On Monday, April 21, 2008 at 11:39 PM EST WWE RAW
April 21, 2008
Greenville, SC
Commentators: Jim Ross & Jerry “The King” Lawler
Reported By: Hunter Golden of WrestleView.com
The opening pyro hit and JR and King ran down tonight’s list of fun shenanigans. Lillian’s in the ring and she’s going ga-ga over the return of the King of the Ring Tournament. And by the way, it’s time for the first match!
King of the Ring Quarter Final Match #1
Chris Jericho v. MVP
The two circled it up and locked horns. MVP took Jericho down to the mat and the two rolled around on each other before Jericho got up and was equally aggressive with Porter. Jericho hung MVP up on the top rope before flinging himself through the bottom rope and hitting a drop kick in the face of Porter.
MVP caught Jericho chasing him into the ring and hit a sit out elbow for a quick cover. MVP stayed on Jericho and slapped on a modified version of an abdominal stretchy and kept smashing away at Y2J’s face in the process. Jericho fought out of the hold and the two exchanged relatively harmless strikes until Porter hit a nice looking belly to belly suplex on the IC Champion for a two count.
The two exchanged some fun chain wrestling before MVP beheaded Jericho with a big boot for another two count. Jericho looked for a cross body, but MVP caught him and dropped him for a fall away slam. Jericho fought off the cobwebs quickly though and uncorked a vicious clothesline on the US champion. MVP hit some right hands but not before Jericho nailed him with a bulldog.
Jericho went for the lion sault but MVP avoided it. MVP went to finish the match himself but Jericho countered out into the walls of Jericho and shortly thereafter, MVP tapped.
Winner: Chris Jericho via pin fall
After the match, Jericho sat on the throne pretending to be king.
****Commercial****
King of the Ring Quarter Final Match #2
CM Punk v. Matt Hardy
Net dorks everywhere have an erection.
The two tied it up before Hardy grabbed an arm wringer. Punk fought out with some not-so-friendly elbows before hitting a swinging neck breaker for a quick two count. Punk kept up the pressure and slapped on a rear chin lock.
Punk rushed Hardy to the corner eventually and laid into Hardy with some knees before perching Hardy on the top rope. Matt fought him off before bounding off the second rope with a flying axe handle of doom. Hardy knocked Punk down before whipping him and hitting the clothesline-bulldog combo. Punk countered though and sent Hardy into the corner and hit the knee to the face and his own bulldog for a two count.
Punk went for a Go 2 Sleep before Hardy countered out and hit the side effect. Hardy looked for the twist of fate but Punk countered into Go 2 Sleep. Hardy rolled out and looked for the sunset flip, but Punk sat out and held the roll for the three count.
Winner: CM Punk via pin fall
****Commercial****
We got a little Obama-Hillary smash-facery on a video game.
JR and King recapped the loveliness from last week between Orton, JBL, Triple H & Cena.
JBL said tonight the WWE would crown the WWE King of the Ring. He said Sunday would be his coronation as WWE Champion. He said he would survive. He said the cream always rises to the crop. JBL’s even on the cover of the New York Times Business section. He said the torch he passed will finally come home.
****Commercial****
King of the Ring Tournament Quarter Final #3
The Great Khali v. Finlay
Finlay went right at Khali cut quickly ate a monstrous lariat and body slam. Khali missed a leg drop allowing Finlay to come back at him. Khali grabbed him by the throat and quickly tossed him into the corner before Finlay mounted the second rope.
Finlay swooped off only to get booted straight in the face on the way down. Hornswaggle came into the ring with the sheleighleigh but Finlay was able to protect him. Khali took hold of Finlay and nailed him in the head with the big chop before going to the outside and wrapping Finlay’s leg around the post. He kept on slamming it off the post repeatedly and after several attempts to break up the fun, the official disqualified him.
Winner: Finlay via DQ
Big Show’s music hit and he came down the ramp to break up the party. Khali postured and posed on the outside.
****Commercial****
King of the Ring Tournament Quarter Final #4
William Regal v. Hornswoggle
Regal’s not only a shocking entrant, but Hornswoggle is pretty shocking, too. Regal slaps on a Regal stretch in like five seconds and that’s that. Looks like Regal-Finlay in the semi-finals.
Winner: William Regal via submission
Finlay tried to make the save later on, but Regal stomped right on his knee and walked off.
Here’s your semi-final match ups:
Jericho
------------------Jericho(submission)
MVP
-------------------------------------
Matt Hardy
------------------CM Punk (pin fall)
CM Punk
-------------------------------------------------------------
Great Khali
------------------Finlay (disqualification)
Finlay
-------------------------------------
Regal
-------------------Regal (submission)
Hornswaggle
****Commercial****
A video recap of the WWE’s European Tour aired.
