On Monday, October 23, 2006 at 11:28 PM EST WWE RAW
October 23, 2006
Chicago, IL
Commentators: Jim Ross & Jerry “The King” Lawler
Reported By: Hunter Golden of WrestleView.com
JR and King welcome us to the show and immediately begin talking about Kevin Federline and his getting FU’d last week. Oh btw, they aired endless clips of E! entertainment news, Jimmy Kimmel live, etc. He’s even got his own graphic and will be in the corner of Johnny Nitro later tonight.
Oh and if that wasn’t enough, his ‘music’ hits the arena and he comes out to the ring. K-Fed is kicking off Raw. K Fed said he wanted ‘payback’ on John Cena for his getting FU’d last week. He said everyone was talking about how he was humiliated on national TV. He said he wasn’t like the Chicago Cubs and not a loveable loser. He said tonight he’d get his revenge. He said he had a few more people who would do the trick on Cena at Cyber Sunday. He introduced World Heavyweight Champion King Booker. I’m so excited! It’s a real King!
Sharmell cut the music. Sharmell said that my king and yours, had something to say to us serfs. He said he listened to Federline’s CD and called it a ‘treasure’. He called him an artist. He said Cena would pay for his actions because Federline was a trendsetter. He said everyone here wanted to be like him. He said Cena’s title would be on the line on Sunday and that when the smoke cleared, he’d be both the WWE and World Heavyweight Champion.
Big Show’s music hit and he came angrily down to the ring. He said everyone needed to hold on a second. He said he agreed that Cena’s title should be up for grabs at Cyber Sunday. He also agreed that Cena should be beaten within an inch of his life. Booker got mad that he didn’t address him as “King”. Show continued on about being the most dominant guy in the WWE before King cut him off with a huge ‘Boulder dash!” Line of the night. Anyway, they pointlessly bicker some more before Cena’s music hits and he comes out to the ramp.
Cena said he had the Big Show, King Booker, and Kevin Federline. He said this must be the dumbest line up in the history of celebrity jeopardy. He said what he saw when he looked out there he saw a big, royal, pain in the ass. He said K Fed talked about pay back and revenge, but he made the wrong choice. Cena mocked Show, calling him the Stay Puffed Marshmallow man, and being the white fat Albert. He ran down Booker next. He said he was alright with the 12th century stuff and the English accent and other stuff. He said tonight he crossed the line and called K Fed’s album a ‘treasure’. He said maybe he was the wrong one to break it to him, but he had officially lost his status as a black man.
Ron Simmons showed up from the outside and looked at Booker for a little bit and after some pondering, took the mic and said ‘damn’ and then just walked off. He told Federline he’d be better off to quite trying to annoy the WWE Champion, and instead concentrate on playing with himself.
****Commercial****
Women’s Championship Semi Final Match
Melina v. Mickie James
Melina came out immediately and nailed James with a lariat. James came back with a spear and landed a ton of punches to her face. She grabbed the hair and tossed her to the other side of the ring before dragging her into the middle of the ring and looking for a Boston crab. Melina kicked her off and connected with some knees to the face of James before hitting a nice looking suplex for a two count.
Melina hit some great, vicious looking cross faces before locking in a dragon sleeper. Mickie worked her way out but Melina regained the advantage with the dragon. Mickie kicked her way out of the hold and hit a nice fisherman’s suplex to buy herself a little time.
The two exchanged some super stiff blows in the middle of the ring and James gained the advantage. She connected with a clothesline and two chops all of which floored Melina. He landed a few more punches and then came off the ropes with a clothesline before hitting a flap jack.
James landed a boot to the gut and went for the implant DDT but Melina countered out and hit a swinging neck breaker for a two count. Melina shot James in to the ropes but got caught with an elbow. James followed it up with a nice hurricanranna off the top rope before hitting the implant DDT. He made the cover for the victory.
