow on Eugene. Angle suplexed Eugene and taunted him on the ground. He kicked Eugene before landing a few more stomps and choking him out with his foot. Angle Sucks chants rang out through the arena.
Angle back up Eugene into the corner and hit some more European uppercuts and some more stomps before choking him on the ropes again. Angle spiked Eugene’s head off the buckles twice before Eugene hulked up. Eugene blocked a punch and hit some punches of his own. He went for a stunner but got nailed with a clothesline. Angle hit the Angle slam and followed it up with the ankle lock but Eugene countered it and propelled Angle to the outside. Time expired on Angle and Eugene is your winner.
Winner: Eugene
Eugene put on the medal and did a victory lap around the outside of the ring, taunting Angle. Angle was infuriated on the outside.
Coach put over the Battle of the Bands later between Chris Jericho and John Cena. King put over the Edge-Kane stretcher match as well.
Viscera was in the back with a dwarf who was supposedly his partner.
****Commercial****
We came back to clips of Eugene’s victory being replayed.
John Cena sneaked up on Eric Bischoff in his office. Cena said Bischoff was taking things to hard. He said someone in his family was a winner. Bischoff asked him who he thought he was. Cena said he was the WWE champ and that the champ was here. And he said he was here because he wanted to see him. Bischoff said he’s not the kind of champion he wanted representing him and his brand. Bischoff said he knew what he was all about and that he had seen his type before. Bischoff called him white trash. He said Cena was nothing but a wanna be thug. He said him and his people were scum and slime. He said they didn’t care about anything but themselves. He said if he wanted to embarrass himself tonight in the battle of the bands it was fine. He said his reign was coming to an end soon.
Bischoff turned around and Cena wasn’t there anymore.
Mixed Tag Team Match
The Heart Throbs and Pocket Rocket v. Viscera and Colacas
This match featured midget wrestlers.
Colacas kneed Antonio in the face before the bell. Pocket rocket then jumped him and began stomping him on the mat to start the match. He tagged in Antonio who slapped him. Antonio nailed him in the corner and whipped him to the opposite side. He slapped Colacas and snap mared the little man. Romeo held Colacas in the corner and Antonio nailed him with a knee. Antonio put him in an airplane spin but missed the follow up elbow. Colacas crawled between Antonio’s legs and tagged in Viscera who hit to big hip tosses and a body slam.
Viscera whipped in Antonio and hit a huge Samoan drop. Romeo jumped on Viscera’s back but Visc tossed him to the outside. Pocket rocket came in and punched away on Viscera’s stomach to no avail. Viscera picked him up and tossed him into Romeo’s lap outside the ring. Antonio jumped him but got caught. Viscera got on all fours and Colacas hit a big splash off his back. Viscera made the cover for the victory.
Winner: Viscera and Colacas
An ambulance backed into the arena for the up coming stretcher match.
The announce team sent their condolences to Lord Alfred Hayes who passed away earlier this week. JR said he was like a family member and showed us a video package about him.
****Commercial****
Shelton Benjamin in the back with d anytime he said he wanted a no dq match for the Intercontinental Championship tonight. Bischoff said he lacked the respect and that he was going to get a handicapped match; Shelton v. Snitsky and Chris Masters. Shelton said they were a muscle head and a toe-sucking psycho. He said it was like Bischoff’s breath: it stunk.
Maria was with Chris Jericho. She was dumb for a little while. Jericho said her attitude was indicative of the entire attitude of Cleveland. He said the rock and roll hall of fame wasn’t a big deal and that he was a hall of fame performer but he was treated like Ashley Simpson. He said he was the ayatollah of rock n rolla. He said then said Cena wasn’t even real music. He said Cena manufactured music and that he made ‘real’ music. He said everything was unfair and that ended the segment.
The battle of the bands is next!
****Commercial****
Battle of the Bands
Lillian welcomed us to the segment and here we go.