HBK’s music hit and he came out to the entrance ramp. He said he thought facing Batista would be one of the last things he’d ever do, but sure enough, here we were. He said he had a few questions to ask the big man, so he asked that he come on down to the ring. Batista sauntered down to the ring and here we go.
HBK asked him if his problem was that he was the guy who faced Flair at Wrestlemania and not him. Batista told him it wasn’t about Ric, it was about ‘you and me’. Batista said he respected where he was at in his career but doesn’t like how he got here. He said six days out from the match, he was sick and tired of hearing stuff and talking. He said Michaels could make all the accusations he wanted, the one thing he couldn’t run away from was that on Sunday, he’d finish Shawn for good.
Michaels said he appreciated his honesty. He said since they were being so honest, he would be honest and he said he was indeed everything Batista said he was. He said we’ve talked about he blood on his hands and he said that’s called collateral damage. He said he probably distracted by his title match with Taker, but he’d better realize that he’d be facing the guy who’d do anything to win on Sunday. He wished him luck, because he was going to need it.
The two shook hands and HBK even feigned a super kick, but Batista didn’t move anywhere. He smiled and Michaels and bumped him on his way out of the ring, totally un-intimidated by him. Michaels looked a little surprised.
****Commercial****
Hillary Clinton is on Raw. No, I’m not joking.
Carlito v. Hardcore Holly
The two started off with some exchanges before Holly laid Carlito out with a body slam for a two count. Holly bullied Carlito into the corner and laid in some boots before hitting an irish whip. Carlito caught him with a boot to the grill on the way in, but got hit with an atomic drop.
The two had an exchange in the ropes before Carlito hit a knee lift. He went for a cover attempt before slapping on the usual rear chin lock. Holly fought to his feet and elbowed out of it before laying in some nasty rights to the face of Carlito. He flung him into the ropes but Carlito countered with a nice drop kick for a two count.
Carlito kept up the pressure, hitting some elbows to the back. Carlito hit a scoop slam but only got a one count on the cover. Carlito slapped on the good old bow and arrow as the crowd attempted to rally Holly. Carlito hit a knee to the gut and slammed Holly’s head off the buckles before whipping Holly into the buckles across the ring. Holly avoided the splash and landed a hard right hand. The two duked it out in the middle of the ring before Holly leveled him with a forearm.
Holly grabbed Carlito and kicked him in the junk before lining him up for the Alabama Slam. Carlito countered out though and hit a huge back snapper and that’s that.
Winner: Carlito via pin fall
Santino’s on the mic. He said these-a to guys better get used to this. He called Cody gay before Cody hit him with a mic in the head and we’ve got a mini-feud.
****Commercial****
Triple H is in the back. He said all four guys could stand in the back and shoot their mouths off and talk about why they were the best. He said this Sunday, they get to prove it. They said one will emerge as the standard bearer, the best of the very best. He said one would emerge as the WWE Champion. He said right now, with every bit of his being, that person will definitely be him. He said it was up to Cena, Orton and JBL to prove him wrong.
King of the Ring Semi Final #1
Chris Jericho v. CM Punk
Jericho grabbed a headlock and took Punk down to the mat. We had a fun chain wrestling segment before the two stared each other down. The two had a big exchange before Jericho totally whiffed on the springboard drop kick. CM Punk went for a springboard move of his own, but Jericho drop kicked the ropes and Punk crashed and burned pretty bad.
Jericho stretched Punk out on his knee after a back breaker. Punk eventually fought out and hit a nice wheel kick for a two count before going on the offense. Jericho went for a quick roll up but Punk reversed it. COUNTER MANIA~
Jericho went for the Walls but Punk fought it off only to get tagged with an enzeguiri for a two count. Punk hit a nifty power slam on a counter for a near fall of his own before gathering Jericho and hitting some muy thai knees. He whipped Jericho only to eat a boot and a nasty bulldog.
Jericho went for the lion sault, but Punk blocked it. AH HAH! Not so fast, Jericho held on for the Walls of Jericho. Punk came darn close to tapping but broke the hold. The two had a pretty wild exchange that resulted in Punk carrying Jericho off the top rope and nailing Go 2 Sleep for the win.
Winner: CM Punk via pin fall
Barrack Obama is next!
****Commercial****
Obama asks us if we know what he’s cookin’.