Winner: Mickie James via pin fall
A clip of the Triple H-Orton match from last week aired. Tonight, we’ll get the rematch. Orton has apparently vowed to win.
****Commercial****
Shelton Benjamin & Chris Masters v. Carlito & Jeff Hardy
Looks like Shelton and Hardy are starting us off. They lock up and Benjamin works him to his own corner and goes to plant a punch but Hardy fights out of the corner. Shelton rolls away but Hardy keeps on him, only to get caught with a super kick.
Benjamin tossed Hardy to the outside of the ring and distracted the referee while Masters went to work on the outside. Benjamin came out after the damage had been done and tossed Hardy back into the ring before tagging Masters.
Masters gathered Hardy and hit a suplex before going for a cover that got a two count. Masters dragged Hardy to the corner and tagged in Shelton. He body slammed Jeff to the mat and clamped on a sleeper hold. Hardy began to come around but Shelton cut him off with some punches to the face before tagging in Masters.
Masters landed only a few shots before tagging Benjamin back into the ring. Shelton taunted Carlito on the apron while he worked over Hardy on the mat. Hardy fought back with some shots to the gut but Benji cut him off again.
Hardy ducked under a clothesline though and hit the Whisper in the Wind before hot tagging Carlito. He whipped Shelton to the buckles and got caught in the mug with a kick but regained his bearings and hit his springboard back elbow and flat liner before cutting off Masters who was coming in to even the odds.
He hit a double senton on the heels before Jeff Hardy came in to help. Masters shoved Hardy right into Carlito and Shelton rolled him up for the pin, with the help of the ropes of course.
Winners: Shelton Benjamin & Chris Masters via pin fall
After the match all four argued before everyone cleared out of the ring.
****Commercial****
Todd Grisham was in the back with Edge and Randy Orton. They bemoaned their misfortunes last week and said this week things would be different. Orton said they were Rated Rko and the two biggest superstars the business has ever seen. He said they wanted to show DX that things would be different. Edge said tonight, three impartial observers would be invited down to the ring, the three men who can be selected to be the referee at Cyber Sunday: Eric Bischoff, Vince McMahon, and Jonathan Coachman.
Another video putting over the Marine aired.
K Fed and Nitro were in the back. Both of them said they had something to prove. K Fed he’d sell more albums in a week than Cena ever would. Nitro said he wanted to prove he was the better wrestler tonight. K Fed wanted him to save a piece for him.
****Commercial****
Johnny Nitro (w/ Melina & Kevin Federline) v. John Cena
The two circled it up and locked some horns. Nitro hit a knee to the stomach but Cena responded with a right to the face. Cena took advantage, hitting a back elbow before going for a cover attempt. He hit another punch to the face, a whip to the corner and a fisherman’s suplex.
Federline distracted Cena enough on the apron to allow Johnny Nitro to jump him from behind. Nitro hit a swinging neck breaker and went for the cover but Cena kicked out. He slapped on a neck vice and tried to wear down the champion. The crowd got behind Cena though and the champion regained his bearings before breaking the hold.
Cena went for a high cross body but Nitro ducked. Nitro tossed Cena out to the ringside area where Federline was waiting. Federline slapped the hell out of Cena on the outside. Cena went to get some pay back but Nitro pounced from behind and slammed the champ’s head off the announce table.
Nitro rolled Cena back into the ring and went for the cover but again, Cena kicked out. Cena fought back for a little while but missed a splash in the corner and got caught with a modified bulldog. Nitro went for the cover and a gain, Cena kicks out. Nitro slapped on rear naked choke on Cena and the champion began to fade.
After almost being out of it, he fought back to a vertical base and dropped down to the mat to break the hold. Cena ducked under a punch and hit two shoulder blocks and a clothesline. Cena was feeling it and went into kill mode. He hit his inverted suplex and motioned for the five knuckle shuffle and connected. K Fed didn’t like what he was seeing.
Cena went for the FU and stared down K Fed as he nailed the move. Cena made the cover and sealed the deal.
