On Monday, June 4, 2007 at 11:40 PM EST WWE RAW
June 4, 2007
Tampa, FL
Commentators: Jim Ross & Jerry “The King” Lawler
Reported By: Hunter Golden of WrestleView.com
John Cena’s music hit and he’s on his way to the ring. Cena stood around and received quite a big pop and quite a few boos. Cena said this was everything he loved about the business, boos and cheers. He said tonight it all seemed a little bit louder. He said he didn’t know what it was, but maybe it was because of six weeks of getting his ass beat, but it feels great to tell the Punjabi giant ‘FU’.
He said he thought he was free and clear until the WWE unleashed the draft on him. He said he knew what it was like to get drafted and said it might be the last time he’s ever in the ring for Monday Night Raw. He said if this was how it came to an end, then he had to say it one more time. “The Champ is ……” Mr. McMahon’s music hit and he came out to the ramp holding his ribs.
McMahon walked down to the ring rather gingerly. Vince got on the mic and said he knew why Cena was here and said he knew Cena was here to embarrass him and humiliate him. Cena looked at him baffled. Vince said he was here to remind everyone he wasn’t a world champion anymore. He said Cena wanted to come out here and rub his nose in the dirt. Cena continued to look absolutely befuddled.
Vince said he wouldn’t bend or bow and damn sure wouldn’t break. He said he was Vincent Kennedy McMahon before Cena turned his back. Cena paused and said he’d tell himself that Vince was a little beat up and a little upset after losing his world title last night. He said he would tell himself Vince was a little delusional. Vince looked at him with disdain and said his name was Vincent Kennedy… and Cena turned his back on him again. Cena said Vince needs to chill out and the only thing keeping him alive was his patience. He said he had a bad night, he needed to suck it up and deal with it. He said he looked like he lost his mind.
Vince looked at him as only Vince can and said he hadn’t lost his empire, the money or anything. He said he hadn’t lost his dignity. Crazy Vince. Vince said the only thing he had lost was a world title. He said that was exactly what Cena would do tonight. He said if Cena thinks he’s better than him, he’ll defend the damn title in a triple threat match. Vince said it would be John Cena v. Umaga v. The Great Khali. Someone’s going to get boiled alive! Wrestling IS real!
Vince backed off with a smile on his face, not saying anything. Cena looked like someone dookied in his birthday cake. Vince looked like had legit lost it. Fun opening segment.
****Commercial****
Johnny Nitro, Kenny Dykstra & Melina v. Cryme Tyme & Candice Michelle
Nitro and JTG started things off and Nitro assumed control immediately highlighting the segment with a nice wheel kick. Dykstra tagged in and hit a nice elbow off the top rope before immediately tagging out and using a sling shot drop kick to keep JTG down. Nitro hit a nice neck breaker and went for a cover attempt but JTG kicked out.
Nitro slapped on a cobra clutch and the crowd rallied JTG to his feet. JTG hit some back elbows and was almost able to counted an Irish whip but at a big boot to the face. JTG ducked under a clothesline attempt and Big Shaad tagged in and started taking everyone down with forearms before hitting a big polestar for a near fall on Nitro.
Everyone came bowling into the ring before Shaad body pressed Candice into Melina. With Melina and Dykstra down and out, they loaded up Nitro for their finisher and connected for the win.
Winners: Candice Michelle & Cryme Tyme via pin fall
Maria was admiring Santino Marella’s IC Championship belt in the back and acknowledged it was shiny like her dress. Brains. Mr. McMahon showed up and pointed to Santino’s belt and said he used to have one of those. Santino and McMahon exchanged words before McMahon said Santino would have to defend his title right now. McMahon is completely nuts.
****Commercial****
WWE Intercontinental Championship
Santino Marella v. Chris Masters
Marella ducked under Masters’ big right and began planting Masters with some kicks. Marella went for a drop kick and got bashed in the back with an elbow. Masters dropped and elbow before draping Marella on the ropes and hitting an avalanche. Masters went for the cover but nothing was doing.
The Masterpiece raked the eyes and then gave Marella a set of snake eyes in the corner before dropping a mean elbow across the chest. Another cover resulted in another Marella kick out. Masters slapped on a neck vice and kept up the pressure with some elbows to Marella’s shoulders while the crowd attempted to rally the champion. Marella rose to his feet and tossed Masters aside before hitting a jaw breaker that sent the challenger back to the opposite buckles.
