On Monday, October 22, 2007 at 11:49 PM EST WWE RAW
October 22, 2007
Omaha, NE
Commentators: Jim Ross & Jerry “The King” Lawler
Reported By: Hunter Golden of WrestleView.com
Kennedy’s in the ring looking for a mic. He said this Sunday, everyone had an opportunity to make history because they could vote for the man who’d face Randy Orton for the WWE championship. He mentioned Jeff being like Hillary Clinton. Pretty little blonde hair, a famous last name, but let’s face it, like Hillary he wouldn’t get the job done because he has no testicles.
He said on the other hand we had Shawn Michaels. He said he was like Rudy Giulliani. They both talked tough and very impressive memories, but they both live in the past. He wanted Shawn to answer a question: what has he done for him lately? He said because whatever it was it was no where near as impressive as what he’s done. He said over the past two years, he was a US champion, won money in the bank at Wrestlemania and he held victories over four champions: Rey Mysterio, Batista and even the Undertaker. So to paraphrase a famous politician who shared the same last name; ask not what you can do for you, ask what you can do for Mr. Kennedy.
He said if elected, he WILL defeat Randy Orton and there would be a new Champion MRRRRRRR…. KENNNEDDDYYYY!
Someone interrupted and it’s Jeff Hardy in the crowd. Hardy said he said he was the best candidate, but it was pretty obvious his approval rating sucks. Kennedy told Jeff he didn’t want to get into a debate with him right now as his success spoke for itself. Kennedy said he could stand in the crowd, eat stale popcorn and kiss their ugly babies but the facts were….
Hardy told him the facts were he tried to pass himself off as a McMahon and failed. Last week he tried to whoop him and failed. He said he’d fail at Cyber Sunday too. Kennedy said he didn’t have to listen to this and had to leave. Hardy asked the crowd if they wanted to see him whoop Kennedy right now.
Hardy jumped in the ring and tried to cause some trouble. Orton jumped into the fray and we’ve got a good old heel beat down. HBK came flying down to the ring and tackled Orton and the Champion went running for his life. Hardy disposed of Kennedy in the ring and he’s the last man standing in the ring. Great opening segment.
The Women’s title will be on the line tonight as well as Beth Phoenix faces Candice in a 2/3 falls match.
****Commercial****
Intergender Six man Tag
Mickie James and London & Kendrick v. Melina and Cade & Murdoch
It’s Cade and London starting it off.
London grabbed a go behind and a headlock before taking the big man to the mat with a takeover. Cade tossed him off and buried a shoulder into his chest, flat backing the smaller London. Cade clubbed away at him but ate a cross body for a two count and an arm bar.
Kendrick tagged in and went for a sunset flip before a nice deep arm drag to keep the big man at bay. London tagged in and hit a very basic axe handle off the top rope before tagging in Kendrick and doing it all again. Mickie tagged HERSELF in and went for the axe handle but Cade ran off.
Melina bitch slapped her before they took each other down by the hair. Mickie hit some BRUTAL knees to the face before Murdoch tagged in and floored Kendrick with a punch. Kendrick rebounded quickly only to get hit with a jaw breaker and getting killed with a Cade lariat for a two count.
Cade went to work on the runty Kendrick with knees and elbows before dropping Murdoch on him with a atomic leg drop. Kendrick showed a little fire fighting back but Murdoch quickly grabbed a headlock and tagged in Cade to maintain the advantage.
Cade went for a back drop and ate a kick to the face and then an enzeguiri. London tagged in and hit a pair of back elbows before hitting the drop sault on the big old redneck. London hit a spinning heel kick that was broken up at two by Cade. All hell broke loose and Mickie was shoved by Cade who missed his clothesline target shortly thereafter and kill his partner. Cade was dumped to the outside and London hit the standing SSP for a win.
Winners: Mickie James and London & Kendrick via pin fall
We’ve got three left in the Diva Search and we get a video package putting it over. It’s sex machine Todd Grisham getting pwned by Divas. Todd Grisham, sex machine, is a GREAT gimmick for him. Nerdy sex machines rule in the most un-homosexual way possible of course.
