On Monday, September 17, 2007 at 11:44 PM EST WWE RAW
September 17, 2007
Nashville, TN
Commentators: Jim Ross & Jerry “The King” Lawler
Reported By: Hunter Golden of WrestleView.com
A video played that put over last night’s Unforgiven pay per view and John Cena’s revenge on Randy Orton.
Cena’s music hit and he came out to the ring to a pretty mixed reaction. Cena admitted he hadn’t been himself yet and he was here to say he was sorry for not being himself, but tonight, he felt ‘fabulous’. He said it felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders and everything was going to be ok BECAUSE last night he lost to Randy Orton. He said he needed to come out here and thank someone and that was his Dad for showing up and kicking Randy Orton in the face.
He said Orton was an idiot. He said he was stupid for thinking his Dad was a distraction, stupid for trying to pick a fight with him and stupid enough to want a rematch. He said the biggest idiot from last night was Coach, who made a rematch between the two and made it a Last Man Standing match. He said that was great because he didn’t have to worry about anything and he could do whatever he wanted to do to Randy Orton.
Coach came out and said Cena shouldn’t be thanking him for his match, he should be thanking him that he still has his job. He let his father attack a WWE superstar and later Cena assaulted a person in authority. He said he’d make a match tonight and it’d be Orton v. Cena tonight. He said though, he had spoken with Cena’s father today. He said he threatened to strip John of the WWE title. But John Cena’s Dad was willing to do anything to prevent Cena from being stripped of the belt. He said it WOULD be Cena v. Orton tonight, but not that Cena (pointing to John), but Cena’s FATHER v. Randy Orton.
Cena was beside himself.
****Commercial****
Intercontinental Championship
Jeff Hardy v. Shelton Benjamin
Shelton started things off with a bang, uncorking a quick flurry on punches followed by a nifty northern lights suplex. Hardy grabbed the legs and sat out on Benjamin’s groin (that sounds bad) and went for a quick cover.
The two struggled in a tie up until Hardy scored with an arm drag take down into an arm bar. Shelton reversed the hold but found himself quickly countered and back on his back on the mat. Hardy slammed Shelton into the corner and laid the boots to him briefly before eating some knees to the ribs. Shelton avoided a back drop to the mat and landed on the apron, hitting a shoulder thrust before going for a vertical suplex. Hardy blocked and sent Shelton clattering to the floor before flinging himself over the top rope and onto the waiting Shelton on the floor.
****Commercial****
We came back to Shelton in control wrenching away at Hardy’s neck. Apparently Hardy crashed and burned over the break and then ate a kick to his soft head. Shelton fought off the brief comeback with a nasty head-drop-o for a two count.
Shelton booted away at Hardy in the corner before hitting a running ass to the face. He quickly gathered the champion and connected with a neck breaker for another near fall before going right back to the chin lock. Benjamin eventually shimmied into a cover attempt before looking for side kick, but Hardy blocked it and both nailed each other with a lariat.
Hardy gained the advantage with a snap mare before hitting whisper in the wind. Hardy went for a twist of fate, but Shelton countered with a back breaker for another two count. Shelton pounded away at Jeff before hitting a side Russian leg sweep and again, we have another near fall.
Hardy tried to hit a vertical suplex, but Shelton swooped out of it and hit a neck breaker and STILL can’t keep Hardy down. Shelton missed a charge to the corner before Hardy went to the top quickly. Shelton leaped up to the top rope but got knocked off and got crushed with a Swanton bomb for the three count.
Winner and STILL Intercontinental Champion: Jeff Hardy via pin fall
A video putting over the 2007 Diva Search aired.
McMahon is waiting in his limo and Coach has shown up. He asks what he thinks about the matches he just made. Vince said he didn’t care. Vince asked him if the ‘plan’ was all set and they wouldn’t have to worry about ‘this’ and there’s Horsnwaggle McMahon eating lucky charms. Hornswaggle was sitting in a car seat all taped up. He said he was Coach’s responsibility for the night.
****Commercial****
Cena is in the back with his Dad. John begged him to not get into the ring. His Dad said that title meant everything to him and he wasn’t going to allow him to strip him of the belt. Whether he liked it or not, he was wrestling tonight.
Santino was knocking on Maria’s door furiously before Jillian told him that she didn’t want to see him right now. Marella said he was upset that she elected to watch Stone Cold’s DVD instead of spending time with him. He said his performance in that movie was worse than Brittney Spears at the MTV awards. Jillian was less than thrilled about his assessment but said she had an idea to win Maria back, and that was to sing a duet with her. She sang achy breaky heart and it blew. Santino was horrified and said he had a better idea but thanked her for her help before calling her ‘Lillian’. That went well.