King of the Ring Semi Final #2
Finlay v. William Regal
Finlay grabbed a go behind, but Regal went right for the leg. Finlay tried to keep him away from it and was able to monkey flip Regal into the ropes. Regal went under the ropes and Finlay chased. Regal tossed Finlay knee first into the ring steps before dumping him back into the ring.
Regal kept hammering away at the leg before hammering away at the head of the Irish man. Regal kicked the leg of Finlay before dragging him out of the corner. Finlay fired up though and came back with some business of his own and grabbed a roll up but Regal kicked out.
Finlay hit his sit out across the chest of Regal for another quick one count. Finlay draped Regal on his shoulders but Regal fought out. The two laid ‘em in on each other in the middle of the ring before using the hair to leverage a back slide. Regal kicked out and immediately nailed a kick to Finlay’s head. He wrapped the Irishman in a Regal stretch and Finlay passed out.
Winner: William Regal via submission
Here’s your brackets:
Jericho
------------------Jericho(submission)
MVP
------------------------------------------------CM Punk (pin fall)
Matt Hardy
------------------CM Punk (pin fall)
CM Punk
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Great Khali
------------------Finlay (disqualification)
Finlay
------------------------------------------------William Regal (submission)
Regal
-------------------Regal (submission)
Hornswaggle
Still to come is the eight man tag team match later on tonight!
****Commercial****
Cena says it’s human nature to talk. He said we heard from JBL and all about his accomplishments. He said we heard from the Game and is begging to be proven wrong. He said later, we’d hear from the one man dynasty. He said he’ll likely talk about how he’d be victorious. He said he talks to send a message to the other three. He said he’s got as good a chance as winning as anyone /*, but these guys need to understand that they’ve gotta go through him to get there. He said by looking in his eyes, they’ll know that they’re going to have to earn it. He said he was locked, loaded and ready to bring down the thunder. Also, cheese puffs.
****Commercial****
Hillary Clinton v. Barrack Obama
This would be a lot better if it was a “Presidency on a Pole” match.
Hillary said this election meant many things to many people. Bill Clinton is with her and posing. She’s disappointed and whatnot. She cuts a promo and then “If ya smell…. What Barrack is cookin!”
“Finally, Barrack has COME BACK. To South Carolina..” He calls them roody poo jabronies. He asks them what they THINK and then of course cuts them off. This was fun pre-match stupidity.
Whoever this Clinton guy is should get an academy award. He’s seriously hilarious.
Hillary got a take down and then a kick to the gut before unloading with a not so nice body slam followed by a monster thigh drop for a two count. Obama came back with a knee lift and coiled up. It’s a ‘Barrack bottom” and he freaking leveled her with it. Like that boarders on domestic violence.
Obama went for a people’s elbow but got tripped up by Bill on the outside. The ref’s counting to ten.. Umaga’s music hits and this just officially became the greatest segment in WWE history.
I can’t wait until my co-workers asked me what I watched on TV last night:
“So how was that wrestling stuff you watch?”
“Oh it was pretty cool. Umaga beat up Democrats”.
****Commercial****
All the baby face divas are in the ring and they introduce us to the new Women’s Champion Mickie James.
Maria said the girls wanted to congratulate her. She said this was a shining example of not quitting and never saying never. She said she proved everyone wrong. She kept on talking before the heel Divas come out led by Beth.
Beth said Mickie might have the title. She said the question wasn’t ‘if’ she would win the belt, it was ‘when’. She said she could celebrate her fluke victory with the inferior divas. She said it was a slap in the face.
Michelle McCool didn’t like that and said she was wrong, that it wasn’t a slap in the face, THIS was a slap. A pier six brawl broke out and the heels and baby faces brawled until Mickie tossed Beth.
It’s going to be CM Punk v. William Regal for the King of the Ring.
****Commercial*****
King of the Ring Finals
CM Punk v. William Regal
Regal bullied Punk to the corner only for the ref to break it up and punt Regal in the face before dropping a knee on his face. He went for the bulldog, but Regal lifted him up and suplexed him for a two count. Regal slapped on a bow and arrow in Punk’s hurting.
The two exchanged some brutal strikes before Punk went for a cover and only got a two count. Punke looked for a Go 2 Sleep attempt but Regal held on to the top rope. After a struggle, Regal nailed Punk in the face with a knee and went for the Regal stretch. Punk resisted but Regal kept on smashing him in the back of the head with elbows and finally cinched the hold in. Soon enough, Punk tapped out.
Winner and NEW King of the Ring: William Regal via submission
Regal is exhausted and sitting on his throne looking evil.