****Commercial****
Jeff Hardy is in the back talking with Shawn Michaels about making an impact. HBK said Orton tried to end his career. He said god willing, he’d hit another super kick and bring home the title. Hardy said that would happen unless the fans wanted something different. HBK asked him what that was supposed to mean. Jeff said he’d do exactly what he’d do.
The World’s Greatest Tag Team is checking out the WWE Magazine with Cody Rhodes. It’s the 500th edition. Haas and Benjamin joked about that being the number of times Cody had been beaten by Bob Holly tonight. Benjamin said at least tonight, he’d get to get beat up by him instead of Holly. Cody said at least Holly looked like a killer with blonde hair. Benjamin took exception and said if Cody had blonde hair, he’d just be a skinnier, less talented version of his old man. Haas laughed in his face and walked off.
Regal was talking with Coach about Hornswaggle. Regal said McMahon might have double crossed him letting Hornswoggle do what he did to him last week. Coach begged for a match against Hornswoggle. He said the match would be good politics as he’d win allies in Steph, Shane and Vince because he was eating into their inheritance. Regal made the match. Coach cut in and said he had a better idea: Hornswoggle v. Umaga. Regal looked interested and walked off.
****Commercial****
Cody Rhodes v. Shelton Benjamin
Shelton laid a kick into Cody’s gut before bullying him back and taking him down to work the leg over a little bit. Shelton dropped a spinning leg drop onto Cody’s leg before draping it over the bottom rope and going to town on it.
Cody fought out of a headlock attempt but ended up eating a shin breaker and another boot to the leg. Cody fought back again and ate a kick to the throat but managed to hit a knee lift. Cody sold the leg nicely before connecting with a bulldog for a two count.
Haas tried to trip up Cody and distracted him briefly. Shelton looked for the roll up but Cody reversed the hold and got the three count.
Winner: Cody Rhodes via pin fall
Haas jumped him after the match and he and Shelton engaged in a little beat down action. Hardcore Holly came in for some beat down action and saved the day. The two stood strong in the ring while the WGTT looked despondent on the outside. Holly looked at Cody and gave him a reassuring nod before walking off.
Oh good lord. Umaga v. Hornswoggle is official. Awesome.
****Commercial****
Harry Smith is in the ring. Just in case you morons don’t know, he’s the son of Davey Boy. No really, he told us that. He’s dedicating the match to him tonight. Cute.
Harry Smith v. Carlito
The two exchanged some arm wringers before Harry showed us some cute bridge euro crap. Harry went for a pinning combo but only got a two count.
Harry floored Carlito with a shoulder block and killed him with a slam sorta thingy. Carlito wouldn’t take crap from this kid much longer though and hit a big spring board drop kick before chopping his nipples off and hitting a scoop slam for a two count.
Carlito slapped on a bow and arrow as the crowd rallied to Harry’s aide. Harry fought to his feet and hit a few forearms before getting nailed with a kick in the face and then a lariat to the teeth for another two count.
Carlito grabbed a headlock but Smith was able to break the hold in the corner and kill him with a European uppercut before making him eat a couple of drop kicks. Smith hit a great looking northern light suplex for a two count before catching a springboard elbow in the face.
Carlito leaped up on him in the corner only for Smith to catch him in a power slam and bury his back into the mat. Three seconds later, that’s all she wrote.
Winner: Harry Smith via pin fall
Candice and Beth are boob to boob in the back. Beth said she’d bring Candice to her knees. Candice said she’d be taking back her belt. She said Beth or anyone /* for that matter would never make her get down on her knees.
Umaga’s pumped up and on his way to the ring.
****Commercial****
A video recap of Hornswoggle’s antics with Coach last week aired. Nice little slap stick piece.
This match is going to rule. Umaga v. a Leprechaun.
Umaga v. Hornswoggle
Watching Umaga with celtic music playing in the back is glorious.
Hornswoggle refused to get in the ring and ran off to the back. It took two seconds before Triple H’s music hit and he came out with re-enforcements. These two look erotically excited to kill each other.
Here we go. Fight time. Ricky Steamboat and IRS break it up and we’re still ripping shirts and clobbering. I love wrestling. Lots of hate and wild-ness and we’ve got a great setup for Cyber Sunday.
