Monday Night Raw – June 19, 2006: I Don’t See This Very Often

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: June 19, 2006
Location: Blue Cross Arena, Rochester, New York
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

It’s the go home show for Vengeance but at the same time, it is still a show about building up ECW, which only debuted last week. I’m not sure how well that is going to go, but ECW is angry at Raw for invading their debut. An angry ECW could reach the level of moderately annoying so Raw might be slightly irritated. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Vince McMahon is in his office to open things up and says that there will be no DX reunion because tonight is the DX destruction. As he goes to leave, a delivery man brings him a chicken, because word on the street is he locks cocks. Vince tells him to go choke his chicken because he isn’t in the mood tonight. Now Vince leaves his office, runs into an alien who mimics his walk, and stares him down to make the alien leave.

Then he runs into some male strippers, including (I believe, as he is slimmer here) Big Dick Johnson for some oily dancing. With that out of the way, Vince runs into Dusty Rhodes, who plugs his DVD. Maybe the strippers want to buy one! Dusty goes off to see if they have any change and a deliveryman comes up to ask Vince to sign for a package. It’s a penis enlarger pump (the Pistol Pump), but Vince storms off, swearing to destroy DX. So what would have happened if Vince had gone the other way when he came out of his office? Or just not left?

Anyway, Vince comes out to the ring and promises to put his shoe in a certain part of HHH and use the same shoe to kick Shawn Michaels in the head. Cue Shane McMahon, who says Vince needs to leave because Stephanie McMahon is in labor. That’s enough to get Vince to leave, though he doesn’t seem happy. We follow them to the back, where Vince puts Coach in charge. Vince: “My daughter Stephanie has always had the worst timing of anyone I know. Now she’s in labor. THAT B****!” Vince and Shane leave in the limo as Lawler cracks up a bit.

Torrie Wilson had a swimsuit photo shoot for WWE Magazine. JR: “I’m subscribing.”

Torrie Wilson/Maria vs. Mickie James/Candice Michelle

Bra and panties match. Candice slams Torrie down by the head to start but a sunset flip lets Torrie rip her shirt off. Mickie comes in and takes off Torrie’s pants before doing the same to Maria. The tops come off as well to give Mickie the win almost by herself.

Post match Mickie decks Candice and rips off her shorts as well. Mickie throws in her own version of the Go Daddy dance. Then she goes too far by stealing JR’s hat (JR: “That’s going on eBay.” Mickie even rips the shirt off of a fan for a bonus.

Charlie Haas vs. Viscera

Before the match, Viscera gives Haas one more chance to apologize for hurting Lilian Garcia. For some reason Haas thinks it’s a good idea to say that he and Lilian went to dinner for the apology last week, which she accepted over some pillow talk. Lilian doesn’t seem to agree and neither does Viscera as he knocks Haas outside with one shot. Back in and Viscera wants details on the pillow talk (JR: “I don’t think you want to know that Charlie.”). There’s the corner splash….and here’s the Spirit Squad to jump both of them for the surprise no contest.

Post match the beatdown is on, with the Squad managing an Upsa Daisy on Viscera. The Squad says they know DX is back, but they want to get them out here right now for the fight. DX pops up on screen with Shawn Michaels freaking out about being down five to two (Shawn: “THEY’RE GONNA MURDERIZE US!”) but HHH says they’re just cheerleaders. DX will be out there tonight, but it’s on their terms. For now, HHH has two words for them: look up. Slime falls down onto the Squad, meaning a lot of slipping and laughter ensues. Shawn paints DX on the camera lens because he doesn’t value company property.

Post break, the Squad tells Coach to take care of DX. Vince’s plan will still be enacted so they can go clean up. Coach goes into Vince’s office and finds Paul Heyman waiting for him. Heyman says tonight could go worse because ECW is in a bus in the parking lot ready to tear Raw apart.

Heyman is here with an offer though: since ECW on Sci Fi was the highest rated show on cable last Tuesday, he wants to share the love with Raw. So tomorrow night, how about a dream tag match? How about Edge/Randy Orton vs. Kurt Angle/Rob Van Dam? Coach makes the match but Heyman isn’t done. For tonight, how about John Cena vs. Balls Mahoney? That’s on too.

With the slime being cleaned up, we go to Kane, who knows who the Costumed Kane is. He has known this guy since he was a kid and the guy is even more screwed up than he is. Kane won’t say what he did but he seems worried. This is going to be stupid isn’t it?

Umaga vs. John McChesney

Umaga kicks him into the corner before Armando Alejandro Estrada gets out of the ring. There’s the Tree of Woe headbutt into the running Umaga attack and the Samoan Spike finishes in about a minute. JR barely had time to announce Eugene vs. Umaga at Vengeance.