Here is your final bracket:
Jericho
------------------Jericho(submission)
MVP
------------------------------------------------CM Punk (pin fall)
Matt Hardy
------------------CM Punk (pin fall)
CM Punk
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------William Regal
Great Khali (Submission)
------------------Finlay (disqualification)
Finlay
------------------------------------------------William Regal (submission)
Regal
-------------------Regal (submission)
Hornswaggle
****Commercial****
WWE Champion Randy Orton is in the ring and says he’s tired of watching everyone talk about being a champion come Backlash. Orton said he didn’t have anything to say except for No Mercy, Survivor Series, Armageddon, Royal Rumble, No Way Out, and even Wrestlemania XXIV. All places he had successful championship victories. He said at Backlash, he’d remain the WWE Champion.
JBL came out as did his heel partners.
****Commercial****
Eight Man Tag Team Match
Randy Orton, Edge, Chavo Guererro & JBL v. Triple H, John Cena, The Undertaker & Kane
It looks like it’ll be Orton-Taker to start it off but nope, it’s Edge whose all sneaky.
Taker scores first with a big clothesline before going old school on Edge.
****Commercial****
We came back to Triple H getting smoked by an Edge spear, leaving both laid out on the mat. Cena got the hot tag and began smashing Edge all around the ring. The ref was distracted while Chavo pulled the top rope down, sending Cena clattering head first to the floor.
The heels immediately pounced and began to work over Cena. Orton hit some shots before tagging in JBL who hit a boot and a side Russian leg sweep. JBL hit a lariat for a two count before tagging in Edge. Edge brutally stomped Cena on the ropes before slapping on a front face lock.
Cena powered to his feet before Edge beheaded him with a big boot for a two count. Orton tagged in and slapped on a nasty rear choke on Cena. Cena backed Orton into the corner before the champion came out of the corner and both hit a double clothesline.
Kane caught the hot tag and took out the oncoming Chavo. He hit a super high back body drop on Chavo before cleaning house and connecting with a freaking awesome side slam. He mounted the top turnbuckle and hit his lariat, but the heels made the save.
All hell broke loose and it’s Kane and Chavo alone. Chavo hit the DDT and went for the frog splash but Kane caught him. Chavo fought him off and went for the big splash, but Kane caught him and choke slammed him. He turned around only to get nailed by an Edge spear. Edge made the cover and that’s all she wrote.
Winners: Edge, Chavo Guererro, Randy Orton & JBL via pin fall
Cena came into the ring and FU’d Edge for fun. Triple H came in and he and Cena went at it. Triple H loaded up the pedigree only to get nailed with a clothesline from hell from JBL. Orton hit an RKO on Cena and turned around to face JBL. Taker broke up the love fest and hit a double choke slam and stood tall as the last man standing.RAW THOUGHTSShow Thoughts-- Well, this was a pretty fantastic show. We got some good pay per view building spots, a ridiculously funny comedy segment and some pretty great TV matches.
The segments for the most part, were pretty good tonight. It’s nice they’re trying to build a little heat behind the Beth-Mickie feud and bring all the other Divas along so everyone gets the rub. All in all, pretty well done.
The HBK-Batista stick stuff has been pretty sensational, even though the content is a little heavy for your typical wrestling feud. Batista has been pretty great on pay per view in the past year and a half or so and I have faith that HBK will bring the best out of him. On paper this should be sensational and given the build and the work of both lately, I expect it to be very good.
The Obama-Hillary stuff was hilarious. It wasn’t Rosie-Trump train wreck stuff, just fun, utterly harmless, stupid entertainment. The Bill Clinton impersonator stole the show and the fact that Umaga was brought in just made it a greatly funny comedy segment. It wasn’t for everyone, but on a three hour show, it made for a good respite from the usual.
The King of the Ring Tournament was excellent and it’s hard to figure out where to begin. I thought all of the first round matches were very good minus of course, the Regal-Hornswaggle match. What stuck out to me the most, was the overall intensity in every match. All the guys wrestled like their lives depended on it, and really, you can’t ask for much more than what we got.
I know some people might be scratching their head at Regal winning, but all in all, it was the best move. Regal’s sort of evolved into this ‘off to the side’ guy that is used more as a measuring stick for most of the upper card guys despite the fact that he’s never held a world title. His holding the King of the Ring title will be good to give his matches a little more ‘oomph’ behind them. Furthermore, I see some big feuds popping up for him in the future, and I think the guy they may go with would be John Cena. It’d give him something good to do away from the title for a little while and do nothing but help both, IMO, despite both not really needing any. All in all, I think it’s a good move that leaves it up in the air as to what they’ll do with it down the line.