The two exchanged strikes in the middle of the ring before Marella hit a mean looking back heel trip before hulking up a bit. Marella hit some throat thrusts before coming off the ropes looking for a shoulder block. Masters saw the move coming and pan caked Marella on the top rope. Masters looked for a Master Lock, but Marella countered out and locked up a nice roll up for the victory.
Winner and STILL Intercontinental Champion: Santino Marella via pin fall
****Commercial****
Cade & Murdoch congratulated The Hardy’s on a match well fought last night. They asked the Hardy’s when they asked when they could have a shot. The Hardy’s said they definitely deserved a shot and offered one tonight but Cade and Murdoch declined and said they only wanted one when the Hardy’s were 100%. Vince walked up and spoiled the party, making a tag championship match for later tonight between the two teams. Cade & Murdoch looked despondent.
The camera followed Vince down the hall until he came across Flair and Torrie Wilson. An absolutely awesome, awesome segment here with Flair, Torrie and Vince going at it. Vince made fun of Flair and Torrie for hanging out because of the age difference. Torrie shot back saying it was pretty funny when his wife walked in on him and Torrie with his pants down around his ankles. Vince fired back and asked the two if they wanted Carlito. Flair said he was more than happy to get Carlito. Vince said he wasn’t talking about Flair, he was talking about Torrie. Torrie ran off before Vince and Flair got on each other’s cases. Vince decided to make a match between a legend like Flair and a legend killer in Randy Orton. Glorious.
****Commercial****
Ric Flair v. Randy Orton
Orton slapped Flair before Flair fought back with chops galore and punches in the face. Flair hit a set of nasty chops while Orton sold them like he got shot in the chest. Flair floored Orton and raked Orton’s head with his boot. He brought Orton to his feet and hit a snap mare and stomped the turd-face in the, well, face.
Flair strutted before hitting some chops and a few punches to the face. Orton reversed whip attempt and hit a power slam on Flair. Orton looked for the RKO quickly.
Unexpected Commercial much?
****Commercial****
We came back to Flair holding Orton in the figure four. Orton looked like he was dying. Orton sat up and jaw jacked at Flair before Flair just chopped him back to his back. Orton slowly inched back to the ropes and grabbed hold of them to break the hold. Flair landed a nasty right hand before Orton reversed another whip and hit his inverted back breaker. Orton watched Flair flail around on the mat before landing the good old Garvin stomp on the 16-time World Champion.
Orton hit a knee to Flair’s face and went for a cover but Flair kicked out at two. Orton mounted Flair and hit some punches to Flair’s face before slapping on the always trusty rear chin lock. The crowd rallied behind Flair as he rose to his feet. Flair hit some shots to Orton’s gut and plastered Orton’s chest with a chop before Orton hit that nifty standing drop kick for a near fall.
Orton hit a European uppercut before flinging Flair into the turnbuckles and connecting with a back body drop. Orton went back to the chin lock, trying to wear down the former champ. Flair looked dazed before the crowd rallied him again enabling him to hit a back suplex. Flair looked for the figure four but Orton rolled him up for a two count.
Orton pounced after the kick out and started punching away at Flair’s head. Orton got that look in his face and started reigning brutal punches in on Flair’s face. Flair fought back with punches and chops before tossing a thumb in Orton’s eye. Flair hit another chop and got a two count. Flair backed off and hit the running knee to Orton’s face before gathering the legend killer and looking for a whip. Orton reversed the toss and Flair came pinging out and got nailed with a clothesline.
Orton picked up Flair and again, the two exchanged strikes in the middle of the ring before Flair hit a reverse elbow and sent Orton to the outside. Flair chased Orton to the outside before Orton feigned running away before turning around and clocking Flair with a clothesline. Orton hit a big vertical suplex on the outside before gathering Flair and puling him back into the ring.
Orton looked for the RKO but instead backed off and decked Flair with a running kick right to the Nature Boy’s head. Flair was out like a light bulb as Orton paced with ‘that look’. Orton watched Flair struggle to his feet . Flair staggered towards Orton. Orton looked stoically at Flair before dropping him with the RKO. One pin fall later, this is over.
Winner: Randy Orton via pin fall
After the match, Orton stood over Flair before looking for another kick. The referee admonished Orton and successfully kicked him out of the ring.
The Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship is still to come!