Winner: John Cena via pin fall
After the match, Federline backed away from Cena but got shoved down on the entrance ramp. King Booker and Big Show showed up out of nowhere and began beating down the WWE Champion. The beat him all the way down to the ring much to the delight of K Fed. Big Show planted Cena with a choke slam. He went to shake hands with Booker, but got nailed with the book end. Booker hit the scissors kick on Cena and gloated with Federline on the ramp.
****Commercial****
The Spirit Squad v. Cryme Tyme
God I love this gimmick.
JTG and Mikey are starting us off. The Squad immediately break the rules and distract the referee to take advantage of the animated JTG. Nicky tags in and hits a spring board moonsault before claming on a rear chin lock. Mikey tags back in and hits a vertical suplex and goes for the cover but only gets a one count.
Back to the rear chin lock we go. JTG eventually tries to fight out but gets drop kicked right in the mug. Big Shad tags in and murders both members of the Spirit Squad clotheslining Nicky out of the ring. He catches Johnny in the air and propels him to the outside as well. The two hit the G-line on Mikey and that’s all she wrote.
Winners: Cryme Tyme via pin fall
Kenny went berserk after the match hitting a huge top rope leg drop on Mikey. He said he couldn’t believe how pathetic the Squad was. He said tonight someone would get the job done, and it’d be him. He said it’d be him v. Ric Flair and he was going to do it by himself.
Randy Orton v. Triple H will be on later tonight!
****Commercial****
Eugene is shooting T-Shirts into the crowd when Armando Alejandro Estrada came out to the ring. He said it appeared his open challenge was accepted for Cyber Sunday. The three we can choose from are Chris Benoit, Kane, or the Sandman. The choice was up to us. Estrada said tonight, he was making the choice though and he chose Eugene. Eugene shot him in the junk with the T-Shirt gun.
Umaga stared him down and then went at him, nailing him with clubbing blows and a brutal Samoan Drop. Umaga ripped off the Chicago Bears jersey tossed Eugene to the corner like a baby. He stomped away on Eugene before planting him with some stiff chops and then the running ass to the face, leaving Eugene in a heap in the corner.
****Commercial****
A video package aired putting over WWE’s trip to Japan.
The officials were in the back with Eugene. Jim Duggan told him to let the monster out. Eugene went nuts and attacked Duggan before sort of breaking down.
Kenny v. Ric Flair
Apparently, the Spirit Squad is going to accompany Kenny to the ring anyway.
Flair came out and said he was bringing his own help. Out came Sgt. Slaughter. Rowdy Roddy Piper came out next. Dusty Rhodes came out next and did his little dance on the ramp.
The two locked up and Flair landed some stiff chops. Kenny whipped him to the buckles and back body dropped him to the mat. Kenny hit a flying lariat and went for the cover but only got a two count.
Kenny mocked Flair and went for a figure four but Flair booted him off and landed some more chops. Flair landed some punches to the face and floored the youngster with a back elbow before landing a knee to the face. Flair whipped Kenny to the ropes and rolled him up and grabbed the tights for the win.
Winner: Kenny via pin fall
The legends made it into the ring and prevented the assault. The cleaned house and put on a little show for the crowd.
Another video putting over “The Marine” aired.
****Commercial****
Todd Grisham was in the back with DX. Girsham asked them about their feelings about Orton and Edge’s comments last week. HBK said they forgot one important thing: Hats and shirts. Triple H said it was three things. He said it was typical. He said all that stuff was available at WWE.com. They said the guys who talked about being the best in the business lived up to it the least. Triple H said they could do a plethora of things to solve this problem, but typically they’d just kick their ass anyway. He said it didn’t matter what they brought, because they just had two words for us. ‘So Typical’.
JR and King ran down the Cyber Sunday card.
