On Monday, July 9, 2007 at 11:35 PM EST WWE RAW
July 9, 2007
Lafayette, LA
Commentators: Jim Ross & Jerry “The King” Lawler
Reported By: Hunter Golden of WrestleView.com
The opening pyro hit and JR and King welcomed us to the show!
King Booker v. Bobby Lashley
The two locked it up and eventually ended up in the ropes. Of course our King fought back with punches and forearms after a dirty eye rake. The two exchanged some blows before Lashley caught Booker in a nasty power slam and assumed control of the match. Lashley hit some shoulder thrusts before bringing booker out to the middle of the ring and hitting a sit down gut buster for a near fall.
Lashley connected with a suplex before going for another cover. Booker whipped Lashley to the ropes but found it quickly reversed and ended up eating a back elbow and yet again, Lashley almost scored a victory over the former World Champ. Booker came back looking for a back heel kick but Lashley quickly caught it and nailed the dominator. Lashley went for the cover but Booker kicked out miraculously.
Winner: Bobby Lashley via DQ
Lashley hit a standing vertical suplex before Kennedy showed up out of nowhere to cause the DQ. Booker and Lashley went to work on Lashley on the ropes much to the chagrin of the fans in attendance.
The beat down ceased when Coach’s music hit and he came out to the ramp. He said Lashley deserved a fighting chance. Coach said the main event would be Kennedy and Booker T against Lashley and a partner of his choosing. If Lashley couldn’t find a partner, he’d be in a handicapped match. After paying attention for a little while Booker went for some more cheap shots but ended up getting clotheslined to the floor by the Lash to end the segment.
****Commercial****
William Regal was in the back before Coach came back to congratulate him on the job he did last week. Regal said his performance was a breath of fresh air. Regal and Coach started to get a little snippy with each other before Coach made a match with Regal and the Sandman. Regal called Sandman a maniac. Coach said for entertainment’s sake it’d be very very effective.
WWE Intercontinental Championship
Umaga v. Santino Marella
More belts being devoured.
Marella looked like someone hit him with a truck. Marella hit a few punches before Umaga just picked him up and slammed him down like a coconut. Umaga hit some stomps and hit a nasty chop in the corner before following the fighting Italian around the ring and leaving him in a heap in the corner. Maria showed up pretty quickly to cheer on her hubby.
Umaga batted Marella around the ring some more before almost chopping his head into the upper deck. Umaga dropped a knee across Marella’s sternum before picking up his challenger and smashing him into the corner.
Marella staid plucky with some punches but Umaga was overwhelming. He hammered Marella back to the mat and choked him out on the bottom rope before hitting some hard shots to the chest in the corner. Umaga ‘talked’ with the official before whipping Marella hard to the buckle and making love to the crowd.
Marella looked like a gerbil that had been stepped on accidentally in the middle of the ring as Umaga went for the flying Harley Race like head butt off the middle rope. Umaga missed and Marella had a chance. He hit some drop kicks and got a one count. Marella looked like he might be gaining some momentum before he ate a crescent kick in the face. Umaga lined Marella up in the corner and beat him for fun before backing up and hitting the running back side to the face. Umaga hit the spike and that’s it. Let’s eat belts.
Winner and STILL Intercontinental Champion: Umaga via pin fall
Umaga snacked on the IC title after the match while Maria tended to her fallen boy toy.
Lashley was backstage looking for a partner.
****Commercial****
Cade & Murdoch v. The Highlanders
Cade grabbed a headlock on Rory before being tossed off. Cade kept momentum in his favor, flat backing his foe with a shoulder block before going back to the hold. Cade hit a nice fireman’s carry take over before gloating a little bit for the crowd.
