On Monday, August 11, 2008 at 11:47 PM EST WWE RAW
August 11, 2008
Richmond, VA
Commentators: Michael Cole & Jerry “The King” Lawler
Reported By: Hunter Golden of WrestleView.com
A video putting over the Cena-Batista happenings aired.
John Cena’s music hit and he came down to the ring. Cena cut a promo about his match with Batista at Summerslam. He said Mike Adamle had been trying to get him to help him out in terms of hyping the match. After a long soliloquy, Cena said we didn’t need gimmicks or any funny stuff like that. All we needed was Batista and John Cena in the same ring together and thus invited Batista out to the ring.
Cena said tonight they’d be allies, but at Summerslam they’d be allies. Cena said this match was six years in the making. Batista was groomed for success by some of the all time greats. Cena pulled himself up by the bootstraps and did it himself. Either way, they were the two best.
Batista said he’d been watching Cena, too. They’d both won Royal Rumble matches. They’d both won main events at Wrestlemania. He’s seen standing ovations and get boo’d out of the building and throughout all of that, he never changed who he was and he respected that. He said he wouldn’t be caught dead doing some of the things Cena did, but he admitted it gets the job done.
He said however, he was willing to bet that everyone above the age of 15 was ready to see him beat the crap out of Cena at Summerslam. Cena didn’t like that. After feigning a shot to the face, Cena shook his hand and walked off.
****Commercial****
A video aired covering the major cable awards Raw received this past weekend.
Kelly Kelly v. Beth Phoenix
Santino called Michael Cole “Michael Cole”. Line of the year.
Kelly came right at Beth and dove on her back but Beth quickly chucked her over her head. Kelly cart-wheeled back and went for a roll up, but only got a one count. Kelly got shot into the ropes and maybe that was supposed to be a back drop, but didn’t end up that week.
Beth went for a cover and got a one count before she military pressed Kelly only for the spry blonde to roll through and snag a roll up for a two count. The momentum didn’t last at all as Kelly found herself snared in the double under-hook before eating the face buster.
Winner: Beth Phoenix via pin fall
Santino entered the ring and tried to get Beth to send a message to Mickie. Mickie and Kofi chased the two off and after some jaw-jacking, Santino challenged Mickie to a match. She accepts.
****Commercial****
Mickie James v. Santino Marella
We came back to Mickie countering Santino pretty well. She hit a drop toe hold and rode Santino around the ring for a little while before hitting an arm drag. Santino stopped goofing around and hit a body slam, but almost blew his knees out going for a knee drop.
Mickie went right at the leg until the official stepped in and pulled her off. Santino kicked Kofi on the outside to cause a referee distraction. Beth snuck into the ring and tossed Mickie into the ring post allowing Santino to snag a roll up with a handful of tights for the win.
Winner: Santino Marella via pin fall
Mike Adamle was talking about being Ronald Reagan and whatnot. Kane walked in and Adamle said he was taking on Chris Jericho tonight. He was also going to see what was in Kane’s bag by the end of the night. Kane told him it’s a huge mistake.
****Commercial****
Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase were in the back after a WWE Classics segment. Rhodes said people like him and Dibiase were respectful of history. They learned a lot from it. Dibiase said the two had the gall to talk about who ‘the man’ was and who the main event was, when the two of them were clearly the biggest thing in the WWE. He said none of that mattered to them. What mattered was tonight. Cena and Batista aren’t a team, but Dibiase and Rhodes are.
****Commercial****
Cryme Tyme v. The Highlanders
After a back and forth exchange to get things going, the Highlanders were able to knock JTG to the floor and work him over enough for a one count on the cover attempt. Rory worked a hammer lock on JTG but was quickly back dropped.
Shaad hit the hot tag and clothes-lined the on-coming Robbie before hitting a long standing vertical suplex. After booting Rory over the top rope, he nailed the big slam for the victory.
Winner: Cryme Tyme via pin fall
JBL’s apparently issuing a challenge to CM Punk for Summerslam. It’s a challenge Punk can’t win.
****Commercial****
JBL’s music hit and he rode his limo out to the stage and made his way down to the ring. World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk followed shortly thereafter.
