WWE RAW
February 16, 2009
Spokane, WA
Commentators: Michael Cole & Jerry ?The King? Lawler
Reported By: Hunter Golden of WrestleView.com
Smackdown General Manager Vickie Guererro came out to the ramp and introduced us to the new World Heavyweight Champion, Edge.
Edge asked us if we wanted to know what the ‘R’ Rated superstar meant. He thinks it means ‘remarkable’. ‘Resplendent’. Or ?Really, Really smart’. After he lost his title, he could have looked for sympathy. He said that’s what the people would have done. Edge said the fans were wrong and went around the ring to let everyone know how wrong they were. He said he was a walking, breathing miracle.
Vickie said for those of us who did not get it, she had to explain what happened last night. Vickie said when Stephanie left to go to the hospital, it left her as the highest ranking official at the show last night. When Kofi got ‘injured’ she had to make the executive decision to put someone in the chamber who was deserving. She chose her husband. She said we’d have to ‘deal’ with it.
After a make out session, John Cena came out to the ring. He came out and said he wouldn’t cry or moan about what happened. He congratulated Edge on his win and introduced him as ‘champion’ to the crowd. Cena goaded Edge a bit after that, trying to coax a rematch out of the situation. Edge wasn’t biting though, and said he was going back to Smackdown. After running down Cena for their past. Cena said if he tried to hide, he’d find them. If he tried to run, he’d catch him. Edge had better be right, because they were going to fight and he’d hurt him. He let Edge go up the ramp, who looked a bit rattled.
Shane McMahon was on the titan tron. Shane said tonight, they’d fight this thing out, in an unsanctioned fight. Tonight, Shane says, this ends.
****Commercial****
CM Punk & Cryme Tyme v. William Regal, Cody Rhodes & Ted Dibiase
Cody and Punk started things out. After some arm bars, Cody got sultry and slapped Punk. Punk hammered him with a back hand and hit a Go 2 Sleep, clean knocking him out. Regal jumped into the ring. As the teams brawled, Ted pulled Cody to safety.
****Commercial****
Punk was distracted by Layla on the outside while Ted Dibiase jumped him from behind. Dibiase decked Punk a few times with right hands and tagged in Regal. Regal hit a series of knees to the face of CM Punk before attempting his first cover attempt. Regal slapped on a cravat before Punk fought back with some kicks. Regal cut him off however and tagged Cody back in.
Cody was a little ticked about the GTS and came in with stomps and fists flying. Cody slammed Punk before dropping a knee on his face for a two count. Dibiase tagged in and hit some not so friendly knees and punches before hitting a running boot to Punk’s face as he sat upright on the canvas. After a near fall, Rhodes tagged back in and hit some shots to the mid section. Punk however, was able to get an enzeguiri and reach JTG on the apron for the hot tag.
JTG cleaned house before taking Dibaise down to the mat with a sling blade for a one count. Shaad came in to derail Regal. JTG dealt with Rhodes, only for Dibiase to sneak up from behind. Dibiase slapped on the million dollar dream but instead turned it into a rock bottom move out of the hold. It’s called ‘dream street’.
Winners: William Regal, Cody Rhodes & Ted Dibiase via pin fall
Stephanie is pleading with Shane to re-think his decision to fight Randy Orton tonight.
A video package aired putting over No Way Out last night.
****Commercial****
Jericho was talking about the Academy, and pleaded with them to not vote for Micky Rourke for best actor. He said it would hurt the business because all the old timer losers would come back out of the woodwork. Jericho said he knew why the fans cheered for them, because just like the fans, they were hypocrites, broken down and needed to be shut down for good. Jericho said he told the truth.
Rowdy Roddy Piper’s music hit and he came out to the ramp and down to the ring. Jericho doesn’t look too excited.
Piper said if wants the truth, he’ll shoot with him on it. Piper said he watched him his entire career and liked him. He said what was on his mind and then had the guts to come into the ring and back it up. Piper said he respected that, reminded him of someone he knew. He wants to know what happened though. Now he’s on television, running his mouth. Calling him and everyone else out. Piper said he used to be entertaining. He judged them, he patronized us. What we should be doing and shouldn’t be doing.
He said let me take one of your quotes ‘please, shut the hell up’. Jericho told Piper to dance like a puppet. Piper cut him off and said he wasn’t finished yet. Piper said Micky Rourke was his friend. He watched his movie the wrestler and cried, but also was excited about it because the movie showed what they were all about, the thrill of performing. Piper got really emotional talking about some of the stories people told HIM. He said Jericho wants to shut those out and said that was wrong.