****Commercial****
Umaga’s going nuts and it’s like King Kong with all the guys trying to calm him.
It’s time to introduce Diva Search skanks. I guess seeing as it’s only the first segment we’ve had to sit through, I’m ok with it. Leena is voted off and it’s incredibly short and ok.
There’s lots of dissention in the ranks tonight. Orton told Kennedy he wasn’t winning any votes. Orton’s manipulating like a mad man. Kennedy said he wanted to win every match he’s in. He said although that was the case tonight, he might have to make a statement. Orton called him his bitch. Kennedy called him a bitch. Neither man actually said bitch. Lots of bitches!
****Commercial****
Santino Marella (w/ Maria) v. Ron Simmons
Santino grabbed the mic and showed off the 500th issue of WWE magazine. Everyone’s in the mag he says. He called Lillian “Jullian Garcia” and then made fun of Steve Austin. He said the only got mentioned was Santino Marella, greatest superstar in WWE history. He says even Mantar is mentioned.
The matrix Save_us stuff aired and Marella was making fun of it. Marella said Austin had no guts unless there was a director there to protect him. He said if Austin ever showed up, he’d open up a can of the ‘ass-whip’ so bad. Good lord this kid is legendary on the mic.
Ron Simmons came down to ‘damn’ us all.
Marella connected with a few kicks only to get backed to the corner. Simmons connected with some big right hands before whipping Marella to the ropes and flooring him with a back elbow. Santino hit a take down and some nasty fore arms to the face before stomping away at our favorite star with so few words for a near fall.
Marella slapped on a rear chin lock before Simmons fought back and whipped him to the buckles before powering pizza boy all over the ring. Marella kicked him in the nuts for a DQ.
Winner: Ron Simmons via DQ
Marella said it was an accident, but we know it’s all crap.
Triple H is with Todd Grisham. Todd asked him about the Umaga brawl. Triple H said it didn’t matter what kind of match it would be. He said if it was his way, it’d be all three. He said he looked him in the eyes and he saw doubt. He said this Sunday, he’d see fear. He said we would know when it was all said and done, he would know he was in the ring with the one true destroyer, the King of Kings. He said in six days, no matter how the voting went, it would be time to play the game.
****Commercial****
Women’s Championship-- 2/3 Falls
Beth Phoenix v. Candice Michelle
Beth is smiling at her.
The two lock up and Phoenix powers her to the corner before mauling her with a back elbow. Beth commenced with the clubbing, reigning down some nasty shots before Candice used some quickness to get herself on the apron and hit a hurricanranna. Nice establishment piece.
Candice looked for the sunset flip but Beth picked her up and held her in the air before double choke slamming her ass down on the mat and pinning her. Quick, believable and short but sweet stuff.
Winner of Fall #1: Beth Phoenix via pin fall
****Commercial****
We came back to the match and Beth is killing Candice. Now she’s stretching her with a Boston crab. Everything Candice does, she gets killed. Candice fought off her back, kicking Beth off her long enough to get something going. Doesn’t last long though, as Beth knees her in the FACE.
Candice makes an AWESOME comeback and hit’s and caps it off with a crazy spinning lariat for a two count. Candice this a crazy kick to the gut and goes for a roll up but gets tossed off with ease. Candice is tossing the kitchen sink at Phoenix and can’t pin her.
Finally, she’s looking for the big top rope move but Beh knocks her hard off the top rope and KO’s her. Seriously that was scary. Candice looks dead. I mean seriously f-ing dead. I don’t know if that’s a work or serious. She’s out. Beth drags her dead body to the middle of the ring by the hair and pins her. Holy crap.
Winner of Fall #2: Beth Phoenix via pin fall
Candice is sitting up and I’m more relived than anything. She looks retarded sitting up in the ring. Definitely a concussion. Seriously crazy match. She’s talking to the trainers but she looks like she’s got zero clue where she is. They brought the stretcher out to take her off. It’s not a work. She’s pretty hurt.
****Commercial****
Randy Orton & Mr. Kennedy v. Shawn Michaels & Jeff Hardy
Kennedy and Michaels are starting it off.
