Monday Night Raw – July 23, 2007: The Bad Way To The Good Ending
IMG Credit: WWE
Monday Night Raw
Date: July 23, 2007
Location: ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
It’s the night after Great American Bash and that means John Cena is still the World Champion followed a pretty big match showdown against Bobby Lashley. The next stop is Summerslam, but we have about a month to go before then so there is plenty of time to get things ready. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Acting General Manager Coach brags about last night’s show but we’re looking towards Summerslam. Tonight he’s going to be watching every show and seeing who belongs in the title match. I think I remember where this one goes.
Opening sequence, which is so much more energetic than today’s stuff.
There’s a table in the ring with a bowl of fruit and a big throne set up, so here are Sharmell and King Book-ah. After a look at Book-ah and Lawler getting in a pull apart brawl last week, Book-ah asks Jerome if they can settle their issue like gentlemen. Lawler gets in the ring and sits at his end of the table, which has no tablecloth, bar stool, a coffee mug and a doughnut with a bite taken out of it (ok that’s funny).
Lawler’s mic doesn’t work so Booker talks about how he earned the crown last year and now Lawler is calling himself the King without earning it. The same is true of the Sacramento Kings you see and they should really be the Sacramento Peasants. Booker asks who should be king until Lawler asks if he’s done. Sharmell cuts him off with an ALL HAIL KING BOOKER but Lawler eventually calls Booker a pompous royal pain. That’s too far with Booker and the fight is on with Lawler sending him outside.
Mickie James/Maria vs. Melina/Beth Phoenix
Maria has Santino Marella with him and he sits in on commentary. Beth charges into Mickie’s elbow to start and gets taken down with a hurricanrana out of the corner. Mickie gets taken into the corner and stomped down but Melina gets double backdropped. Beth gets in a cheap shot from behind though and it’s Maria in trouble, including a chinlock.
The double chickenwing makes Maria scream (Santino: “Oh Mama Mia!”) and Melina rubs her face on the mat. Maria gets up and brings in Mickie for the Thesz press on Melina. A high crossbody gives Maria two with Beth making the save. Santino trips Beth and Melina, allowing Maria to bulldog Melina for the pin.
Rating: D+. This is a weird time for the women’s division as it’s completely forgotten but they were trying. There is a fine line between the depths of the women’s division which are just embarrassing and barely even wrestling and this, which was just dull. I’ll take this every day and they were trying to make some new stars. That’s a lot better than a thirty second match with two moves if you’re lucky. Maria wasn’t great, but the other three all looked solid. Just get rid of Santino.
Video on Cena vs. Lashley.
Gerald Brisco gives Cody Rhodes a pep talk before his rematch with Randy Orton. Cue Orton to say Dusty didn’t teach Cody common sense, which doesn’t sit well with Cody. Orton didn’t Punt Dusty last night because he was afraid. Tonight, Orton will just take out the anger on Cody instead. Cody is given a chance to back out but Cody will see him out there. There’s some fire in Cody, even if it’s just his second week.
Snitsky is ready to hurt people for his own pleasure. Brush your teeth man.
John Cena tells Todd Grisham to close his eyes and imagine Candice Michelle walking towards him and being ready to team with him. She says they can wrestle (Grisham likes the idea) but then the cast of Brokeback Mountain and a huge Samoan who smells like urinal cakes comes in and starts a fight. That’s what Cena is having to deal with tonight. Then he has to worry about the next #1 contender, but come get it.
Carlito/William Regal vs. Sandman/Jim Duggan
This….might be the most amazing tag match of all time. Sandman and Regal start (what a pair) with Regal driving him back into the corner. Coach is shown watching in the back because we’re supposed to believe that these four are #1 contender contenders. Regal unloads with some left hands but Sandman backdrops him down, allowing the tag off to Duggan. That means big right hands (from the only right hander in the match) in the corner as JR isn’t sure what to make of this one. Duggan misses a charge into the corner and takes the Backstabber for the fast pin. Amazing while it lasted.
Post break Carlito thinks he should be #1 contender. He loads up the apple and spits….right onto Lashley. Carlito runs into the arena and says accidents happen sometimes so he’s here to publicly apologize. If Lashley accepts his apology, don’t say or do anything. Cue Lashley to jump over the steps and plant Carlito with the running powerslam. That should get him back on track.
Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes
No Dusty in Cody’s corner this time. Orton headlocks him down but Cody is right back up, earning himself some forearms to the back. A crossbody out of the corner gets one (which isn’t a near fall JR) on Orton and a sunset flip out of the corner gives Cody the same. Orton snaps off the backbreaker and kicks Cody in the head as the limited mercy is long gone.
Cody gets a rollup for two but Orton blasts him with a clothesline for the same. The required chinlock goes on for a shorter time than usual and Cody is back with the drop down right hand to stagger Orton. A top rope clothesline misses though and Orton finishes with the RKO.
Rating: C-. Cody is trying here and has the fire that he needs but there was no way he was going to beat someone like Orton, either at this point or even a few years from now. Orton was on a roll at this point and while beating someone like Cody might not seem like the biggest deal, it was the way that he did it that matters.