Vince was in the back with Coach when he walked into his office only to find it looking like an Irish man threw up all over the place. There were decorations and music playing. Hornswaggle popped up out of the corner and said ‘hi dad!’ and threw some lucky charms at Coach and was chased after the office. Vince stood there disgusted only to get nuzzled by a, um, horse with a party hat on. Now THAT is an intense stare down.
****Commercial****
Flag Match
Daivari v. ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan
Daivari went right for his flag before Duggan cut him off and hit some punches and a body slam before going to get HIS flag. Daivari hit a chop block before clubbing away at Duggan on the mat.
Daivari dropped out on Duggan’s leg before scaling the ropes again. Duggan grabbed him but Daivari was able to boot him off. Daivari shimmied up the pole almost all the way but Duggan dragged him down and crotched him hard on the top buckle. Duggan looked for his flag again but here’s Daivari. The two duked it out on the top rope before Duggan sent Daivari clattering to the floor and was able to procure the flag.
Winner: Hacksaw Jim Duggan
Cody Rhodes is in the back begging Coach to replace Cena’s Dad with him. Coach said thanks, but no thanks. Cena showed upon the scene and demanded he call off the match. He said if he didn’t, he wouldn’t be responsible for what happens to Orton, Coach or anyone. Coach told him that there was something he forgot to tell him. He said he always knew he was a fair man, and that he’d have a match. He said if he won, the match between his Dad and Orton wouldn’t happen. If he lost, it would. He said his Dad’s fate was in his hands. Coach excused himself, leaving Cena by himself.
Vince will have a little party with his son next.
****Commercial****
Vince McMahon’s music hit and he came sauntering down to the ring.
He put over the seed of his loins producing a leprechaun. He said he was proud of Hornswaggle and was ready to welcome him to his family. Horsnwaggle’s music hit and here he comes dancing away. Vince yelled at him to stop dancing because he had something to say to him.
He said he knew he was real happy to learn he was a McMahon. He said the thing about it was that when he died, if he died, he would come into a lot of money. Vince said money wasn’t everything though, and it was truly all about love and compassion.
So eventually after some more banter he calls down these two folks who are Hornswaggle’s new adoptive parents. The littlest McMahon wasn’t too thrilled with the idea and despite tons of persuasion on the part of McMahon, the little guy jumped the adoptive family and chased them out of the ring.
McMahon ran down Hornswaggle telling him how ashamed he was of him and the little guy looks quite hurt and eventually ran off. Triple H’s music hit and we’re going to get some sexy jokes.
Sure enough, Triple H mocked Vince for about 10 minutes, unleashing every sex with a midget joke you could probably think of. Some were funny, but after a while, I got it. Vince got mad and here we go with a handicapped match.
****Commercial****
Triple H v. Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch
Triple H was busy unloading the heels out of the ring when Carlito came out and briefly distracted him from the task at hand and Cade hit a swinging neck breaker. Cade tagged in his partner and hit the atomic leg drop for a near fall.
Murdoch bullied Triple H into the corner and hammered away at him in the corner before whipping him to the corner and yanking away at his hair. Murdoch hit a flipping neck breaker off the top rope for another near fall before tagging his partner back into the match. Cade dropped an elbow or two before going for another cover attempt and again, the Game kicked out.
Cade wrenched away at Triple H’s face before whipping him to the buckles again. Triple H caught him on the way in with a boot to the face, but ate a heel kick trying to capitalize on his momentum. Murdoch tagged in and went for the flying axe handle but Triple H caught him with a boot to the grill. Cade tagged in only for Triple H to hit him with the running knee and a face buster. Triple H hit a series of clotheslines on the heels before getting overwhelmed in the corner yet again.
The two went for a double team, but Triple H ducked out and took Murdoch out of the ring. Triple H planted Cade with a nasty spine buster for the three count.
Winner: Triple H via pin fall
Carlito and company jumped Triple H after the bell, but who would come to his aid, but London and Kendrick. The two chased off the tag champs, leaving Triple H in the ring with Carlito. Triple H hit a spine buster on Carlito and celebrated briefly with London and Kendrick in the ring. They went to shake his hand and Triple H said thanks with a pair of pedigrees to both. JR says “Triple H walks alone”.
****Commercial****
Candice Michelle & Mickie James v. Melina & Jillian Hall
Beth Phoenix is at ringside looking not so happy.
