On Monday, November 20, 2006 at 11:36 PM EST WWE RAW
November 20, 2006
Baltimore, MD
Commentators: Jim Ross & Jerry “The King” Lawler
Reported By: Hunter Golden of WrestleView.com
John Cena’s music hit and he came out to the ring with his Survivor Series team. He began talking but was cut off in relatively short order by Edge’s music. Edge and Orton came out and interrupted him. He said if anyone wanted to run their mouth it should be the people who didn’t get their asses kicked last week. He put over hospitalizing a hall of famer and winning the tag team championship. Orton said that after Nitro won his ladder match tonight, there would be four champions on their team. By the way, Gregory Helms, Mike Knox and Johnny Nitro were with them. Orton blabbered on a little more before getting interrupted by a big ‘woooo!’.
Ric Flair called Edge and Orton pathetic, backed up by the Baltimore Nursing Home. The Spirit Squad’s music hit and sure enough, they came out again. Kenny cut a decent promo calling Flair’s team “National History Museum Rejects”. Kenny said they were going to cheer for us. The Squad prepared before DX’s music hit. Out came DX, CM Punk and the Hardy Boyz. Michaels said he wanted the Royal Rumble to happen right now. Triple H whispered in his ear and reminded him that the Rumble wasn’t now, it was Survivor Series. Triple H told Flair they could beat the Spirit Squad on Sunday because that was easy. He said due to an open box of twinkees in the back, no one was going to show up from Big Show’s team. He called Rated RKO “the Village People”. They went to do the ‘suck it’ thing, and Edge went off. He said everyone was sick of their two words. He said Smackdown, Raw and ECW was sick of it. Big Show’s music finally hit and his team came out to the ramp with his squad.
Show babbled for a little bit before Cena cut him off and invited everyone of the wrestlers in the area to come into the ring to prove who the best was. As the ring began to fill up, Vince McMahon’s music hit and he came out to the ring. He said they’d have to hold off until Sunday. He said the main event would be a captain’s match. It’ll be John Cena, Ric Flair, Triple H and Shawn Michaels v. Big Show, Kenny, Edge and Randy Orton.
****Commercial****
Umaga v. Sabu
Good lord, I fear for someone’s life in this match. Umaga came out and laid Sabu out in quick order. He landed a head-butt followed by a chop to the chest. He bullied Sabu into the corner and did a demo job on him there. Sabu fought back a bit but was quickly cut off and dumped out to the floor. Umaga whipped Sabu into the security wall before tossing his opponent back into the ring.
Umaga hit a diving head-butt and a right hand to Sabu’s noggin’. Umaga went for a body slam, but Sabu fought back with some punches before getting planted in the face with a big boot. Umaga whipped Sabu into the buckles and missed the follow up while Sabu hit a springboard back elbow followed by a tornado DDT. Sabu came off the ropes with another springboard move only to get completely crushed with the Samoan Spike. This one’s over.
Winner: Umaga via pin fall
****Commercial****
Torrie Wilson was shooting T-Shirts into the crowd and King got up to get a T-Shirt before Chris Masters came out to the ring. He put over his guns and harassed Torrie a bit before Carlito’s music hit. He said Masters had big guns, but downstairs had a little pistol. He said if the two wanted to do something physical, they could do ‘this’ and opened up a barrage of offense on Masters sending him to the outside.
Torrie went to leave the ringside area before Masters recovered and slapped the master lock on Carlito. King made the save though and Masters ran off up the ramp.
****Commercial****
Melina and Nitro were in the back. Grisham asked them if they were nervous about their ladder match tonight. Nitro cut an incredibly strong promo, talking about people (him) and posers (everyone /*). He said he was bringing the IC Championship home with him tonight.
The Spirit Squad picked Nicky to face Dusty Rhodes later tonight. Flair was ogling Candice Michelle. Kenny ran off to tell Flair the legend he picked wasn’t going to make any difference this Sunday. Flair said he wasn’t worrying and he had two words for Nitro. He gave a woo before Ron Simmons popped up and gave us our weekly ‘damn’.