The two locked it up again before Rory hit a shot to the gut. The advantage was short lived though as he was bullied to the opposition corner and Murdoch tagged in. Murdoch grabbed a nice side headlock and worked over Rory on the mat. The hold evolved into a rear chin lock before the Highlander fought out and hit a nice jaw breaker. Robbie tagged in and hit some forearms and some drop kicks before trying to get the crowd behind him. Rory hit a flap jack before all hell broke loose. Eventually it ended up with Rory getting decapitated by the lariat-chop block combo behind the ref’s back. Three seconds later, this one’s in the books.
Winners: Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch via pin fall
Santino was in the back with Maria and she said she felt sorry about his match. Maria said the two could go out and have some fun. Santino said it was embarrassing to lose his title and he was scared of being looked at as just ‘the fan’. Santino asked her if she could come to his hotel room and help him. Maria said they could watch a movie. Love the smarmy Italians.
****Commercial****
Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas were acting weird in the back and Haas was busting his chops about kissing Booker’s ring. Haas asked him if he wanted to kiss his hand as a birthday present. Shelton said if he lost tonight, he’s kiss Haas on the lips. Shelton left and Haas looked a little confused.
A video aired putting over the Cena-Lashley match at the Great American Bash.
****Commercial****
Snitsky v. Super Crazy
The two locked up before Crazy got flung across the ring by the huge Snitsky. Snitsky rammed Crazy into the corner and hit some forearms to the back of the head before putting the boots to the insane luchadore. Snitsky continued the beat down with some shots to the kidneys before setting up and hitting yet another Irish whip.
Snitsky mauled Crazy with a pump handle slam and that’s all she wrote.
Winner: Snitsky via pin fall
Snitsky hit one more pump handle slam after the match for good measure.
A recap aired of the Randy Orton-Rhodes family encounter last week. Dusty Rhodes is on his way out to the ring to confront Randy Orton next!
****Commercial****
Dusty Rhodes came out to his music and climbed up on the mic. He immediately called out Orton who came down to the ring. The two exchanged some words before Rhodes called him a disrespectful, snot nosed punk. Rhodes asked him if he was just going to stand there and look stupid.
Orton said he heard the legends speech a hundred times. Rhodes went nuts on Orton and told him it was much bigger than basic disrespect, it was disrespect to the people who built the business. Orton said people like Rhodes that lived off the past didn’t deserve respect. He said he gets respect for things he’s accomplished.
Rhodes asked him what made him such a bad boy. Orton said he was the youngest world champion in history. He also put over ending the careers of HBK and RVD. Rhodes said having a great match wasn’t what it was all about. When you kick someone in the head, it degraded everything the business was about.
Orton told Rhodes to put his money where his mouth was and challenged him to a match. Rhodes said he wouldn’t have even had to hear that out of Orton’s mouth to accept the challenge. Rhodes said he was in no shape to meet him at the Bash. Orton said if he wouldn’t do it for himself, he should do it for his son. Orton said he’d end Cody’s career before it even started if he had to.
Rhodes told him what he’d do. He said he would meet him at the Bash but on his terms. Rhodes said he would do the match, but it’d be a Texas Bull rope match. Orton accepted the challenge. Orton told Rhodes to tell his son to bring a broom to clean up whatever was left of him.
Cody Runnels came running down to the ring and stared down Orton. Orton told him to leave before he got hurt. Orton stared down Cody and slapped him stupid. Orton looked at Cody before slowly leaving the ring. Orton stared up at the Rhodes family in the ring as he backed up the ramp.
****Commercial****
Paul London v. Shelton Benjamin
Indy fans everywhere have a collective chubby.
The two locked horns and London grabbed a side headlock. Shelton fought out and pushed London off him. The two locked up again and London grabbed a hammer lock and Shelton promptly reversed it.
Benjamin took the action to the mat, trying to use his size to his advantage before London eventually flung him into the ropes only to eat a really nasty shoulder block. London came blazing back with some ultra-fast wheel kicks that sent Shelton to the apron. London pressed his advantage grabbing a chancellery but ended up bullied into the corner.
Shelton charged London but got caught n a side headlock before lifting up the smaller Paul and hammering him down across his knee with a vicious backbreaker. Shelton grabbed an arm bar on the mat. London wiggled out and hit some kicks to Shelton’s face before hitting a double leg drop kick and an inside cradle for a two count.