Piper said he has one hip and he is in constant pain. As long as these people say so, he’ll crawl down here on his hands and knees to give them one more memorable moment because old school was cool. Jericho kicked Piper in the shin and then resumed beating him around. Jericho kept on kicking him in the ribs demanding he crawl like the animal he was.
Randy Orton was in the back. He said if Shane wants this fight, he’s got it. He didn’t need Cody and Ted to punt his father’s skull off.
****Commercial****
Jamie Noble is in the ring. He said he’s never been in Money in the Bank, never danced with Liverache,…. but he says he wouldn’t fumble his opportunity. He went on to talk about Chavo last year against Kane…
Then the pyro went off.
Kane v. Jamie Noble
Jamie tried to boot Kane in the gut and succeed. He came off the second rope only to get caught in a choke slam and smashed into the mat.
Winner: Kane via pin fall
****Commercial****
JBL walked out to the ring. He said as of last night, HBK would no longer be his employee. He said Shawn gets all of his likeness and his name as a result. Now he’s financially stable and he could care less.
Despite the large bucket of water, when pulled out of the ocean it was just a drop. He said he has more money combined then they would ever have. He said last night, he had an epiphany Those goals of headlining WM were nothing. He said he had a date with destiny at Wrestlemania that no one has ever done. Defeat the Undertaker. He droned on about undertaker’s streak before HBK’s music hit and he came down to the ring.
HBK said he had an epiphany as well. He said he was no longer constricted family man, JBL’s employee, etc. He said he was the Heart Break Kid, but he was also Mr. Wrestlemania. He said he was free at last. He said a man said it was hell getting to heaven. And that was Taker. He said looking at JBL, he realized he was living heaven on earth. He figured there’d be no one better to face Taker than he himself, Shawn Michaels.
JBL said maybe paying his bills has given him a boost of manhood, but HBK wasn’t the man to do it. Michaels said he must’ve forgotten that he couldn’t order him around anymore. He said next week, it’d be JBL v. HBK and the winner would get the right to challenge the Undertaker and knock off the undefeated streak at Wretlemania. JBL said he accepts. HBK ran down JBL a little more before walking off.
****Commercial****
Rey Mysterio v. Mike Knox
Knox kicked Mysterio in the stomach before decking him with a right hand. He scooped Rey up and went for a slam, but Rey wiggled out and hit some strikes before sliding under a boot only to get smashed with a lariat. Knox went for a cover and got a two count.
Knox whipped Rey to the buckles only for Rey to catch him with a boot. Rey charged Knox only to find himself caught and quickly dispatched to the outside of the ring.
****Commercial****
We came back to Knox working Rey over on th mat. He again whipped Rey only to miss another follow up. Rey began hitting him with strikes and charged him only to get killed with a tilt a whirl back breaker. Knox chased Rey around the outside of the ring and caught him on the other side of the ring. He whipped Rey hard to the corner, sprawling him out on impact.
After a body slam, Knox got a near fall before dragging Rey around the ring by the hand. He picked him up and slapped on a bear hug. Rey wiggled out of the hold and hit a hurricanranna before hitting his bulldog. Rey hit an enzeguiri and it set up Knox for the 619. Rey gathered himself on the apron and went for the senton but Knox ducked under. Rey went to springboard off the other rope but Knox caught him and hung him upside down. Knox went to spear him upside down, but Rey rolled out and Knox crashed into the buckle. Rey flipped over and rolled him up for the win.
Winner: Mike Knox via pin fall
Beth wants Rosa to pay attention as they’re walking to the ring. She’s making sure Santino’s read, too.
****Commercial****
WWE Women’s Championship
Melina vs. Beth Phoenix
Melina charged Beth only to get hammered into the corner and taken to the mat. Beth landed some punches before hitting a lariat. She chased Melina to the corner and began pounding away on her before whipping her hard to the opposite corner.
Beth hit a stun gun before wrapping Melina up in an abdominal stretch on the mat. Melina fought out of the hold and went for a bulldog, only to eat a Beth Back Breaker for a two count. Melina wiggled out of a power slam attempt in the corner only to get knocked to the floor. Rosa and company began putting the boots to her on the floor before the babyface Divas showed up and cleaned house.
Back in the ring, Beth looked to pounce only to get rolled up for the three count.