JBL said before he beat him at this contest, he was happy to inform him his pathetic World title run was over. Punk told him to shut up and he was so tired of hearing the old, tired argument since he became champion and he was going to say it clearly. He said the world title was around his waist because he earned it. He said for those slower out there, Summerslam is right around the corner and last time he checked…
JBL said he held the title on Smackdown longer than both of them. JBL said he built this business and wanted to know what exactly Punk’s merits were. He said he broke in with a crappy Indy promotion out in Chicago, joined ECW because they couldn’t find anyone who didn’t wrestle in a bingo hall, was drafted to Raw on a fluke and cashed in on a beat down. He said he was just a Cinderella.
JBL showed him a bottle of Jack Daniels and said he wanted him to take a drink. He wanted to know that this champion was willing to check everything at the door even if that meant checking his values and morals in, in order to stay champion.
After pondering it, Punk whipped out the soap box and put over how he was who he was because of what he believed in and that he didn’t need to check it in for JBL. He’d be just fine.
JBL shot back and after an exchange, Punk tossed the whiskey into his face and JBL reeled back. Punk posed with the belt, mocking JBL as he wiggled around on the mat.
****Commercial****
Kane v. Chris Jericho
Jericho went right at Kane only to get tossed back with ease. Kane hit a slam and a low drop kick before gathering Jericho and ramming him into the turnbuckles. Kane went to drop an elbow but Jericho moved out of the way and went for an Irish whip, but Kane instead just elected to chuck him over the top rope and to the floor.
On the outside, Kane chucked Jericho into the ring steps before tossing him back in the ring. Lance Cade tried to help out a little, allowing Jericho to hit a springboard drop kick on Cade. He stomped away at Kane’s head on the mat. Jericho rather stupidly tried a side headlock but Kane was able to power out of the move.
Kane hit his big lariat in the corner before missing up on a second follow through. Jericho rolled through and went for the Walls of Jericho, but Kane powered out and hit a sidewalk slam. Kane went to the top rope, but Jericho cut him off only to get tossed to the mat. Kane flew off the ropes and connected with a clothesline before Raw GM Mike Adamle and security came waltzing down to get the burlap sack Kane had. Kane hit a huge big boot on Jericho in the ring before gripping his bag and yelling ‘no’. It gave Jericho the opening he needed as he bounded across the ring and hit the code breaker for the win.
Winner: Chris Jericho via pin fall
Kane is on the mat clutching the bag as Jericho celebrated. Adamle had a mic and got into the ring. He said he knew what was in that bag and he knew who he was referring to when he was asking is he alive or dead. He said ‘he’ was indeed Kane and the monster inside of him. Adamle said he tried to be a normal person, but he just couldn’t do it. He said deep down inside he was struggling for that answer, but when he made the declaration that ‘he was dead’, he proved that he can exorcize his demons and lead a normal life. He said he’d do it by giving him that bag. He said he knew what was inside but the people deserved to know what was in there.
He said it was time to stop fooling around. Adamle quoted Ronald Reagan weirdly and asked him to hand him that bag. Kane took the mic and said there was a mask in the bag. He said the man who wore it was scarred, tortured and damaged beyond all human recognition. He said the problem was, is that it wasn’t his mask. He pulled out the mask and it was Rey Mysterio’s. Everyone’s baffled as Kane walks off to the back laughing.
****Commercial****
William Regal v. Jamie Noble
Regal pounded Noble to the outside of the ring before rolling Noble up for a one count. Noble hit a dragon screw after kicking out and hit a fun senton in the corner for a one count. Noble mounted the top rope and hit a cross body for a two count before Regal uncorked another ridiculous suplex. Regal kneed Noble in the head and knocked him out cold for the win.
Winner: William Regal via pin fall
****Commercial*****
World Tag Team Championship
Batista & John Cena v. Cody Rhodes & Ted Dibiase
Batista and John Cena couldn’t agree on things from the get-go and Rhodes & Dibiase quickly pounced on Cena and worked him over in the corner. Rhodes outsmarted Cena in a striking exchange and hit a side Russian leg sweep for a quick two count.
After a rope exchange, Cena hit a shoulder block and slammed Cody Rhodes to the mat before taking Ted Dibiase off the apron. Cena went for a five knuckle shuffle and did it in Batista’s face before hitting Rhodes with the fist.