Melina and Mickie locked things up to begin before Mickie fought out of the heel corner with a head scissors and a kick for a two count. Mickie hit a back kick before Melina cut her off on the top rope. Melina fought up to the top buckle, only to get knocked off. Jillian leant a hand and knocked her to the mat before getting tagged into the match.
Jillian tossed Mickie by the hair across the ring and then sling shotted her into Melina’s feet. Mickie hit a desperation lariat before tagging in the champion. Candice hit a running lariat and then another before sending Melina to the other side of the ring with a drop kick.
Candice hit a gut wrench suplex before hitting a boot to the gut and a northern lights suplex for a two count. Candice knocked Jillian off the apron before eating a Melina kick. Jillian tagged in and began manhandling her. Candice sneaked out of the hold though and hit an unfretted, which she calls the ‘candy wrapper’.
Winners: Candice Michelle & Mickie James via pin fall
After the match Beth got into the ring and handed Candice the bell and shoved her back before leaving the ring.
****Commercial****
Vince was asking Coach who Cena would be wrestling. We’ll see in a bit. Vince asked Coach if Hornswaggle had been taken care of and Coach said no one had seen him since the segment and even said Vince may have scarred him for life. Vince seemed tickled pink about those prospects, and got in his limo to go home. As it rolled off, Hornswaggle popped up out of the trunk. Coach tried to flag down the limo, but it was too late.
****Commercial****
Cena’s in the ring and his mystery opponent is Santino Marella.
John Cena v. Santino Marella
Cena basically batted Marella around before going into his victory sequence. He was getting ready to put on the finishing touches before Orton jumped him out of nowhere.
Winner: John Cena via DQ
Cena unwrapped his hands and he’s got brass knuckles! Oh no! Handcuffs! Cena’s handcuffed to the ropes and here comes Coach. He said Cena misunderstood the rules. Cena won the match, but he needed to win the match by pin fall or submission, which means since that didn’t happen, Orton-Dad is still on.
****Commercial****
Randy Orton v. Cena’s Dad
Orton went all the way to the back to get re-introduced. So badass. Mr. Cena came out to no music and that just rules. Dead man walking.
The two circled it up and dammit Cena’s Dad is great at looking feeble. Orton hit a huge knee to his head before goading John on the outside. He kept on looking as if to say ‘watch this’ with every stomp. Orton stomped on Cena’s father’s wrist before stomping on his leg. This is the most brutally incredible Garvin stomp ever. It’s like torture.
Orton began stomping away and clubbing away at the old man, before Cody Rhodes showed up. Orton easily dispatched of Cody before whipping him hard into the ring steps. Cena was desperately trying to unscrew the corner before Orton brought his father to the middle of the ring and absolutely decapitated him with an RKO. Cena came running in but it was just too late.
Cena looked at him with an utterly confused and angry look while Orton looked at him with a big smirk. That’s what they went off the air to. RAW THOUGHTSShow Thoughts-- This was a way stronger offering than what we had after Summerslam and through Unforgiven. They’ve really planted the seeds for the major fall programs well.
First and foremost, if you don’t like Cena-Orton, you’re an idiot. Orton’s been un-f-ing believable, Cena’s beginning to garner legitimate sympathy and the angle as a whole has been the most original thing they’ve done in years. Right now, this is the feud of the year in a runaway and has beyond delivered to my expectations and I think most people’s as well. No Mercy is setting up to be one hell of a match.
The whole final angle was played brilliantly. Smarmy Santino and the gallant Cody Rhodes made it rule too, and it just had so much of that old school NWA in it that I couldn’t help but love it. Honestly, this is just great stuff.
The show built around that but hit all it’s stop gaps. The Hornswaggle stuff went about as I expected it to, with lots of funnies and McMahon desperately trying to get himself away from the little guy.
The one thing I’m not digging again is poop joke Triple H. I love Triple H tons, but the comedy shtick just doesn’t do it for me in any way. I know it’s all being done on purpose, and sure, it maintains storyline continuity, which isn’t something you see often in the WWE, but honestly it’s just not much for me. Cena cracking poop jokes sucked, Triple H cracking them is a tad lamer. That’s saying something.
The rest of the show was pretty bang up stuff. The IC title match was a lot of fun, despite being based on Hardy’s spot stuff. Shelton though, is good for literally a botch a match these days it seems. At least he’s trying.
The one thing that kinda stuck out to me was the flag match, which despite not being anything close to a GOOD match, but a lot of fun and a good way to burn some time with the lower card guys in a semi-productive way. No gripes here at all.