Winner and STILL Women’s Champion: Melina via pin fall
****Commercial****
A video putting over No Way Out aired.
Steph’s on the phone and she said she needs ‘you to get here as fast as you can’.
****Commercial****
Unsanctioned Fight
Shane McMahon v. Randy Orton
The two started off brawling on the outside of the ring before Shane was able to knock Orton into the crowd. Shane batted him over the barricade and then hit a clothesline into the crowd. Shaen hammered Orton on the side of the face before slamming him off the rink wall near the lower deck. Shane kept on pounding away on the area near the production team until Orton got the upper hand and brought Shane back to the ringside area.
Orton spiked Shane’s head off the announce table before slamming his head off the ring steps. After landing a few right hands, he dragged Shane into the ring. Orton stomped away on Shane on the mat before hitting a big right that sent Shane reeling to the outside of the ring. Orton slammed him back first into the ring a few times before Shane charged him and knocked him over the announce table.
Shane pounced on Orton dumping furniture on his head. He grabbed the ring bell and clocked Orton with it, and Randy crumpled to the floor. Shane placed Orton in the corner and got the ring bell and clocked him in the back of the head. Shane set up a chair on Orton’s face and went to the outside to try the Van Terminator.
As Shane set it up, Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase hit the ring and stopped Shane. Rhodes hit his neck breaker before Orton came slithering over. He backed the two youngsters off and zeroed in for the punt and nailed it. Shane is out cold.
Stephanie came down with the EMT. She was a mess. Orton zeroed in on the scene. Stephanie rose to her feet and began bemoaning him. Orton RKO’d Stephanie and fell back. The crowd erupted as Triple H came sprinting down to the ring as the heels fled. Triple H looked stuck between rage and breaking down over his inability to protect his wife. He stared down Orton incensed from the ring.
Show Thoughts— Overall, this is about as good a show as you can have heading out of the gate for Wrestlemania. All the feuds laid their ground work and things should really start moving again next week.
You can’t really avoid talking about it, as it was so good, so I’ll cut to the chase and say that the last angle with Orton, the McMahons and Triple H was just knocked totally out of the park. It was fantastic. The brawl in and of itself, was just done TOTALLY better than last nights. Shane brought the hate, they brawled out into the crowd to get people going, used weapons shots that were more brawl-ish things to use rather than say, garbage cans and steel chairs. They kept most of the action on the outside and when they came to the inside of the ring, where everyone could see them, they made sure Orton was the one looking largely dominant.
The heel run in made a heck of a lot more sense TONIGHT and gave us a reason to actually get worried when Orton’s stooges come down to the ring to take care of business. The kick to the head finished Shane off, and the timing of Steph coming down was done well too. Hats off to her for EATING that RKO. Even the Triple H run in, came off very ‘real’ and grainy. They didn’t play music, it was just him, in a panic, running down to the ring to save his wife. Then the look he gave was just awesome. Great moment, great way to get the ball rolling on a feud I really wasn’t too excited to see.
The Orton stuff wasn’t the only thing happening though, as there was some other solid stuff going on that really lay a strong foundation for Wrestlemania. Cena seems to be chasing Edge here, and we’ll see where that all heads. Cena essentially laid out the program, almost setting the table step by step. Edge will try to hide, and Cena will unearth him. Then Edge will attempt to run, at which Cena will chase him down. The one BAD part about this whole segment was just the ridiculously over the top stuff with Edge. He could take it down a notch or two and be just as on point. Either way, the work that needed to be done was accomplished and we’ll see where it heads in the next seven weeks.
The Piper-Jericho promo was also pretty excellent stuff. Piper got emotional and did a good job of using that to get his point across. It wasn’t the typical ?Rowdy? off the wall stuff we expect to see from him. Jericho just totally treating him like crap worked, too.
JBL and Michaels set up the challenge for Taker well enough tonight I felt, even though I’d say no one would really want to see JBL-Taker, much less buy the fact that they’d put that match on at Wrestlemania. Either way, its a good way for Michaels to bop his way into a match feeling good about himself, only for the Undertaker to slap him back down to reality. At the very least, it sets that up.
The rest of the show wasn’t bad, especially the Mysterio-Knox match, which was a lot of fun. Some folks were a little down on the lack of actual wrestling, but with seven weeks to build to Wrestlemania, it was important for them to start laying the ground work tonight for the card. Overall, a really great show with a fantastic ending angle.