****Commercial****
Carlito v. Torrie Wilson
Torrie gimped to the ring her leg injured.
Carlito told her just to lie down and they’d be done with it. Carlito told her just to turn around and walk away. Torrie went to leave and Carlito hit her with a waist lock take down before killing her with a back cracker.
Winner: Carlito via pin fall
Carlito looked on with a smirk on his face with Torrie rolling around on the mat. Good job leaving the camera on to let Carlito get a little heat for it.
The Hardy’s are on their way to the ring. Their match is next!
****Commercial****
Wade Boggs is in the crowd tonight. Looks like someone’s had WAY too much to drink.
World Tag Team Championship
The Hardy Boyz v. Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch
The Hardy’s look a tad banged up. Cade and Murdoch didn’t look like they were crazy about being there either. They shook hands and here we go.
Cade backed up Matt Hardy and grabbed a snap mare. Matt countered wit ha bow and arrow. The two traded some holds before Cade hit a hard back elbow. Matt grabbed an inside cradle for a near fall before almost getting another pin fall with a back slide. Murdoch called Cade back to the corner to regroup before he and Matt locked it up again.
The two exchanged some moves coming off the ropes before Cade grabbed the advantage with the drop kick for a two count. Murdoch tagged in and grabbed an arm wringer before getting a two count. Cade grabbed a shoulder block but on the second attempt found himself back body dropped. Matt tagged in Jeff who entered the ring gingerly before the two hit a double team for a near fall.
Jeff grabbed an arm wringer of his own before Matt tagged in and hit an axe handle on Cade’s shoulder. The two made another tag and Jeff leapfrogged off Matt and clattered into Murdoch for a near fall. Cade missed a move and he and his partner ended up on the outside. Jeff flung himself over the top and into Murdoch on the outside.
Jeff made the tag and was screaming about his knee as we went to commercial break.
****Commercial****
Looks like Jeff has tweaked the knee and Matt is taking a beating on the inside. Matt went for an axe handle off the top but Murdoch yanked him off, literally. Cade tagged in and hit a body slam and dropped a nasty knee into the small of the back of Matt. Cade kept up the punishment before tagging his partner back into the match.
Murdoch hit some muy thai knees to Hardy’s mid section before connecting with a side Russian leg sweep for a two count. Cade tagged in and dropped an elbow on Matt’s ribs, getting a two count on the cover. Hardy hit a kick to the face on the irish whip, but Cade connected with a grizzly spine buster for a pair of two counts.
Murdoch tagged in and hit a snap mare and cinched in a reverse bear hug. The crowd rallied behind Matt and he was eventually able to hit a reverse DDT and created some distance. Matt made the tag to the clearly injured Jeff. Jeff came in a house of fire and cleaned house on the challengers. Jeff looked for the swanton bomb but Murdoch caught him at the top rope. Matt cleared out Murdoch and hit the side effect on Cade.
Murdoch dragged Hardy out of the ring but Jeff was already re-perched on the top rope. Jeff missed the swanton bomb allowing Cade to get the cover. Jeff looked like he may have had the foot on the ropes. Nonetheless, the ref counted three and we’ve got new champs.
Winners and NEW World Tag Team Champions: Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch via pin fall
Matt approached the two after the match and asked if Jeff’s foot was on the ropes. They said they didn’t know. As soon as Matt turned around the two took their newly won titles and clocked the Hardy’s, leaving them in a heap in them middle of the ring.
Coach approached Vince in the back and wondered if he could help him. Vince said he couldn’t ‘shake it’. Coach asked him what that was. Vince said it was like it got caught in his throat and he couldn’t get it up. He said he had that ominous feeling that a cloud was rolling in and he couldn’t get rid of it. Vince said he would feel so much better. Next week was the draft. He said he liked that and it would shake things up. He said in addition to the draft… he turned to Coach and told him to go tell ‘him’ about it right now.
****Commercial****
Coach’s music hit and he came out to the ramp. He said next week it would be the draft and we’d shake some things up. He said in addition to that, it would be Mr. McMahon appreciation night.
WWE Championship Triple Threat Match
John Cena v. The Great Khali v. Umaga
Khali chopped Cena and bullied him into the corner and began putting a nasty beating on him. Umaga left and just started grabbing stuff like cables or something. I’m surprised he doesn’t use a fan as a weapon. Khali in meantime spent his time tossing Cena around like yesterday’s lunch left overs. Umaga in the meantime thought it’d be fun to toss the ring steps and tossed them at Cena’s head but Cena ducked and they clattered into Khali.