The eight man tag was a ton of fun and had some molten heat to go with it. All eight brought the goods and they worked the match around everyone’s strengths and sent us off with a hot segment to leave us with leading into Backlash.
All in all, a really strong Raw that probably not up there with the BEST episodes I’ve ever seen, was still really great and had little to nothing wrong with it.
Overall Grade: A-
Quick Results
Chris Jericho def. MVP
CM Punk def. Matt Hardy
Finlay def. The Great Khali
William Regal def. Hornswaggle
Carlito def. Hardcore Holly
CM Punk def. Chris Jericho
William Regal def. Finlay
William Regal def. CM Punk to WIN the King of the Ring Tournament
Edge, Randy Orton, JBL & Chavo Guererro def. Undertaker, Triple H, John Cena & Kane
Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?
Biggest Pops
1. Chris Jericho
2. John Cena
3. Triple H
4. John Cena
Most Heat
1. Randy Orton
2. JBL
3. William Regal
4. MVP
Match of the Night: Chris Jericho v. MVP ***, William Regal v. Finlay ***
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 8-6, 17pts. (Last Week: WWE Champion) -- You know you’ve had a good reign when the three Presidential Candidates put you over in every one of their speeches. I expect him to win on Sunday, keeping him strong.
Intercontinental Champion: Chris Jericho 8-8, 18pts. (Last Week: IC Champion)-- Jericho had arguably the two best matches on the card tonight with two guys who all things considered, are considerably less experienced than him. He got knocked out in the Semi-Finals, but put on a heck of a show in the process.
1. Shawn Michaels 10-2, 16pts. (Last Week: 1) -- Really, barring Orton dropping the belt, Michaels is locked in as the #1 contender in my eyes unless of course, Batista derails him at Backlash. More good mic work from him tonight.
2. Triple H 9-5, 15pts.(Last Week: 2) -- Sort of run of the mill for him tonight, but all in all, a solid outing for the Game.
3. JBL 5-8, 10 points (Last Week: 4)-- JBL’s really shined in this four way feud even though the thunder in the mini-push was taken away a bit thanks to the addition of both Triple H and Cena. Still, he’s been great most of the way through this.
4. John Cena 8-4, 11 points. (Last Week: 3) -- His selling was off the charts in the tag match tonight and he was bumping his brains out. The loss though, moves him down a notch.
5. Umaga 5-7, 10 points (Last Week: 6) -- “How was Raw last night?” “Um, Pretty Good. Umaga spiked some Democrats.”
6. Carlito 8-4, 12 pts. (Last Week: 7) -- Another win from Carlito tonight solidifies his spot, for now, as the top of the lower mid card.
7. Santino Marella 4-2, 4 points (Last Week: 8) -- More fun stuff on the mic tonight, but otherwise, a quiet night.
<8>William Regal 3-2 6 points (Last Week: NR)-- Really sensational stuff from Regal all night which leads to his winning the King of the Ring tournament. He’s got some do-ing to lift him higher up the list, but a massive step in the right direction for him tonight.
9. Ken Kennedy 5-5, 11pts. (Last Week: 7)-- Not in action tonight.
10. Jeff Hardy 5-5, 9pts. (Last Week: 9)-- Suspended
OTHERS :
Paul London 2-3, 2 points(Last Week: NR)--
Cody Rhodes 2-3, 2 points (Last Week: NR)
Jerry Lawler 0-1, 0 points (Last Week: NR)
Lance Cade 0-4, 0 points (Last Week: NR)
Hardcore Holly 3-4, 3pts. (Last Week: NR)
Brian Kendrick, 2-7, 2 points (Last Week: NR)
Trevor Murdoch 0-6, 0 points (Last Week: NR)
Super Crazy 0-3, 0 points (Last Week: NR)
Paul Birchall 3-0, 6 points (Last Week: 10)
Harry Smith 0-1, 0 points (Last Week: NR)
Jim Duggan 0-1, 0 points (Last Week: NR)
Rory 0-2, 0 points (Last Week: NR)
Charlie Haas 0-1, 0 points (Last Week: NR)
Robbie 0-2, 0 points (Last Week: NR)
Mick Foley 1-0, 1 point (Last Week: NR)
Sgt. Slaughter 0-0. 0 pts. (Last Week: NR)
Val Venis 0-1 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
Snitsky 1-4, 2 points (Last Week: NR)
JTG 1-0, 3 points (Last Week: NR)
Big Shaad 0-0, 0 points (Last Week: NR)