London rebounded only to get plastered with a big boot to the face. Shelton connected with a high scoop body slam before the former All American stuck some boots to London. Shelton went for a hurricanranna but London somehow reversed it and rolled up Benjamin out of nowhere and got the victory. That was a really fun match.
Winner: Paul London via pin fall
Shelton quickly realized he was going to have to bust out the lip gloss and give Charlie a big old kiss.
Super Crazy was in the back before Kennedy showed up and asked him if he was okay. Kennedy began beating the heck out of him before letting him know that last week was a big misunderstanding. He put the boots to Crazy, leaving him in a heap.
It looks like Mickie and Candice are tagging up next!
****Commercial****
Shelton was in the back with Charlie and said he wanted to make sure the whole kiss on the lips thing was a joke. Haas said that was fine but Haas was pretty insistent about a kiss on the hand. Charlie hugged him and Shelton grabbed his face all lovingly. Homo-erotic moment of the night. Ron Simmons walked in and gave us a ‘damn’. Fun skit.
Mickie James & Candice Michelle v. Melina & Jillian Hall
Melina came out to the ramp with a limp. Melina said she would be invoking her rematch clause at the Great American Bash. She wouldn’t compete tonight because of a sprained ankle and instead, Beth Phoenix will take her place.
Mickie came right at Beth before getting tossed to the corner. Beth picked Mickie up to power bomb her before Mickie got nailed by Jillian Hall on the outside. Beth tossed Mickie around like a freaking rag doll before Mickie caught her with a lariat.
Candice tagged in and hit a pair of clotheslines and some drop kicks to clean house. Jillian went for a scoop slam but got hit with a side Russian leg sweep. Beth Phoenix popped up out of nowhere to break up the cover before Mickie intercepted her. Jillian hit a side slam for a two count.
Candice managed to catch a back slide for the one, two, three.
Winners: Candice Michelle & Mickie James via pin fall
After the match the heels jumped the women’s champ and hit her with a triple team move. Nice way to build a little something up.
Arn Anderson was in the back with Bobby Lashley. Apparently Lashley’s looking for a partner.
****Commercial****
A video putting over Triple H’s return aired.
Sharmell and Booker were in the back. Kennedy interrupted him and said he took care of Super Crazy but they needed to take care of Lashley. Booker interrupted him and said Lashley was lucky to do what he did earlier tonight and he’d do just fine tonight.
William Regal v. The Sandman
Carlito’s on the commentary.
Regal jumped Sandman before the bell and proceeded to do a number on Sandman in the corner. Regal hit some brutal knees before hitting a nice left to the face of Sandman and getting a near fall. Sandman fought back before Regal made him his woman again with some stiff elbows. Regal went for yet another cover before Sandman again fought back with some knees and some left hands.
The two exchanged blows in the middle of the ring before Regal shoved him to the outside. Carlito went after Sandman but got canned out of nowhere. Sandman noticed Regal whimpering in the corner and gave him a shot for the heck of it, but earning a disqualification in the process.
Winner: William Regal via DQ
****Commercial****
A video putting over Bobby Lashley aired.
King and JR welcomed John Cena onto the show and they asked him a ton of softball questions before getting into the Great American Bash main event. Cena called Lashley’s spear ‘competitive intensity’ but he would tend to Lashley next week. Cena said Lashley’s an uncrowned champion. He said there were two dogs but only one championship. JR asked him how he would beat a guy like Lashley. Cena said he’s stood toe to toe with everyone he ever faced. He said he would persevere like he always does.
JR and King ran down the Great American Bash card.
****Commercial****
King Booker & Mr. Kennedy v. Bobby Lashley & Mystery Partner
Lashley came out to the bottom of the ramp. Who’s the mystery partner??
Jeff Hardy. Meh.
Looks like Hardy will start things off with our loving Monarch.