Post match Umaga sends him outside and Estrada grabs the mic but the fans say his name with him, making Estrada give up.

John Cena vs. Balls Mahoney

Paul Heyman is here with Mahoney, who has his chair with him. They go right for the slugout to start and Cena hits his release fisherman’s suplex for two. The fans are all over Cena as he hammers away in the corner, until Mahoney gets in a poke to the eye. Mahoney hits the snap jabs (without the chants) and a kick to the face gets two. Cena fights back with shoulders into the finishing sequence but Heyman slips in the chair. That doesn’t seem to matter as Cena ducks the shot and pulls Mahoney into the STFU for the tap.

Post match here’s Sabu for a lot of swearing and a beatdown on Cena, including a top rope legdrop through the announcers’ table. JR: “GOD D*** IT GET THAT TRASH OUT OF HERE!” Cena is busted open as the ECW guys leave. He stands up and has that look in his eye, so of course you know this means war.

Post break, JR is REALLY mad about Cena being attacked. Or maybe it’s the table being broken.

Randy Orton vs. Snitsky

I had forgotten Snitsky was still employed. Orton pokes him in the eye to start and adds the backbreaker. A knee drop gets two and we’re already in the chinlock. The fans seem to approve of Orton, even as Snitsky starts his comeback. There’s a side slam to plant Orton and a running shoulder drops him again. The pumphandle slam is countered though and it’s the RKO for the fast pin.

Post match Lawler talks to Orton, who is ready to take care of Kurt Angle at Vengeance. On Sunday, Vengeance will be his.

Here’s Carlito, who thinks what happened to the Spirit Squad was funny. Coach didn’t like it though and that means Carlito has a handicap match. That’s not cool, but Carlito winning the Intercontinental Title on Sunday sure would be.

Johnny Nitro/Shelton Benjamin vs. Carlito

Non-title and Melina is here with Nitro and Benjamin. Lawler rather likes Melina’s entrance, prompting JR to demand that he hand over the Cialis. Nitro starts with the team and hits an early shoulder block, making Melina squeal. Carlito ducks a right hand and hits a dropkick as Lawler wonders if Carlito’s hair slows him down.

Shelton comes in and gets caught with a belly to back suplex before losing a slugout. A knee lift into a clothesline gives Carlito two but Shelton kicks him down. Nitro makes a blind tag and gets in a fight with Benjamin. Carlito grabs a rollup but Nitro reverses and grabs the trunks for the pin. Another short match but it did make you think Nitro could steal a win in a triple threat.

Post match Carlito gives Shelton a Backstabber for his own building moment.

Coach goes into Vince’s office and finds a lot of DX graffiti, including on the Muscle and Fitness cover. DX comes in and points out the fact that the pictures have been replaced by some more anti-Vince shots. They’re going to sit back and watch the rest of the show with Coach. Lawler: “Let’s watch it too.” JR: “We are.”

Eugene didn’t recognize Maria with her clothes on but he’s ready to get revenge on Umaga for taking out Jim Duggan and Kamala. Rob Conway comes in to laugh at Eugene and gets destroyed for his efforts.

Vengeance rundown.

DX annoys Coach some more so he tells them not to do anything else tonight. Messing with him is like messing with Vince….so they throw him through the wall, take his pants down (Shawn: “What kind of a man wears a thong?”) and spray paint DX on….yeah you get the idea.

The Highlanders are still coming but have to break down the door to their hotel room. They do like the TV though, because it has adult titles. Rory: “We’re adults and we want the World Tag Team Titles!” They see something on TV and declare their love for America.

Edge vs. Ric Flair

Lita is here with Edge and Mick Foley is on commentary, promising to have a horrible match at Vengeance. Foley: “I can steal any pay per view show anytime I want. I’m just not going to do it at Vengeance.” Edge knocks Flair down to start but gets chopped out of the air and sent outside. Edge brings in a chair but neither that nor Lita’s distraction works. Instead, Foley grabs the Mandible Claw on Flair, allowing Edge to hit the spear for the win.

Post match here’s Rob Van Dam to take Edge and Foley out before bailing through the crowd.

The Spirit Squad rallies the locker room to destroy DX. I’d be scared of Matt Striker too.

Here’s DX for their official reunion, which does feel like a big deal after a long time away. HHH thinks he knows the answer but are you ready? They get in their catchphrases but Shawn is guilt ridden. Vince and Shane are on their way back to Connecticut….where Stephanie is in labor. HHH: “LIAR!” Apparently Stephanie is fine, but what idiot got her pregnant? HHH isn’t sure but the guy must be hung like a…..Shawn: “I think it’s time to veer into a cheap pay per view plug!”