Champion of Champions (WWE, World, or ECW title on the line)
John Cena v. Big Show v. King Booker
Umaga v. Chris Benoit, the Sandman or Kane
Special Guest Referee (Vince McMahon, Eric Bischoff, The Coach)
DX v. Rated RKO
World Tag Team Championship
Spirit Squad v. Ric Flair and Rowdy Roddy Piper, Sgt. Slaughter or Dusty Rhodes
Intercontinental Championship
Jeff Hardy v. Carlito, Shelton Benjamin or Johnny Nitro
Vince was in the back with Coach and said he could help Bischoff with his book. Bischoff said he liked that. Vince said he couldn’t be out there because his broker just called and asked Bischoff to take care of the business for him.
****Commercial****
Coach and Bischoff made their way down to the ring before the match. Triple H and Shawn Michaels came to the ring and did their routine.
****Commercial****
Triple H v. Randy Orton (w/ Edge & Lita)
The two locked up and Orton hit a knee to the gut and some punches to Triple H’s face to gain an initial advantage. Triple H reversed an Irish whip and hit a swinging neck breaker for the two count.
The Game kept the pressure on hitting a vertical suplex and a knee drop to Orton’s face. Orton floored Orton with a right hand before whipping him to the ropes. Orton caught him with a boot but then got nailed with a Triple H spine buster that sent Orton rolling to the outside.
Triple H rammed Orton’s head off the ring steps and tossed him back into the ring before trading some words with Edge. Triple H tried to get into the ring, but Orton snap mared his head on the top rope. Orton hit a nice standing drop kick and went for a cover but only got a one count. Orton pounded away on Triple H in the corner but eventually caught a boot or two to the mid section. Orton ducked under a Triple H right hand and hit a DDT.
Orton stomped away on Triple H, before dropping a knee and going for a cover, which HHH kicked out of. Orton clamped on a rear chin lock. The crowd rallied the Game who fought to his feet and wiggled out of the hold with some punches to the gut. Orton landed a shoulder block but on the second pass got clocked with a running high knee.
Triple H floored Orton repeatedly with some right hands and connected with a face buster. Lita grabbed Triple H’s boots, enabling Orton to hit a vicious inverted back breaker. Orton went for the RKO but got shoved into the referee. Triple H went for the pedigree, but Edge hit a spear. HBK caught Edge though and began to brawl with him on the outside. Coach went to count out Orton, but HBK super kicked him. Edge recovered though and drove HBK into the ring post.
Edge waited for Triple H to get to his feet but missed and Triple H dumped him to the outside. Bischoff handed Orton a chair and Orton wound up and killed Triple H with it. Bischoff dumped the referee into the ring and he counted out the Game to give the match to Orton.
Winner: Randy Orton via pin fall
Orton, Edge and Lita celebrated as the walked up the entrance ramp. RAW THOUGHTSThe Good-- It was good to see Rated RKO come out with the win tonight, but it seemed to lack heat. A big part of that is because Triple H won the first encounter and instead of two credible guys challenging DX for the top spots, they’re now just every day heels who can only win when they cheat. I’m pretty mixed about it, but again, we’ve got a ways to go.
I was pleasantly pleased to see Mickie James get the fall on Melina, as it almost virtually assures us that Maria won’t be winning this thing. Everyone can breath a sigh of relief.
The IC Picture is the best thing going on Raw right now, as they get the guys in the ring almost on a week to week basis. I would just like to see them go a little further and actually put some feuds into this division. God knows, they’ve got plenty of space on the schedule right now for it.
The Bad-- I felt like I was watching the same show all over again this week. K Fed, Umaga squash, Cena gets beat up, Orton-HHH, Flair and Legends, Spirit Squad loses and fights (to Cryme Tyme), IC division stuff that pretty much leads nowhere, etc. Creative, if they haven’t already packed it in, certainly did tonight.