Cena sang his hit single “Bad Man” with BA Bumpy Knuckles. Cena and his group were set up on the left side of the stage. The people closest to the ramp seemed to be having a very good time. TONS of pyro for the show and the chain gang neon sign was in the back. Confetti fell as Cena went into the last verse. The crowd most definitely went nuts for it.
Y2J’s music hit and he came out to the ramp cringing, drinking a bottle of water. Jericho got on the mic and said that he had to be honest that his show plain sucked. He said it was rotten, stink-a-rooni, and that it smelt like someone stepped in a steaming pile of Cena. He said that all these people bought into Cena tonight and cheered for him. He said he actually sold the crowd but that’s because the crowd was biased and it was unfair. He said he had one of the greatest rock n roll bands in history, not because of the band, but because of him. He said if it was on MTV or in any other arena, he said people would be going nuts for him and his band just like they did at the download.com concert. Jericho said he was officially pulling Fozzy from the contest. He said the crowd was too biased and didn’t deserve to hear Fozzy or see them perform tonight. The crowd booed loudly and chanted ‘you suck’. He said he may suck but they’re biased. He said they’d all see him perform at Summerslam. He said he would beat Cena there and become the new WWE Champion because he was the true bad, bad man. He slammed the mic down and walked out.
Cena shrugged it off and made his way down the ramp and sang his entrance theme, “My Time is Now”.
Winners: John Cena and Co.
The divas were in the back dancing to the music. A replay showed of “Hogan Knows Best” aired.
Shawn Michaels was shown in the back. He looked into a mirror and pointed to a zit he had in the mirror and screamed for makeup.
****Commercial****
Bischoff was talking to Carlito in the back. He said that he was sure Cena felt on top of the world right now. He wanted to turn his night upside down. He said tonight Carlito would be challenging John Cena later tonight. He said if he beats him tonight, he’d give him a shot for the title next week. He said if he won, he would be defending the belt against Chris Jericho at Summerslam. He said he needed to find a referee to call the match right down the middle. He said he’d assign Chris Jericho as the special referee tonight. Carlito said that was cool and handed Bischoff an apple and walked off.
Shawn Michaels music hit the arena and he came out in a suit.
He said he would call Hulk Hogan out tonight right here right now, but he said that wasn’t going to happen because Hogan was out promoting his new reality TV show. He heard the boos and said the crowd probably had seen it. He said call me an underachiever, but he had no aspirations of becoming a rap star, rock star, TV star, or whatever. He said he wanted to be known as the greatest in ring performer the WWE had ever known. Having five star matches, breaking his back, it all wasn’t enough for him. He said it would be for Hogan.
He said Hogan had been living a reputation he created twenty years ago. He said he went out there every single night and recreated himself. He said he didn’t mind earning his stripes. He said Hogan lived in a million dollar home paid for by the sweat off the brow of everyone of the fans in the arena and at home. He said it was the same old stuff for twenty years, and after twenty years, what was the best he’d ever given them. He said if Hogan was really feeling good and getting ya back he’d give you the same old tired pose down at the end of the night. He said it was pretty quiet in the building. He said right now in the back because people are having a conniption because HBK was doing stuff that he shouldn’t be doing. He said that they weren’t allowed to tell the truth about Hogan.
He dared the WWE to fire him. He said they were looking at their main event for Summerslam and to deal with it. He said he wanted the old HBK, well guess what, we got him. When all this started, it was about him needing to know. He said years from now and they look back and ask themselves who was the all around ‘cowboy’, with all due respect to the fans, that what matters when Summerslam is over that he will know that he knows he is the show stoppa, the headliner, the main event, and the icon. He asked Hogan, “whatcha gonna do when the Heart Break Kid Shawn Michaels won’t lay down for you?”
Another clip of Eugene winning the angle invitational aired. It was announced that next week we would see the new “Eugene Invitational”.
****Commercial****
Shelton Benjamin v. Snitsky & Chris Masters
Benjamin jumped Masters but got jumped himself by Snitsky. Benjamin sent Snitsky over the ropes and Masters quickly followed. Benjamin went up to and did a flip off the top rope to the outside, taking out both Masters and Snitsky.