****Commercial****
WWE Intercontinental Championship — Ladder Match
Jeff Hardy v. Johnny Nitro
Hardy hit a right hand and floored the challenger who spit to the floor. Nitro got back into the ring and hit a nice looking European uppercut and followed it up two more. Nitro punched away at Hardy in the corner but the Champion fought back with some rights of his own. Hardy hit his whisper in the wind and went to go retrieve the ladder from the outside, but Nitro cut him off with a blow to the back.
Nitro hit a nifty looking face buster before going for the ladder on the outside. Nitro grabbed the ladder only to get drop kicked back to the floor. Hardy came sailing over the top rope and hit a nice senton onto Nitro and the ladder. Both men were laid out as we went to commercial.
****Commercial****
We came back to Hardy scaling the ladder in attempt to pull the belt down only for Johnny Nitro to shove him off and Hardy got hung up on the top rope. Hardy regained his bearings and bashed Nitro’s head off the ladder. He put the ladder in the corner and climbed up to the top but Nitro met him up top and went for a super plex, but Hardy tossed him off. Hardy signaled for something big, but Nitro was able to knocked the ladder into Hardy, leaving him crotched on the top turnbuckle. He gathered himself quickly however, and drop kicked the ladder clean into Nitro’s face.
Hardy collected the ladder and set it up under the belt and went for it again but was quickly cut off by Nitro. Nitro floored Hardy and went to sling shot him into the ladder, but Hardy leap frogged onto the ladder and almost got the title. Nitro fought up the other side of the ladder and here we go. The two were both on the second to the top run and Nitro uncorked a standing drop kick to Hardy’s face, sending both plummeting to the deck.
Nitro collected the ladder and ‘flicked’ it into Hardy’s face and then set it up to go for the title. Hardy caught him in short order though and ripped him off the ladder by the hair. Hardy body slammed Nitro onto the ladder and went for the swanton bomb but Nitro got out of the way and Hardy smashed into the ladder.
Nitro picked up the ladder and dumped it on Hardy’s head so he was wearing it like a necklace before drop kicking it into his face. Nitro stuffed the ladder in the corner on the second rope, wedged between the buckles. He stomped away at Hardy before going for the Irish whip and connecting, Hardy’s back cracking into the ladder.
Nitro went under the ring and pulled out a monster ladder and tossed it in the ring. Nitro hit a nice hangman’s neck breaker before driving the ladder into Hardy’s midsection. Nitro hit some forearms into Hardy’s face before having an Irish whip countered and was tossed into the monster ladder, breaking the braces in the middle.
Hardy pulled free the old ladder before setting it up and going for the belts. Nitro met him at the top, but Hardy came flipping over his body and hit a power bomb. Hardy set the ladder up in the corner and leap frogged it and came smashing down with a leg drop to Johnny Nitro’s chest. Hardy put the ladder over Nitro and climbed up to the top to pull down the belt.
Winner and STILL Intercontinental Champion: Jeff Hardy
After the match, both Hardy and Nitro were attended to be their respective parties.
****Commercial****
The Baltimore Ravens are here with us tonight.
Todd Grisham was in the back with Dusty Rhodes. He said the Squad had a rude awakening coming at Survivor Series. He said the Squad might be laughing in the back, but he was ready to cook and smoke.
Dusty Rhodes v. Nicky
Rhodes and Nicky squared off in the center of the ring. The two locked up and Rhodes rushed Nicky to the corner. Nicky came at him with a hay maker but Rhodes ducked under and went off and pranced around some. After some more lolly-gagging, Nicky finally caught a thumb to the eye and a few punches to the face before backing the American Dream into the corner and kicking him in the thigh.
Nicky draped Rhodes’ leg on the bottom rope and dropped down on it before using the apron to work the knee some more. Back in the ring, Nicky stood on Rhodes’ leg before Dusty punted him over the top rope with his other foot. Nicky quickly regained his bearings, and came flying off the top rope but got caught in the gut with a Rhodes punch.