The two lock horns and back into the corner. The ref breaks and Kennedy doesn’t as he goes to town on HBK in the corner with some right hands. HBK turns the tide with some chops up against the rope before flying off the ropes and hitting a sloppy neck breaker.
HBK hit the snap mare and then stopped on Kennedy’s face for fun. Hardy tagged in and hit an axe handle before taking him down to the mat. Jeff looked for an elbow drop and drove it into Kennedy’s shoulder for a two count. The momentum was short lived though as Hardy went for the splash in the corner and missed.
The WWE champion tagged into the match and immediately began to dismantle Jeff Hardy in only a way that Hardy allows himself to be dismantled. Orton hit some pummeling blows before Jeff fought back. Orton reversed an Irish whip and absolutely massacred Hardy with a lariat for a two count.
Kennedy tagged in and dropped some elbows for a two count before eating a boot in the face. Hardy FLEW across the ring and tagged in HBK and went right into his victory sequence. He looked for the elbow but Orton attempted a cheap shot. HBK knocked him off the apron but Kennedy was able to capitalize and deck him with a right hand before tagging in the champion.
Orton hit some straight right hands on HBK on the mat The two exchanged blows in the middle of the ring before Orton reversed a whip and sent HBK careening off the corner buckles. Kennedy tagged in and went for a cover but only got two.
Kennedy slapped on an abdominal stretch on the mat as the crowd attempted to rally HBK to his feet. He fought to his feet but not before Kennedy hit a nasty looking back breaker on Michaels, showing some strength before doing it ONE MORE TIME for a two count.
HBK fought out of a Green Bay Plunge attempt but got caught with a back elbow for another two count. The Champion tagged back in and went right into the big Garvin stomp. Orton gloated a bit before HBK sprung to his feet and bum rushed him, but only to do so into the wrong corner. Kennedy tagged in legally and pummeled Michaels on the mat and got a two count.
Orton tagged in and hit a punch to the gut before hitting a rear naked choke on Michaels. HBK fought back and we’ve got a strike battle in the middle of the ring. Orton hit a drop toe hold and hit an enzeguiri to leave both laid out. Hardy cheered him on and got the hot tag.
Hardy was a house of fire and hit his forearm before pummeling Kennedy on the mat. He hit is mule kick and springboard drop kick for an awesome near fall that was broken up by Orton. HBK took out Orton while the two youngsters took it home. Hardy hit whisper in the wind and looked for the Swanton before Kennedy cut him off and battled him on the top rope. Hardy shoved him off and nailed the Swanton bomb for the win.
Winners: Jeff Hardy and Shawn Michaels via pin fall
Orton sneaked up on Hardy and went for an RKO but JUST as he turned around, Michaels decked him with sweet chin music. That’s three. HBK stood over Orton’s body as we went off the air. RAW THOUGHTSShow Thoughts-- Wow. Super solid Raw. In fact, I’d say it’s probably the best pre-pay per view show the company’s put on since the lead in Raw to Wrestlemania. Everything was solid so it’s like running down a laundry list.
First and foremost, the women’s match was sensational for the five minutes it got. Really, it was. Beth just looked like a serial killer. The bump at the end was the punctuation on a match that was WAY better then I expected. The picture of Beth dragging a LEGIT cold cocked Candice to the middle of the ring by her hair and pinning her… man.
The main event for the pay per view was built super well with HBK hitting the trifecta on Orton. Oddly enough, despite getting pwned the last few weeks, Orton still looks really strong heading into the pay per view. Hardy and Kennedy got plenty of time to look like way less than afterthoughts in all of this to boot. Really, great stuff.
The Umaga-Triple H brawl was SO mid-80s NWA hate it makes 80s buffs like myself swoon. They have a unique chemistry together and it should make for a fun match on Sunday.
The lower part of the card delivered also, with a fun greeny match with Smith and Carlito as well as a fun promo, match and twist from Holly, Cody and the World’s Greatest Tag Team. Santino’s skit was great with the tease for the Jericho return to boot.
There’s not much more to say other than the fact that everything just worked and flowed super-well tonight and WWE did what it needed to in order to build for a usually lame pay per view.