Umaga ran into the ring but at a Cena boot to the face before killing the champion with a lariat. Cena looked for a sunset flip but Umaga wouldn’t let him drag him over. Cena moved out of the way on the sit out attempt and Cena looks like he’s figuring out how to survive. He looked for a body slam but Umaga shifted the weight and got a two count.
Umaga punched Cena in the face a few times before spring boarding off the ropes and sitting out on Cena’s chest. Umaga went for a second sit out but Cena got the knees up and mounted the top rope. Umaga caught him though and hit a tilt a whirl side walk slam, sending Cena careening to the outside.
Khali climbed in the ring and here we’ve got a Hunter Golden dream match between Umaga and the Great Khali. The two began hammering away at each other in the middle of the ring. Umaga came running off the ropes only to eat a spinning back kick (!) by Khali which knocked the Samoan absolutely stupid.
Cena snuck into the ring and looked for an FU, but Khali elbowed out. Khali gathered the champ and hit a head butt to the skull which sent the champ reeling into the corner. Khali gathered Cena and flung him hard into the corner. Khali hit a big scoop slam before standing over Cena and dropping a nasty leg. Khali went for the cover but Cena managed to get his foot on the rope.
Umaga regained his bearings on the outside only to get chopped in the head and off the apron to the floor. Cena came at Khali only to eat a chop to the head himself. Khali picked up Cena for the double choke slam only for Umaga to interrupt things with a shoulder block. Umaga tied Khali in the ropes and lined Cena up for the big bump butt but he missed. Khali untied himself and went for the double choke slam but Umaga hit the spike!
Cena knocked Umaga out of the ring with a shoulder block and FU’d the dazed Khali for the 1,2,3 win. Wow, what a great triple threat match.
Winner and STILL WWE Champion: John Cena via pin fall
Cena celebrated on the ramp while Umaga went berserk on the outside of the ring.RAW THOUGHTSShow Thoughts-- Say what you want about any of these guys, tonight was a really, really good triple threat match. Umaga and Cena more or less carried the match but in different ways. Umaga’s psycho-ness gradually escalated into an all out brawl with Khali. Their nonsense cost both the match. Cena on the other hand just sold his rocker off and made both guys look like a million bucks. Khali was where he needed to be but looked way more mobile than usual and took some mean bumps. The stare down with Umaga was fun stuff. I usually HATE triple threat and multi-man matches but this one really worked well.
Vince-sanity was on total fire tonight. That’s the best off-the-rocker performance I’ve ever seen from Vince, period. The show revolved around his craziness and by 9:45, we had the whole show booked because of Vince’s craziness. Way to build around a theme.
The tag title match was pretty great stuff too. Cade & Murdoch really had the crowd going for a while and turned perfectly, leaving room for another match, but effectively putting them over as the soon to be kings of the tag division. It comes at the perfect time with the WWE looking possibly at big single’s pushes for both Hardy’s.
The Randy Orton-Flair match was tons better than I expected it to be as well. In fact, I’d say the three big matches (tag title, Flair-Orton and the triple threat) were hands down better than anything put on last night. The Carlito thing was done well to put some more heat on him while the Santino and Cryme Tyme matches did their trick.
This was a really entertaining Raw and top to bottom, had probably the best in ring action we’ve seen on a Raw in a while. Three matches were really freaking’ solid, and honestly, this was a better show than last night’s pay per view.
Overall Grade: A-
Quick Results
Candice & Cryme Tyme def. Melina, Kenny Dykstra & Johnny Nitro
Santino Marella def. Chris Masters
Randy Orton def. Ric Flair
Carlito def. Torrie Wilson
Cade & Murdoch def. The Hardy’s to WIN the World Tag Team Championship
John Cena def. The Great Khali & Umaga
Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?
Biggest Pops
1. John Cena
2. The Hardy Boyz
3. Ric Flair
4. Cryme Tyme & Candice
Most Heat
1. Mr. McMahon
2. The Great Khali
3. Randy Orton
4. Umaga
Match of the night: John Cena v. Umaga v. The Great Khali ***1/4
Power Rankings5 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 (17-6-1, 47 points) (Last Week: WWE Champion)— I know people are sick of Cena, but let’s face it, with the amount of injuries to top guys the WWE has, Cena’s staying at the top of Raw as a draw are more important than ever, really. He needs to be kept strong. I don’t think he’ll make it two-three more months with the belt, but for the immediate time being, he should be right where it is. It would be bad business otherwise.