Dusty hit a few more bionic elbows and then dropped the big elbow and that’s all she wrote.
Winner: Dusty Rhodes via pin fall
Lita was in the back making out with Edge when Orton popped in with Maria who had a question for Rated RKO. She asked the two if they could win at Survivor Series and tonight? There was a commotion down the hall and they walked into their locker room only to find Cryme Tyme. They traded insults before Edge dropped a racial bomb and walked off. Cryme Tyme was a little upset but then realized there was some white booty in the room and well, that makes everything better apparently. They snuggled up to Maria. What just happened?
****Commercial****
Lita v. Mickie James
Looks like this week, Mickie James will be blindfolded.
Mickie grabbed at air while Lita pummeled her from behind. The two rolled around on the mat some more before Lita put some more boots to her in the corner. Lita laid out James before planting her with a brutal DDT. Lita scaled the ropes and hit her moonsault right onto James’ face and got the cover for the win.
Winner: Lita via pin fall
Lita got on the stick and cut a really great promo. She put over how she was the first woman to really push ‘wrestling’ instead of being eye candy. It was really good up until she said Survivor Series would be her last match in the WWE. No rhyme nor reason, just that she’s retiring.
Edge, Orton, Kenny and Big Show met up in the back and began heading to the ring for their main event match.
****Commercial****
Team Captain’s Match
Randy Orton, Edge, Kenny and Big Show v. John Cena, Triple H, Ric Flair, and Shawn Michaels
The heels jumped Cena and Flair before DX ever had the chance to get down to the ring. Eventually DX got down to the ring and evened things up. HBK dumped Kenny and Triple H killed Orton with a spine buster. Edge found himself caught in between all four men and each man took a volley before Triple H dumped him with a body slam and HBK hit the elbow drop.
HBK tuned up the band only for Big Show to pull Edge out of harm’s way just in the nick of time. Big Show came in the ring and DX tried to hammer away at Show but found themselves almost choke slammed had it not been for two kicks to the nuts by Ric Flair. Cena came over to help and the baby faces dumped Show to the floor.
****Commercial****
Edge was working over HBK when we came back. He tagged in Kenny who planted some punches to the face of Michaels. He landed a body slam and went for a pin, but only got a two count. Kenny cinched in a rear chin lock before HBK quickly came to and shot him off the ropes but got a knee to the back from Orton on the outside, who quickly tagged in.
Orton did his Garvin stomp before tagging in the Big Show. HBK hit some shots to the gut and some chops to boot but Show eventually flat-backed him with a big boot to the face followed by a super sized leg drop. Triple H made the save on the cover attempt. Kenny tagged in and hit a fist drop off the top rope before going for the cover, but Michaels kicked out.
Kenny bullied HBK to the corner and Edge tagged in, delivering forearms and punches to Michaels’ back before sticking him a back stretcher. HBK powered out of the hold and fought back with some chops. HBK missed a hay maker and Edge hit the edge-o-matic before tagging in Randy Orton. Orton looked for the RKO but HBK pushed him off. Kenny got the tag but HBK hot tagged Cena.
The WWE champion cleaned how, on Kenny before lining up the five knuckle shuffle and popping up for the FU. He got Kenny on his shoulders before Show planted the champ with a big boot to the face. Cena shoved Show into a chop, a Triple H face buster and then finally sweet chin music. With Show and the rest of the heels cleared, Cena finally hit the FU on Kenny for the win.
Winners: John Cena, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels and Triple H via pin fall
After the match the locker rooms emptied and all the Survivor Series participants brawled in the ring while JR had his tenth coronary of the night. RAW THOUGHTSThe Good-- Was it me or is it completely appropriate to deem this episode as “Bad stick workers find bone, Have a Great Day”. Johnny Nitro’s promo tonight was awesome. Very simple but very well delivered and head and shoulders above what we normally get from him. Oh and the match he had wasn’t half bad either.
Lita was the other one, that although she went a little weird in the end, cut a really solid, strong promo for Survivor Series. Hats off to both, I wouldn’t have expected it.