Overall Grade: B+
Quick Results
Ted Dibiase Jr, Cody Rhodes & William Regal def. CM Punk & Cryme Tyme
Kane def. Jamie Noble
Rey Mysterio def. Mike Knox
Melina def. Beth Phoenix to RETAIN the Women’s Championship
Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?
Biggest Pops
1. Triple H
2. John Cena
3. Shawn Michaels
4. Rey Mysterio
Most Heat
1. Vickie Guererro & Edge
2. Randy Orton
3. Chris Jericho
4. Beth Phoenix
Match of the Night: Shane McMahon-Randy Orton Unsanctioned Fight **3/4
Points
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
Intercontinental Champion: CM Punk 3-4, 7 Points Points (Last Week: Intercontinental Champion) — It was kind of a lost cause, his match tonight, but Punk looked pretty dominant. They seem to be going well out of their way towards making him look like the real bull in the mid card.
1. Randy Orton 4-2, 9 pts. (Last Week: 1)— Just so on target tonight with all his stuff. Sold well for Shane, but not too much. Sold his RKO on Stephanie and had a pseudo regretful look that he’s ticked off Triple H now. So it should all work out for the best. Strap on your seat belts.
2. John Cena 3-3, 9 points. (Last Week: World Heavyweight Champion) — Cena got a pretty decent reaction. He seems to kind of be in the back seat on this Wrestlemania, which really isn’t a bad thing. Getting Orton ‘there’ is what’s important for now. Edge and him are a very reliable combination, so we’ll see how it all pans out.
3. Shawn Michaels 3-2, 6 pts. (Last Week: 4) — HBK’s been riding the Judas train straight at Taker for a little while it seems. Looks like we’ll finally get that match that everyone’s wanted to see for so long at this year’s Wrestlemania.
4. Chris Jericho 2-3 3 pts. (Last Week: 2)— Of all the guys on the roster, Jericho’s probably the guy who gets the most legitimate heat, as he never relies on cheap stuff or gets overly redundant with his verbage. Also, its the fact that you think just a piece of him might be regretting what he’s saying. He’ll be a perfect foil for this celebrity angle it looks like they’re headed to with Rourke.
5. Rey Mysterio 4-4, 8 Points (Last Week: 5) — Rey really worked his way into my top five. Sure, a win’s a win, but how you get there sometimes can be just as important. He pulled off a flat out amazing performance last night in the Elimination Chamber and a really fun match out of a very green Mike Knox.
6. JBL 0-2, 0 points (Last Week: 5)- – JBL, in my opinion, will likely play the ‘anchor’ on the Money in the Bank match this year, as he’ll be the guy they’ll look to to get the match over on the mic. Seems to be headed in that direction right now.
7. Cody Rhodes 4-0, 4 points (Last Week: 6) — I know a lot of folks weren’t particularly hot on the interference tonight, but I’m fine with it. Good to see it, you know. WORK this time. If Orton’s going to have stooges, they need to actually work for him.
8.Ted Dibiase, Jr. 3-0, 3 Points (Last Week: 7)— See Cody.
9. Kane 3-2, 3 Points (Last Week: 8) — Quiet night tonight. They seemed to drop his name in a promo with Money in the Bank, so he could be headed there. Kane this year, it almost feels weird to say, could actually really be a dark horse to win. They’re throwing the idea of having the person who wins the contract LOSE this year, and if its going to be someone, it could be Kane. It could rebuild him to an extent without really having to over push him. Keep an eye on Kaney Kaney.
10.William Regal, 3-4, 4 points (Last Week: 10)— Regal won, Knox lost, so Regal gets to stay in the top 10 another week. Run of the mill stuff in the six man.
OTHERS:
Mike Knox 2-3 2 points (Last Week: 9)
Kofi Kingston 1-3, 2 points (Last Week: NR)
Batista 0-0, 0 Points (Last Week: NR)
Santino Marella 0-0, 0 points (Last Week:NR)
Sim Snuka 1-0, 1 Point (Last Week: NR)
JTG 1-4, 1 points (Last Week: NR)
Big Shaad 1-3 1 points (Last Week: NR)
Jamie Noble 0-1, 0 Points (Last Week: NR)
Manu 0-0, 0 Points (Last Week: NR)
Charlie Haas 0-0, 0 points (Last Week: NR)
Dolph Ziggler 0-0, 0 Points (Last Week: NR)
Jerry Lawler 0-0, 0 points (Last Week: NR)
Jim Duggan 0-0, 0 points (Last Week: NR)