****Commercial****
We came back to Ted Dibiase controlling Cena on the mat. Batista and Cena are dysfunctional, Rhodes and Dibiase are a machine. Cena powered to his feet and Dibiase missed a splash in the corner. Batista got the hot tag and began demolishing Dibiase with shoulder blocks before Dibiase caught him with a boot I n the face. He charged Batista only to eat a spine buster. Batista went for a Batista bomb but Cena came in and broke it up. This is not going well for them.
Cody Rhodes tagged into the match and went to work on Batista, whom he chop blocked from behind. After a roll up attempt, Rhodes got caught in a power slam and smashed to the mat. Batista got pay back for last week. Cena didn’t like it and got in Batista’s face. Ted Dibiase pounced and sent Cena clattering into Batista, sending the animal to the floor. Dibiase held onto Cena and rolled him up for a squeaky clean win.
Winners and NEW Tag Team Champions: Cody Rhodes & Ted Dibiase via pin fallRAW THOUGHTSShow Thoughts-- All around, Raw was really solid tonight.
The Cena-Batista stuff might as well be mentioned first. I’ve gone into a million and one reasons NOT to have this match now and really, I don’t think it’s getting the reaction the WWE anticipated and frankly, it’s not a surprise. The fans are JUST starting to come back around to Cena and pointing out his being boo’d all the time is pretty bad sauce for John Cena. Batista also isn’t a guy whose in a position to spout off about positive crowd reactions. Sure, the crowd will be mixed, but not by the way the WWE wants (Batista fans v. Cena fans), but rather by the people that want to see the match as opposed to the folks who could care less if both were hit by a bus tomorrow.
BTW, Randy Orton falling off a motorcycle and skidding 300 yards and only breaking his collar bone? Impressive.
CM Punk and JBL’s promo was easily the best segment Punk’s been a part of since coming to the WWE. Period. JBL is one of those guys who gets the ‘he doesn’t know how to work’ tag which IMO is a load of crap and this promo is really further proof of that. Name one other guy in the company that’s able to tap into the buzz around a particular character or foil and exploit it was well as JBL in his efforts to get a feud over. Seriously, I’d love to hear. As a heel, he’s MAYBE second only to Triple H in this regard, but you could make the argument he’s better.
Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase reclaiming the tag titles, cleanly, is a really big deal. Not only that, but they pinned John Cena. Clean. Three guys have managed that in two years (Triple H, HBK and The Great Khali), but only one of them (Khali) was a heel. And he was WAY more established. That’s a pretty huge rub and they’ll be shooting their mouths off about it for weeks to come. Glorious.
The mid card is a big old bucket of good lately. We got a super fun match between Jamie Noble & William Regal, have a super-fun and super-weird program with Beth, Santino, Kofi and Mickie and seemingly a display of new, talented guys every week. Just great stuff from the mid card who’ve really taken what was a lackluster area on the Raw roster and have just totally injected new life into it.
And finally Kane has Rey Mysterio’s mask, the Adamle got his way, and we’re all baffled. The WWE really got away from leaving angles hanging and to be honest, I’m glad to see they’re moving back towards it. Gives people a reason to watch next week. WWE is usually too eager to give away too much, but I’m glad this is the one thing they’re holding the cards close to the chest with.
Overall, a really, really solid Raw, even though it didn’t have anything skull-explodingly great. Just a solid wrestling show.
Overall Grade: B
Quick Results
Beth Phoenix def. Kelly Kelly
Santino Marella def. Mickie James
Cryme Tyme def. The Highlanders
Chris Jericho def. Kane
William Regal def. Jamie Noble
Cody Rhodes & Ted Dibiase def. John Cena & Batista to WIN The World Tag Team Championship
Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?
Biggest Pops
1. Batista
2. John Cena
3. CM Punk
4. Mickie James
Most Heat
1. JBL
2. Kane
3. Mike Adamle
4. Cody Rhodes & Ted Dibiase
Match of the Night: John Cena & Batista v. Cody Rhodes & Ted Dibiase **1/2
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
World Heavyweight Champion: CM Punk 5-2-2, 15 Points (Last Week: World Heavyweight Champion) -- With Cena-Batista on right now, he’s really taken a major league back seat on the brand. I think it’ll kill his reign. Not trying to be cloudy here, but it’s the reality of it all.