Snitsky took the advantage in the ring and tagged in Masters. Masters landed some kicks before hitting some big chops and some stomps. He slapped on a front face lock on Benjamin and drove some big knees into Shelton’s shoulders. Masters eventually lost the hold and got caught in a Shelton power-slam. Shelton began to fly, hitting a big stinger splash. Masters distracted the ref and Snitsky hit a big boot. Snitsky called for the Masterlock and Masters clamped it on. Benjamin began to fade but got a burst of energy and began trying unsuccessfully to break the lock. Shelton began to fade again but then got another huge rush before fainting again. Benjamin passed out under the pressure.
Winners: Chris Masters and Snitsky
Masters wouldn’t let the hold go after the bell as Snitsky cheered him on. The Big Show’s music then hit and he came down to the ring and booted Snitsky hard before chasing Masters out of the ring. Show tended to Shelton who was passed out in the corner.
Coach put over the hot dog eating contest in the Diva Search contest, which is next!
****Commercial****
Diva Search 2005: Hot Dog Eating Contest
Cameron was cut from the contest.
The girls dug in and began sucking down the hot dogs. The winner gets immunity. They had to eat the entire dog and the bun. The crowd booed it pretty good. There was a tie, so there was a thirty second ‘eat-off’ Leyla ended up winning and was therefore immune for next week.
Coach ran down the nominees next week and plugged the voting.
Edge and Lita were in the back walking past the stretcher. The match is next.
****Commercial****
Stretcher Match
Edge v. Kane
Kane jumped Edge during his entrance. Kane chased Edge around the ring and tossed him in the ring. Edge tried to leave the ring, but Kane cut him off and landed some big punches. A back elbow, and a punch later, Edge was able to sneak in an eye rake. Edge hammered away at Kane before hitting a running spear on him. Edge went for a follow up spear but got caught and subsequently tossed over the top rope to the floor. Kane hit a big boot on the outside and spiked Edge’s head off the steps. He smooshed Edge’s head off the guardrail and then dropped his chest on the rail as well. He collected Edge and whipped him into the ring steps. He placed Edge on the stretcher and began choking him.
Kane attempted to drag Edge up the ramp but Edge punched him in the chops. Kane followed with some clubbing blows of his own. Kane dragged the stretcher up the ramp a bit more before sending it down, Edge in tow, crashing into the ring apron.
****Commercial****
We came back to Edge attempting to choke Kane out with a strap. A DDT on the steps was shown where Edge got the advantage earlier. Edge clubbed away on the big red machine before tossing him back in the ring and hitting a knee to the gut. He took too long however, and Kane flap-jacked him. Kane ascended the ropes to the top and hit his flying clothesline. Kane signaled for the choke slam but Lita came into the ring with a chair. Kane yanked the chair out of her hands and she bolted. Kane turned around just in time to be met with an Edge spear.
Edge stomped away on Kane and rolled him onto the stretcher. Kane caught him by the throat however but Lita nailed him with a kendo stick on the apron. Edge tried to recover in the ring as Kane pursued him. Edge had the kendo stick and clocked Kane right across the skull. He tossed the kendo stick away and went for the steel chair. He unfolded the chair and put it across Kane’s throat. Edge went to climb to the top rope but Kane nipped up and nailed Edge over the head with the chair, which was previously around his neck.
Kane yanked Edge to the ring by his hair and went for the choke slam on the stretcher. The slam connected and the stretcher buckled under the impact. Kane went to chase Lita but went back to work on getting the stretcher upright and operable again. He laid Edge down and began to drag him up the ramp. Lita was on the top of the ramp with the briefcase. She nailed Kane with it and backed up the ramp towards the curtain. Kane cornered her on the edge of the stage and almost choke slammed her off the stage but Edge caught up with the two and nailed Kane with the briefcase again.
Edge dragged the stretched back up the ramp with Lita’s help. He placed Kane on the stretcher and began dragging him up the ramp with Lita’s help. Then out of nowhere, Kane sat up and grabbed Lita. Edge nailed him with the briefcase again and it did the trick. Edge dragged him over the line and won the match.