Post match Orton loads up the Punt but Dusty runs in for the save. Dusty checks on Cody but lowers his head, allowing Orton to get in the Punt. You can hear the fans (and JR) get serious on that one and rightfully so. The replay makes it look even better and Dusty does a stretcher job.
Jeff Hardy vs. Mr. Kennedy
Before the match, Kennedy says he’s about to become #1 contender. Jeff takes him into the corner to start and dodges a slap as the feeling out process begins. Kennedy goes for the arm as JR talks about how proud he was of Jeff last night against Umaga. The armbar is reversed so Kennedy forearms him in the chest, only to miss a dropkick. The legdrop between the legs….connects but Jeff goes down so Kennedy can get two.
Kennedy misses some kicks to the head so Jeff hits the legdrop between the legs for….no count as Kennedy’s shoulder was off the mat. What a weird exchange. They fight over a hammerlock, which suggests to me that they’re trying to get on the same page. Jeff sends him outside for a slingshot flip dive and we take a break. Back with Kennedy hitting an Alabama Slam out of the corner for two and the high pitched squeals erupt on the kickout. The front facelock stays on Jeff’s neck and a messed up neckbreaker gets two.
The cravate keeps Hardy in trouble until he breaks away and goes up top….where he falls down without being touched. That’s only good for two and the pop for the kickout is strong. Back up and Jeff hits the Twist of Fate (what he appeared to be trying before), setting up the slingshot dropkick in the corner. Jeff’s facebuster looks to set up the Swanton so Kennedy bails to the floor. That’s fine with Jeff, who runs the barricade for the clothesline before sending Kennedy into the set. Jeff remembers how to count though and runs down the ramp to beat the count for the win.
Rating: C. Kennedy is one of those guys where I never quite got the huge appeal (outside of one moment in 2008). I get why they would want to push him but this wasn’t anything great. The fan reactions to Jeff alone show you how they’re ready to pull the trigger on him, but it would still be a good while before that took place.
Dusty Rhodes was taken to the hospital with Cody riding in the back with him. Jim Duggan was there as the ambulance pulled away for a cameo.
HHH is coming back at Summerslam.
Brian Kendrick/Paul London vs. World’s Greatest Tag Team
Benjamin gets in an early cheap shot on Kendrick, who is fine enough to hit a middle rope armdrag on Haas. Kendrick has to dive onto Benjamin on the floor though and it’s Shelton taking over back inside. The chinlock fires Kendrick up again so Shelton kicks him in the head. Kendrick enziguris Haas to even things up and it’s the hot tag to London to clean house. The double dropkick puts Shelton on the floor but Kendrick misses his dive. That leaves Shelton to jump over Haas onto London’s back, setting up a bridging German suplex to give Haas the pin.
Rating: C-. Londrick was a good team but their time had come and gone. The World’s Greatest Tag Team reunion felt like something that could have gone somewhere but I never bought it as having the longest shelf life. Their time had come and gone, though they certainly had some value, even if it was in the short term.
We look at Orton Punting Dusty again. They’re not hiding where the ending is going here.
Here’s King Book-Ah again, with Queen Sharmell threatening Lawler for his earlier rudeness. Next week it’s Lawler vs. Book-Ah in a match that should help set up Summerslam.
Coach is ready to go tell the #1 contender about his pick when Candice Michelle comes in. She begs to not be put in a match with Umaga but Coach says she’s a champion. Fair point indeed.
Umaga/Lance Cade/Trevor Murdoch vs. Candice Michelle/John Cena
Non-title, No DQ and everyone is a champion. Candice looks terrified and even Cena’s music doesn’t seem to make her feel better. Never the brightest guy in the world, Cena charges in and gets triple teamed down. We settle down to a regular handicap with Cade and Murdoch pounding Cena down.
Umaga comes in and hammers away but hands it back to Murdoch, with Cena managing to fight back. That just earns Cena a swinging Rock Bottom from Umaga to cut the comeback off in a hurry. Cade and Murdoch chase Candice inside and catch her in the corner but here’s Jeff Hardy to blast Umaga with a chair over and over. Candice runs away so Cena can post Cade and Murdoch, with the latter taking the FU for the pin.
Rating: D. Those chair shots from Hardy were scary with all of the unprotected shots to the head, but they were the only memorable parts of the match. This was all a way to have Cena in the ring to set up the post match stuff and while that might not be the most entertaining idea in the world, it served its purpose and let us look at Candice so it’s not a complete disaster.
Post match Cena turns into the RKO and here’s Coach to name Orton as the #1 contender. I’m as shocked as you are.
Overall Rating: D+. This was all about setting up Orton as the #1 contender but since that was obvious for about half of the show, there is only so much that you can ask for out of the whole thing. They’re setting up Summerslam well enough though and that’s where this is all leading. Orton is LONG overdue to get back into the title hunt so the ending is a good choice. They needed a better way to get there though and that holds the show back.
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