Intercontinental Champion: Kofi Kingston 6-1, 15 points (Last Week: IC Champion) -- Got a pretty good reaction on the run-in tonight, but it’s hard to tell if that was for Mickie or him. Otherwise, a quiet week for Kofi.
1. Chris Jericho 13-14-1, 28pts. (Last Week: 1)-- Jericho keeps rolling through. It’s kind of a shame he’s on the sidelines for Summerslam, but the HBK issue is sure to flair up again next week.
2. John Cena 18-12, 32 points. (Last Week: 2) -- It’s kind of amazing to see how yin and yang Batista and Cena have been the past two weeks. Cena’s character work has been pretty terrible. Batista has been pretty strong. Cena’s ring work has been sensational, Batista’s is just spot crap.
3. JBL 12-17, 22 points (Last Week: 3)-- You know, I love the fact this guy always goes right at the jugular and always seems to have a pulse on the buzz around certain wrestlers and is able to exploit that in promos. For a guy who supposedly sucks in the eyes of many, he sure does pay attention and give em what they want.
4. Batista 3-2-2, 7 Points (Last Week: 4)-- Really, the opposite of Cena. He’s interesting, definitely carrying the ’bigger star’ aura, but looks significantly behind Cena once the action unfolds in the ring. Still, Sunday should be a lot of fun.
5. Shawn Michaels 15-4-1, 20pts. (Last Week: 5) -- Not in action.
6. Ted Dibiase, Jr. 3-3, 10 Points (Last Week: 8)-- Thank god for this move. Not only do they win the tag belts back, but they do it cleanly and no doubt, will be shooting their mouths off about it for the next forever. Awesome.
7. Cody Rhodes 8-8, 13 points (Last Week: 9)-- See Dibiase.
8. Paul Burchill 5-3, 7 points (Last Week: 6)-- Falls two spots, but stays put thanks to the fact that no one behind him really did much to move ahead of him. His record thus far has been solid enough to warrant keeping him here.
9. Rey Mysterio 1-0, 3 Points (Last Week: 7) -- To think that just last week people were on me about having him at #7 declaring ‘he’s not in the mix’. Kids, this is why clout and ‘pecking order’ means a lot. Now he’s in the most interesting, for better or worse, storyline on the Raw brand.
10. Kane 1-5, 2 Points (Last Week: 10)-- Seems to be kind of the same thing week after week for Kane. He loses, then does something to really make it difficult for me to kick him to the curb. Sure Regal won and HE CANZ WRASSLE~! But Kane’s way more important these days.
OTHERS :
D-Lo Brown 1-1, 2 points (Last Week: NR)
Santino Marella 7-9, 8 points (Last Week: NR)
Jamie Noble 0-2, 0 Points (Last Week: NR)
Deuce 0-0, 0 Points (Last Week: NR)
Chuck Palumbo 0-0, 0 Points (Last Week: NR)
Matt Striker 0-1, 0 Points (Last Week: NR
Randy Orton 10-9-2, 20pts. (Last Week: INJURED)
William Regal, 4-5, 11 points (Last Week: NR)
Paul London 3-6, 3 points(Last Week: NR)
Jerry Lawler 0-1, 0 points (Last Week: NR)
Lance Cade 2-5, 4 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 0-3, 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 2-6, 3 points (Last Week: NR)
JTG 5-2, 7 points (Last Week: NR)
Big Shaad 5-2, 5 points (Last Week: NR)
Ken Kennedy 10-7, 22pts. (DRAFTED TO SMACKDOWN)
Carlito 9-9, 13 pts. (Last Week: DRAFTED TO SMACKDOWN)
Brian Kendrick, 3-8, 3 points (Last Week: DRAFTED TO SMACKDOWN)
Trevor Murdoch 0-8, 0 points (Last Week: DRAFTED TO SMACKDOWN)
Super Crazy 0-3, 0 points (Last Week: DRAFTED TO ECW)
Harry Smith 0-1, 0 points (DRAFTED TO SMACKDOWN)