Winner: Edge
Kane woke up out of nowhere and tossed Edge into the set like a lawn dart. He then chased after Lita and delivered a tombstone to her on the stage. EMT’s came to help out Lita. Edge looked on trying to help, but was jumped by Matt Hardy. The two fought up the ramp with security trying to break them up.
****Commercial****
Kane climbed in the ambulance and asked Lita if she’d ever ridden the highway to hell. Kane hopped in the driver’s seat after propelling a police officer and drove off with the ambulance.
The announcers put over the HBK-Hogan match and showed a video putting over “Hulkamania”. The video ran down a ton of Hogan’s great Wrestlemania moments.
Chris Jericho was shown heading to the ring. Cena-Carlito is next!
****Commercial****
Coach put over the diva search voting some more before King put over the Eugene Invitational.
John Cena v. Carlito
Special Guest Referee: Chris Jericho
Eric Bischoff was on the top of the ramp watching the match.
The two locked up and moved to the corner. Jericho broke them up and Calito attempted a cheap shot which was ducked. Cena shot Carlito into the ropes and hit a big back body drop. Carlito countered with a back elbow and Cena retreated to the floor. He hit a double axe-handle and pursued Cena around the apron and tossed him back in. Carlito brought a chair into the ring and Jericho yanked it out of his hands. Cena nailed Carlito and got a two count on the cover, much to Cena’s surprise.
Cena attempted a body slam but Carlito countered it with a DDT. He got a near fall and then rushed Cena to the corner to work his gut with some kicks. He went for another cover and only got a one count this time. Carlito hit a nice vertical suplex and another cover but only got a one count yet again.
Cena fought back but was whipped into the ropes and got nailed with a flap jack. Carlito clamed on a rear chin lock as the crowd cheered Cena. Cena fought his way to his feet but Carlito hit him with a knee and whipped him to the corner. Carlito botched the follow up but hit the oncoming Cena with a drop kick. A hanging neck-breaker followed and Carlito couldn’t get the fall.
Carlito attempted another suplex, but Cena blocked it and reversed it. Cena fought his way to his feet but got caught by a thumb to the eye. Carlito planted the champion with a flat liner type move and only got a two count again. Carlito clamed on another reverse chin lock and Cena again fought his way back. He bounded off the ropes but got caught again with a Carlito knee to the gut.
Carlito traded punches with Cena in the middle of the ring. Cena eventually got the upper-hand and hit Carlito coming off the ropes. Cena hit his flying hip toss quickly followed by the proto-plex. Cena signaled for the five knuckle shuffle and connected. Cena went for the FU but Jericho nailed Cena with a low blow and a running bulldog.
Jericho then hit the lion-sault and Carlito made the cover for the win.
Winner: Carlito via pin-fall
Jericho gazed at Cena’s WWE championship belt on the outside as Carlito celebrated with Bischoff at the top of the ramp. Cena lay in the ring beside himself.RAW THOUGHTSThe GOOD-- I have to hand it to the WWE, they got a TON done tonight in terms of advancing story-lines for Summerslam. We’re looking at Eugene-Angle, Edge-Hardy, Cena-Jericho, Masters-Big Show, Hogan-HBK, and possibly even Shelton-Carlito 154.
Segments tonight, although not earth-shatteringly good, weren’t all that bad either. I’m also impressed to see that the WWE is acknowledging that they are part of the real world and are getting into more real life story sort of things. Believe it or not it adds to the show.
AH, the Diva segment was only 17 minutes. 13 minutes shorter than the last segments. I call that win.
The BAD-- The matches have just been awful. Again, however I DID like Kane-Edge. The rest was very ‘eh’. Eugene’s Angle invitational win was lackluster, Hardy’s run in was pretty bland as well. Nothing tonight really hit a chord at all. Everything the WWE is doing is looking really forced.