The Ugly-- Umaga’s booking for Cyber Sunday, while all well and good, is not the brightest. Sandman is the only guy who can really take the squash. Kane is on Smackdown now and needs to look like a monster. Benoit is fresh off being back and a loss won’t help him. WWE’s NEEDS to cancel the vote out and go for the safe bet, but I just don’t think they care enough about their book to do that.
Overall- B ---Am I the only one who thought I just got almost the same show we got last week? We got K-Fed/Cena, more champions whining, HHH-Orton, a women’s tournament match, Flair and more legends, Flair v. the Spirit Squad, Cryme Time v. The Spirit Squad, Umaga squashing someone. Someone needs to actually ‘create’ something behind the scenes at WWE. Same freaking show. I could care less about any of it to top it all off. We got some decent action in the ring, but the rest was a complete and total re-hash of last week. It’s getting really hard to sit around and recap the show as is, nevermind actually having to watch a re-run of the previous week. Oh and P.S., the WWE plugged so many products tonight, I almost thought it was QVC. DX Merchandise, Cena’s movie, Bischoff’s book, K-Fed’s album, and Brooke Hogan’s album. Holy schmoly.
Quick Results
Mickie James def. Melina
Shelton Benjamin & Chris Masters def. Carlito & Jeff Hardy
John Cena def. Johnny Nitro
Cryme Tyme def. The Spirit Squad
Kenny def. Ric Flair
Randy Orton def. Triple H
Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?
Biggest pops
1. John Cena
2. DX
3. Ric Flair
4. Carlito
Most Heat
1. King Booker
2. Kevin Federline
3. Big Show
4. Edge & Randy Orton
Match of the night: Hardy/Carlito-Masters/Benjamin *1/2
Power RankingsWWE Champion: John Cena (Last Week: WWE Champion)—Just not really going anywhere. No real feud to speak of for the belt and this champion of champions things’ novelty has already worn off. Just floating around.
Intercontinental Champion: Jeff Hardy (Last Week: IC Champion)—Hardy is in action virtually every week and that’s certainly not a bad thing, as he needs it, but again, he’s just flying around instead of actually being booked in a program that might get him somewhere.
1.Umaga (Last Week: 1)—Squashed another guy for no reason other than to do it, but like the champion, floating aimlessly.
2. Randy Orton (Last Week: 4)—I’ll flip-flop him with Triple H. Would have been nice to see him hit an RKO and actually do something to win the match semi-on his own tonight but they over booked it to the point where Orton looked weak. At least he got the win, which is what NEEDED to happen.
3. Edge (Last Week: 3)—Barely on the show at all despite being the guy who’s getting more heat than anyone right now. Interfered like crazy in a shabby, over booked main event.
4. HBK (Last Week: 5)—Sure, HBK is getting a hell of a reaction with this DX thing, but oh man does he not look like he could give a crap about this DX stuff. Hangs around, cracks the odd funny comment, and that’s about it.
5. Triple H (Last Week: 2)—Loses to Orton tonight, but really has lost all the fire that made him such a compelling character. Eventually, the heat is going to leave the DX stuff. The big question is: What then?
6. Shelton Benjamin (Last Week: 10)—Benjamin makes the biggest jump, beating the IC Champion’s team tonight. He completely carried the action in the match as well.
7. Carlito (Last Week: 6)—Drops a tad, but really, in the broad scope it doesn’t mean much. I’m actually interested to see how big he wins the voting at Taboo Tuesday. He’s a little too over at this point to be hanging around the mid card, or at least doing what he’s doing right now, which is nothing.
8. Kenny (Last Week NR)—Picks up the win tonight to finally get back onto the top 10.
9.Ric Flair (Last Week: 7)—Loses the battle but wins the war. Who wants to bet he walks out of Cyber Sunday with some gold?
10. Johnny Nitro (Last Week: 8)—In Total free-fall right now. The mic work is putrid and he can’t buy a win in the last month despite getting tons of opportunity to actually do something. Like everyone /* though, he’s floating around with no real direction.
Dropping Out: Super Crazy (Last Week: 9)