Overall Grade: B+
Quick Results
Mickie James, London & Kendrick def. Melina, Cade & Murdoch
Cody Rhodes v. Shelton Benjamin
Harry Smith def. Carlito
Ron Simmons def. Santino Marella
Beth Phoenix def. Candice Michelle
Shawn Michaels & Jeff Hardy def. Randy Orton & Ken Kennedy
Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?
Biggest Pops
1. Shawn Michaels
2. Triple H
3. Jeff Hardy
4. Candice Michelle
Most Heat
1. Randy Orton
2. Umaga
3. Mr. Kennedy
4. Santino Marella
Match of the Night: Beth Phoneix v. Candice Michelle **3/4
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: Randy Orton 16-23-2 40pts. (Last Week: WWE Champion) -- Orton has another bad night on the results end, but despite it all, still comes out looking like the guy to beat. No idea why, but he did.
Intercontinental Champion: Jeff Hardy 30-14, 58 points (Last Week: IC Champion)— Hardy had a strong night. He was decent enough on the stick and put on a good performance in a non-punching bag role in the tag main event. Odd, but he worked well tonight.
1. Shawn Michaels 12-7-1, 22 points (Last Week: 2) — The stuff he was doing tonight clicked because he gave motive for wanting to get at Orton. Sure we should all know it by now, but it’s still important to set stuff up, even if it means re-interating the obvious. He did it and it worked way better than it has the last two weeks.
2. Umaga 20-15-1, 43 Points (Last Week: 1) — While Umaga might not be mind-blowingly good every night, he’s always consistently decent and that brawl with Triple H was a good way to put them on even footing for their match at Cyber Sunday.
3. Triple H 10-3, 26pts (Last Week: 3) -- A nice brawl and intensity from Triple H that we don’t always get with him in this role. He seems to be slowly learning how to work as an effective face. Tonight’s brawl with Umaga made me buy him for whatever reason.
4. Ken Kennedy 5-8-1, 10 pts (Last Week: 7)-- I thought tonight was a solid step in the right direction for Kennedy. The problem with him in the past few months has been that they focus on his weaknesses rather than his HUGE selling point, which is his mic work. They limited his stuff between the ropes while letting him work the mic like a mad man. He came off much more legit because of it.
5. Paul London 8-5, 10pts. (Last Week: 8) -- Gets another pin over the tag champs, but like the champs, don’t seem to have much of a direction. I’d really like to see them DOING something with these guys than just flopping them in matches and letting them flip and bump all over the place. It’s not a totally ineffective use of them, it’s just that considering how strong they book them, we could use some more direction from them.
6. Brian Kendrick, 7-6, 9 pts (Last Week: 6)-- See London.
7. Carlito 13-17-4, 23 pts. (Last Week: 4) -- Definitely taking a spill this week, losing to green horn Harry Smith. Looks like he might be back on jobber detail.
8. Trevor Murdoch 9-15, 17pts. (Last Week: 5)-- It’s a shame these guys just float around like they do. I seriously think they could be one of the better acts on the show if given some definitive direction.
9. Lance Cade 9-15, 14pts. (Last Week: 6)-- See Murdoch.
10. Hardcore Holly 3-0, 6 pts. (Last Week: NR) — It’s tough for me to knock him out of the top 10 this week. Sure, Cody got a win, but it was Holly that comes away looking like the difference maker. I’ll keep him here by a hair this week.
OTHERS :
John Cena (28-9-1, 72 points) (Last Week: WWE Champion)
Cody Rhodes 6-5 10pts. (Last Week: NR)
Snitsky 5-1, 10pts. (Last Week: 9)
William Regal 3-1, 5pts (Last Week: NR)
Ron Simmons 2-0, 4pts. (Last Week: NR)
King Booker 3-6, 6 pts. (Last Week: NR)
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 3-17-1, 3pts. (Last Week: NR)
Charlie Haas 2-11-1, 1pts. (Last Week: NR)
Rory 2-5, 3pts. (Last Week: NR)
Robbie 1-7 1pt. (Last Week: NR)
Jim Duggan 1-4, 2pts. (Last Week: NR)
Val Venis 0-5 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)
Harry Smith 1-0, 2 pts. (Last Week:NR)