King called him a sucka and whatnot before cuffing him in the chops. Booker continued in with some forearms before hardy reversed an irish whip only to eat an elbow in the corner. Hardy made a little bit of a comeback with a double leg drop to the groin area for a near fall.
Booker regained the advantage and tagged in Kennedy who put a beat down on Hardy briefly before getting a mule kick to the chest. Hardy hit his catapult drop kick in the corner before going for a cover and getting a two count. Hardy quickly tagged in Lashley.
Kennedy wanted no part of Lashley and looked for a tag to Booker who ran from the apron. Lashley nabbed Kennedy and hit a standing vertical suplex for a two count. Kennedy came back with some forearms before Lashley tossed Kennedy into Booker who accidentally was tagged…. I think.
Anyways Lashley made the tag to Jeff and got down on all fours to do the leap frog. Fun stuff. Kennedy eventually reversed an irish whip and Booker nailed Jeff with a knee. Kennedy seized the opportunity and hit a lariat for a two count before tagging in the real king of kings.
Booker hit a kick to Hardy’s grill and whipped him into the buckles only to get hit with whisper to the wind. Lashley desperately looked for the tag and eventually got it. Lashley came in a house of fire, connecting with a pair of clotheslines and a fall away back breaker.
All hell broke loose and Hardy took Booker over the top rope and to the floor. Lashley leap frogged a charging Kennedy and nailed him with a spear for the win. VERY good match.
Winners: Jeff Hardy & Bobby Lashley via pin fallRAW THOUGHTSShow Thoughts-- This was a really great two hours of wrestling. For not having John Cena, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Batista, Edge or The Undertaker on it, this was a really sensational little wrestling show.
Lashley stepped up pretty big tonight. I’ve been pretty hard on the kid but boy oh boy he’s been great since coming over to Raw and tonight was a really, really, really good TV match. I’d never thought I’d see the day where Bobby Lashley and Jeff Hardy were in the best match of the night together.
The mid card stuff was what really made this show fun though. Shelton-London was a fun flippy-fest sort of match with London doing his usually great job playing the baby face in peril and Shelton…. Shelton showed more personality tonight than I’ve seen from him in three years of work combined. It was a productive night for Benjamin.
It’s nice to see Regal in action and the Umaga squash was uber fun. Marella is green in a lot of ways, but man, like London and Hardy, he plays a heck of a baby face in peril and tonight’s was as good a squash as you can expect to see.
The Cade-Murdoch match and the Divas match was a fun little exhibition and it was nice to see WWE work on some of their other ‘divisions’ so to speak.
I know people are very much going to be on the fence regarding the Rhodes-Orton feud but I’ll tell ya, don’t sell Dusty up the creek. He’s old, but he never did a whole lot to begin with. With the rope tossed in there, we’ll get some fun bleeding and some nice weapons spots. Cena-Lashley will be good. If Cena can carry Khali to a good match, then carrying Bobby Lashley, whose wrestling as well as he ever has, should be a cakewalk. This whole card reeks of sleepers to me for some reason.
Basically this was a great show with a little bit of everything on it. Everything built to something from the important tag main event to the meaningless but fun Haas-Shelton homo moment. This was a quality wrestling show on a night where the WWE sorta needed it.
Overall Grade: A-
Quick Results
Lashley def. King Booker
Umaga def. Santino Marella
Cade & Murdoch def. the Highlanders
Snitsky v. Super Crazy
Paul London def. Shelton Benjamin
William Regal def. The Sandman
Bobby Lashley & Jeff Hardy def. King Booker & Ken Kennedy
Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?
Biggest Pops
1. Dusty Rhodes
2. Lashley
3. Jeff Hardy
4. John Cena
Most Heat
1. Randy Orton
2. Umaga
3. King Booker
4. Mr. Kennedy
Match of the Night: Lashley & Jeff Hardy-King Booker & Ken Kennedy ***
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 (18-7-1, 51 points) (Last Week: WWE Champion)— It was a quiet week wrestling wise for Cena, but he did a great job on Larry King tonight. Dibiase stole the show, IMO, but Cena held his own. Bravo.