Intercontinental Champion: Santino Marella 5-0, 13pts. (Last Week: IC Champion) — More or less a throwaway match for Marella tonight. He just seems to run through moves out there and is really struggling to get the crowd to get behind him with a ‘gimmie’ gimmick of sorts for crowd heat. Masters just seems so much more polished and seems like the guy who should be holding the belt. If there were a time to put the screws to someone, this would have been a good night and a good guy to do it to.
1. Randy Orton 5-15-2 , 14 pts. (Last Week: 3) -- I really enjoyed the Orton match tonight and he really seems focused for the first time since mid-04 which is refreshing. I think the WWE’s taking the ‘last shot push’ path with him and it’s now or never. Orton’s selling, like his father before him, is a little goofy these days, but for the kind of dirty killer they’re turning him into, it works I guess. A win coupled with the three losses in front of him, gives him the #1 contender’s spot in my rankings.
2. Jeff Hardy 20-7-1, 38 points (Last Week- 2)— Jeff’s the first guy to 20 wins this year, even ahead of Cena. The draft will be a really great indicator of how far they’re willing to go with him. I’ve got serious concerns with Jeff in a main event role, but it looks like it might be inevitable. Besides Cena, no one’s booked stronger on Raw. Sure, he loses the tag titles, but stays put thanks to everyone /*’s silliness.
3. Umaga 13-8, 25 Points (Last Week: 4) — I love Umaga and not in a wrestle crap kind of way. The guy’s a legitimately awesome worker and he and John Cena have scary-good chemistry together. I’d love to see this guy get moved so he can really be a top guy. I feel like as long as Cena’s on Raw, there’s going to be a ceiling above his head. Please lord, send him to ECW. This is a guy you build a brand around. Moves ahead of Khali by virtue of not taking a bunch of falls.
4. The Great Khali, 11-3-1, 12pts. (Last Week: 1 )— Khali’s really improved ten fold since last year and he’s right up there with Kevin Thorne and Chris Masters as the most improved guys in the company. Khali almost more so because he could do SO LITTLE last year and now is totally carry-able. Umaga and Cena really played off him well and he looked solid tonight and honestly throughout the Cena feud despite losing three out of four times. Still, losing three matches to the champion doesn’t make you #1 contender anymore.
5. Carlito 8-9-3, 13pts. (Last Week: 5)-- Carlito’s new heel push has been handled well. If you struggle to garner heat beating up Flair, just beat up a woman. It worked. They did a great job with the camera work and letting the fans soak in his douche-bag ness. I think Carlito might be a prime candidate for a move next week.
6. Trevor Murdoch 4-10, 8pts. (Last Week: 10) -- A tag team title win gets you into the top ten. And on Raw’s roster these days, well into the top ten.
7. Lance Cade 4-9, 8pts. (Last Week: NR)--See Murdoch
8. Chris Masters, 4-10, 8 pts. (Last Week: 7) —Here’s another guy who I think could really benefit from new scenery, or just someone getting their head out of their backside and giving him that IC strap to run with. I go nuts on the folks who do the whole ‘push (fill in the blank)!’ but if I had one, it’d be this guy. He’s at that point where really the next logical step is a mid card title.
9. Ric Flair 5-9-3, 9pts. (Last Week: 8) — Flair rules. Flair and Foley are the kinds of guys who prove, it’s not HOW MUCH YOU DO, but HOW you do it.
10. HBK 10-7-1, 19 points (Last Week: 6 INJURED)--Just because I can’t stand the thought of Johnny Nitro having any business being in the top ten right now.
OTHERS : Johnny Nitro, 2-9-1, 4pts (last week: 9)
Super Crazy 3-5-1, 5 points (Last Week: NR)
Kenny Dykstra 3-10, 6pts. (Last Week: NR)
Eugene 0-7, 0 pts. (Last Week: NR)
Shelton Benjamin 1-8-1, 1pt. (Last Week: NR)
Charlie Haas 1-7-1, 1pt. (Last Week: NR)
Viscera 0-4, 0 pts. (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 0-1 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
Triple H 2-0, 4pts (Last Week: INJURED)