The UGLY-- Midget wrestling doesn’t entertain me. Are they that devoid of story-lines that really all we get to see is THAT? Apparently so.
BTW Shelton jobbed clean tonight to Masters. Expect to see Shelton, unfortunately, get released next year. You know how the WWE pumps em and dumps em.
Overall- C-- I will give the WWE credit for getting so much done tonight. But again, average angles are no replacement for good or even fun matches. Way too entertainment-driven tonight. Progress of story-ines was great, everything /* pretty much stunk.
Quick Results
Eugene def. Kurt Angle
Viscera & Colacas def. The Heartthrobs & Pocket Rocket
Chris Masters and Snitsky def. Shelton Benjamin
Edge def. Kane in a stretcher match
Carlito def. John Cena
Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?
Biggest Pops
1. John Cena
2. Eugene
3. Big Show
4. Kane
Most Heat
1. Chris Jericho
2. Kurt Angle
3. Carlito
4. Eric Bischoff
Match of the Night: Kane v. Edge—Stretcher Match **1/2
Power Rankings
WWE Champion: John Cena (LAST WEEK: WWE Champion)-- A ton of airtime for the champion again this week. The battle of the bands segment got over nicely with the fans in Cleveland as did his interactions with Bischoff. His psychology was okay tonight but as usual, we see little from Cena other than his four basic moves. A slight move up for him.
Intercontinental Champion: Carlito (LAST WEEK: IC Champion)-- I’d say a win is a win, especially over the WWE champion, clean or not. Good week for Carlito and he’s getting the ring time he needs. Good mic work but still yet to see him get a clean victory. Ever.
1.) Chris Jericho (LAST WEEK: 1)-- I liked Jericho’s stuff this week. He came off as a far more convincing heel than in recent episodes. The Cena feud is progressing nicely, but it seems that there’s too much fodder around it. Regardless of the situation though, Jericho seems to be doing well with it.
2.) Shawn Michaels (LAST WEEK: 2)-- Very good promo this week I felt. I still can’t tell if he’s going entirely heel or not, but it’d be great to see. Good stuff again, so he keeps his spot.
3.) Edge (LAST WEEK: 3)-- Yes, Edge got his rear handed to him by both Kane and Matt Hardy again this week, but still gets another win. The Hardy thing is slowly building. This could be a break out feud for both. Another win and more TV time keeps Edge firmly in the two spot.
4.) Kane (LAST WEEK: 5)-- Moves up a spot. He loses the match but wins the war, giving us back the real Kane that’s been gone for so long. Isn’t winning on a consistent basis, but gets the character back to where it needs to be, which CAN make the previous factor irrelevant for title shots. He got done what needed to be done.
5.) Big Show (LAST WEEK: 6)-- Hasn’t wrestled much but is getting more and more TV time. More importantly, he’s NOT losing. The masters thing is building up slowly, but surely. I don’t expect to see Show around this area much longer, but for the mean time, he’s doing far better, or maybe not as bad, as everyone /*.
6.) Chris Masters (LAST WEEK: 8)-- Inching up the ranks. A huge clean submission win over Shelton puts him up this high. He’s on the brink of his first program and slowly, again, SLOWLY, is starting to get over with fans. We’ll see where this leads.
7.) Kurt Angle (LAST WEEK: 4)-- Can’t seem to buy a win, not even over Eugene. Sad to see this is all they have for the most talented guy on either roster. Floundering big-time.
8.) Eugene (LAST WEEK: NR)-- Surprise return, big pop, win over Kurt Angle. Good week and certainly a good way to start the return. Looks like he’ll get Angle at Summerslam and for the second year will job to the top heel on the Raw brand.
9.) Shelton Benjamin (LAST WEEK: 7)-- Not going anywhere fast. Jobs to Chris Masters. Nice flip, that’s about it.
10.) Viscera (LAST WEEK: NR)-- Back again with a midget and gets a win. He was on TV, Triple H wasn’t.
DROPPING OUT: Triple H, Snitsky
Any Questions, comments, or feedback send email me at Raw@wrestleview.com.