Intercontinental Champion: Umaga 16-9-1, 35 Points (Last Week: IC Champion) — I’ll just stop pretending and say Umaga’s my favorite act in the WWE right now. Period. It’s a fun gimmick and wouldn’t ya know the guy can work. Another really fun short match with Santino Marella this week.
1. Randy Orton 8-16-2 , 19 pts. (Last Week: 1) -- Orton’s so black and white on the mic sometimes it’s almost like watching two segments in one. He was absolutely BRILLIANT in the first half of the Rhodes segment tonight. The second half was awful.
2. Carlito 9-10-3, 15pts. (Last Week: 2) — It’s hard to really move Carlito up or down without seeing any action. While he’s ranked WAY ahead of where he’s at on the card right now (and for his skill level), he’s got the wins ahead of everyone /* and the points to prove it. I’ll keep him here.
3. Jeff Hardy 22-10-1, 41 points (Last Week- 4) — I know a lot of people may have been disappointed in the surprise partner, but it was nice to see Jeff get a chance to bang with the main eventers for a change. Again, he’s sort of the bottom of the top of the card, top of the bottom of the card. He’s probably the exact center of the roster, or maybe a little towards the top. He put in a heck of a performance tonight.
4. Bobby Lashley 3-2, 5pts. (Last Week: 5) )-- Lashley’s performed very well since coming over to the Raw roster. Tonight he was sort of the main act and he stepped up really well putting on a good showing in the main event. Definitely a good showing from the Lash and hopefully he keeps the momentum going.
5. King Booker 2-3, 3 pts. (Last Week: 3)— Sure Kennedy’s the next big thing, but Booker’s heel work completely held together the main event tonight. Wrestling ain’t always about moves and Booker’s character acting tonight really took this match from good to great on the heel side. Good stuff from Book again.
6. Trevor Murdoch 6-10, 11pts. (Last Week: 7)-- Nothing spectacular, but it’s nice to see these guys getting on television every week. They’re a solid young team.
7. Lance Cade 5-9, 9pts. (Last Week: 8)— See Murdoch.
8. Paul London 2-0, 3pts. (Last Week: NR)-- London looked outstanding in his role as pipsqueak tonight. Again, he’s always fun to watch, even though he’s a lot to take sometimes if you don’t snort Ritalin. It was a good enough performance to earn a top 10 spot though.
9. Santino Marella 5-3, 13pts. (Last Week: 6) -- Santino’s cold right now, but to be honest, his two squash matches with Umaga have been his best showing’s yet performance wise. So sure, the losses toss him down the rankings this week but performance wise, he’s actually improving. — Crazy really got a good rub tonight and really, in the end, it’s good for everyone. He adds depth to an already strong Raw mid card.
10. Snitsky 1-0, 2pts. (Last Week: NR)-- I so badly wanted to give this spot to William Regal but a DQ win over the Sandman ain’t a squash win over a guy in the top 10 last week. It pains me to do it. I want feet loving Snitsky back.
OTHERS :
Super Crazy 4-6-1, 7 points (Last Week: 9)
Shelton Benjamin 1-9-1, 1pt. (Last Week: NR)
Charlie Haas 1-8-1, 1pt. (Last Week: NR)
Rory 0-5, 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
Robbie 0-6 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
JTG 4-5, 5pts. (Last Week: NR)
Big Shad 3-5, 3pts. (Last Week: NR)
Val Venis 0-2 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
Triple H 2-0, 4pts (Last Week: INJURED)
Ken Kennedy 0-2, 0 pts (Last Week: NR)
William Regal 1-0, 2pts (Last Week: NR)
The Sandman 0-2, 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
Daivari 0-1, 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
Mick Foley 0-1-1, 0 pts. (Last Week: NR)
Brian Kendrick 1-0, 1pt. (Last Week: 10)