Nice to see WWE use the opening segment to remind us that, uh, yeah, next week is one of the biggest shows of the year. A little much was crammed in there, but still, better than nothing.
The Bad-- Again, the entire card looks completely and totally tossed together and maybe it’s just me, but the fans seemed a little lost as to exactly why all the Smackdown and ECW guys were there tonight. It’d have been nice if they incorporated them all into the show in some way instead of taking the route they did with it.
I’m getting really tired of the face squash heel stuff we’re getting so much of in the WWE right now. They’ve always been a baby face company, but man oh man have they struggled to build a heel since Triple H left the helm.
The Ugly-- Yeah I noticed Maria got licked.
Overall- B- --- Much, much better than the previous, well, eight to ten shows. I legitimately enjoyed tonight’s Raw for whatever reason. Maybe it’s because it’s been so incredibly bad the last month or two, but tonight was refreshing. Things felt like they were going somewhere, which is something I really miss. A great ladder match and a fun main event made for a pretty decent show and there was at least something in every segment you pull out and say ‘that was ok’.
Quick Results
Umaga def. Sabu
Jeff Hardy def. Johnny Nitro
Dusty Rhodes def. Nicky
Lita def. Mickie James
John Cena, HHH, HBK and Ric Flair def. Edge, Randy Orton, Big Show and Kenny
Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?
Biggest pops
1. John Cena
2. DX
3. Ric Flair
4. Carlito
Most Heat
1. Edge
2. Randy Orton
3. Big Show
4. Umaga
Match of the night: Johnny Nitro v. Jeff Hardy ***
Power RankingsWWE Champion: John Cena (Last Week: WWE Champion)—Decent week for Cena, although his tenure as champion is entirely direction-less. Oh well, can’t win em all. Used well in the supplimental super-face roll.
Intercontinental Champion: Jeff Hardy (Last Week: IC Champion)—Quality performance from Hardy tonight. These spot-fest matches are really his forte and makes the case yet again, as to why he shouldn’t be on Raw and should be on ECW. Regardless, an admirable performance from Hardy.
1.Umaga (Last Week: 1)—Just annihilated Sabu. He’s starting to garner legit heat now.
2. Triple H (Last Week: 2)—Little bit better from Triple H tonight. Less squashing of Edge and Orton made for some okay stuff. I’m looking forward to Survivor Series.
3. HBK (Last Week: 4)—Seeing as he was the absolute centerpiece of the main event tonight, you’ve got to give him a bump. Oh yeah, he hasn’t lost in forever either.
4. Edge (Last Week: 3)—Struggling to really get over with Orton, but then again, so would anyone if they had to face DX who’s as big a heat stealer as it is a killer. Let’s hope they take the tag straps somewhere fun.
5. Randy Orton (Last Week: 5)—Nice to see a little gold back around Orton’s waste, but tonight his selling the countering of his own finishing move like death left me a little sour. Landing on your ass doesn’t hurt that much.
6. Johnny Nitro (Last Week: 8)—Moves up despite the loss. Nitro really put on a great promo tonight and got creative with the ladder in his match with Hardy tonight. Definitely the MVP of the show tonight. If he can stick to simplicity in his promos instead of trying to be this deep, cocky heel, he can go places. Keep it simple, kid.
7. Carlito (Last Week: 6)—Drops one spot due to Nitro’s awesome-ness this week, but still stays in good standing for the most part. Looks like they’re going back to Masters. Don’t know how I feel about it all, but the program never really DID get what it was due. Maybe this time will be better. Here’s to hoping.
8. Ric Flair (Last Week 9)—Flair does what he does and finds a way to stay entertaining enough to stay in the top 10.
9.Kenny (Last Week: 10)— Kenny looked good tonight and got plenty of exposure. It’s nice to see him emerging as the leader of the Spirit Squad, or at least as the guy who’s going to be making something of himself once he leaves.
10. Shelton Benjamin (Last Week: 7)—No action this week and a strong week by his peers drops Benji a few spots.
Dropping Out: NONE