The Divas match was kinda a train wreck, but Beth really has a presence to her that a lot of the girls lack and have to manufacture to get over. I’m so psyched for her in general. I love Candice as a baby face crowd-pleaser and she’s improved. She put on a heck of a selling performance last night in a Divas match that I thought legitimately was good. Keeping things going with this is smart.
The segments were funny, the angles were REALLY good and the matches were ok too. Put that together and you get another strong Raw. It lacked that great match to make it a really great Raw, but segments wise it was spot on.
Overall Grade: B+
Quick Results
Jeff Hardy def. Shelton Benjamin
Jim Duggan def. Daivari
Triple H def. Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch
Mickie James & Candice Michelle def. Melina & Jillian Hall
John Cena def. Santino Marella
Randy Orton def. Mr. Cena
Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?
Biggest Pops
1. John Cena
2. Hornswaggle
3. Triple H
4. Jeff Hardy
Most Heat
1. Randy Orton
2. Vince McMahon
3. Carlito
4. Santino Marella
Match of the Night: Jeff Hardy v. Shelton Benjamin **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 (27-9-1, 70 points) (Last Week: WWE Champion)— Emotional Cena > Poop Joke Cena. Seriously.
Intercontinental Champion: Jeff Hardy 27-12, 54 points (Last Week: IC Champion)— Hardy does what he does every week and that’s keep things entertaining enough in the mid card. As over as he is, he could really use a productive feud. Time to figure out what to do with him.
1. Randy Orton 14-18-2 33pts. (Last Week: 1) -- So Orton becomes only the third guy on the Raw roster to bust 30 points this year and believe it or not, this guy was like 3-13 at one point. Now we’re talking about him like he’s the next big thing. That’s probably because he is. Kicking old people is cool because he does it.
2.Triple H 7-0, 15pts (Last Week: 2) -- Triple H squashing the tag division every week is kind of a staple of the show for the last year and a half. Thus, it’s hard to really react either way to it anymore.
3. Carlito 12-16-4, 21 pts. (Last Week: 3) — There just hasn’t been enough activity below the guy to really bump him out of this slot, and that’s fine. Getting squashed will just have to do until suspensions are up.
4. King Booker 3-6, 6 pts. (Last Week: 4) -- Didn’t appear and is suspended and supposedly quit but um, I don’t care.
5. Trevor Murdoch 8-13, 14pts. (Last Week: NR)-- Sure it seems weird, but these guys have been actually winning matches that matter, whereas the rest of the roster’s home right now. Higher than they should be for sure, but really fair is fair.
6. Lance Cade 7-13, 11pts. (Last Week: NR)-- See Murdoch.
7. Ken Kennedy 3-5-1, 6 pts (Last Week: 5) — Mr. Suspension
8. Umaga 20-13-1, 43 Points (Last Week: 6) — Still sacrificing people.
7. Paul London 6-2, 8pts. (Last Week: 7) -- I was a little upset that they squished him and Kendrick the way they did. The guys obviously aren’t the top acts nor will they ever be, but Jesus.
8. Cody Rhodes 5-2, 8pts. (Last Week: 8)-- Hasn’t done much, but the run in was done well tonight. He’d be a great side kick for Cena.
9. Brian Kendrick 4-2, 4pts. (Last Week: 9)-- Anyone find this guy’s face he left on the mat tonight?
10. Santino Marella 5-7, 13pts. (Last Week: NR)-- He’s just been so entertaining lately, it’s impossible to leave him off the list right now.
OTHERS :
William Regal 3-1, 5pts (Last Week: NR)
Snitsky 4-1, 8pts. (Last Week: 10)
Shawn Michaels 10-7-1, 19 points (Last Week: INJURED)
Bobby Lashley 3-4 5pts. (Last Week: INJURED)
Super Crazy 4-7-1, 7 points (Last Week: NR)
JTG 5-6, 6pts. (Last Week: NR)
Big Shad 4-6, 4pts. (Last Week: NR)
The Sandman 2-5, 4pts. (Last Week: NR)
Shelton Benjamin 2-15-1, 2pts. (Last Week: NR)
Charlie Haas 2-11-1, 1pts. (Last Week: NR)
Rory 0-5, 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
Robbie 0-7 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
Jim Duggan 1-4, 2pts. (Last Week: NR)
Val Venis 0-3 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
Daivari 0-5, 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
Mick Foley 0-1-1, 0 pts. (Last Week: NR)
Sgt. Slaughter 0-2. 0 pts. (Last Week: NR)