We hear the details on Vengeance (Shawn: “You can call your local cable provider and order it, only on pay per view.”) before Shawn calls out the Spirit Squad. Cue the Spirit Squad, or at least the mini versions of them. They’re shoved down and HHH even hits a mini superkick before saying this is Shawn’s handiwork. HHH: “It came up just a little short.”

HHH has been thinking of cheerleaders as well so Shawn puts on a blindfold. Four cheerleaders come out to talk about how Vince is scared of DX and then reveal DX bras. HHH suggests they’re removed as well but here is the Spirit Squad, flanked by the locker room. Only Johnny and Nicky get in though as everyone else leaves, meaning the big beatdown is on. The mini Spirit Squad gets in and drops their pants, revealing SUCK IT painted in certain areas. Posing wraps it up.

Overall Rating: D+. Aside from some special shows, I don’t ever remember a two hour Raw where there was nothing to rate. The longest match was the handicap match at a whopping 2:50. Now that being said, you don’t have to have a bunch of long matches to make a good show, but this wasn’t a good show in the first place. Not only was everything jammed in, but nothing was really all that high quality anyway.

The problem here is they’re trying to do WAY too much at once and as a result, nothing is really working. This show tried to focus on ECW (which is doing a bunch of individual things), DX’s reunion, DX messing with Vince/Coach and the regular Vengeance build. That’s a very busy two hours and the show didn’t exactly work because nothing had the time to work.

Vengeance is feeling very rushed (because it is very rushed) and as a result, nothing is really registering. Edge vs. Van Dam is feeling like a match that has to be there rather than being there because it should be, Cena vs. Sabu could be moderately interesting and is anyone buying the Spirit Squad against a reunited DX? Foley trying to have a bad match against Flair sounds good, but the rest of the show is being built so fast that nothing is having an impact. Maybe the pay per view will work, but this was one of the most packed go home shows I can ever remember.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

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And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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Monday Night Raw – November 16, 2020: Kilt Power

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: November 16, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Samoa Joe, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips

It’s a big night was we have a pair of title matches, but it is also the go home show for Survivor Series. Drew McIntyre is challenging Randy Orton for the WWE Championship while New Day defends the Tag Team Titles against the Hurt Business. Other than that, we have a chance to see Lana drive through a table nine times in a row yet still being mostly fine the next week every single time. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Here’s Drew McIntyre to open things up. After seeing a clip of his showdown with Roman Reigns from Smackdown, Drew talks about Survivor Series being a Thanksgiving tradition (ignore Vince’s voiceovers talking about it being a Thanksgiving Eve Night Tradition, only on pay per view back in the day). It’s a great holiday because you have all of the food and all of the people you care about, like all of these people here.

The Thunder Dome has brought a lot of people together so how about we see him Claymore Randy Orton and win the WWE Championship tonight? He’s also thankful for the doubters because you just keep going and, while holding up three fingers, tell them to read between the lines (V? Vader Time?). Before we get to the title match tonight though, Drew talks about going to visit Roman Reigns, who is so stuck on himself that he needs a Claymore of his own.

Cue Randy Orton on the Titantron to interrupt though because he wants to say what he is thankful for too. Orton is thankful for being a 14 time WWE Champion. but he’s also thankful that the fine he received for touching Adam Pearce didn’t hurt him. He has been fined and suspended more than any wrestler under contract. Heck he has spent more time on his couch on suspension than 80% of the roster has spent in the ring. After all that though, he’s still here and is still the greatest wrestler ever.

Orton is ready to retain tonight, with Drew cutting him off by talking about the three most dangerous letters in wrestling. They know each other so well that they are finishing each other’s sentences, but tonight there is no 16 foot high Cell for McIntyre to fall from. Hold on though as we’re still not done because Miz and John Morrison need to interrupt.

Morrison plugs Miz and Mrs. and Miz says they will be ringside for the title match tonight. McIntyre says that isn’t a good idea but Miz says the possibilities of change are endless. Miz says we might see a title change tonight and it might end up with Miz as WWE Champion. Why else would the Fiend not have shown up last week other than being scared of the Miz? Morrison says McIntyre needs to understand that change is coming and Miz says the impatience cost him the title in the first place. The threat of violence puts Miz and Morrison on the floor but Miz promises to laugh all the way to the bank tonight.

I like everyone involved in this segment but WOW this felt long. It’s the annual “HAHA I MIGHT CASH IN TONIGHT” speech that we have to hear for a few weeks (if not months) before nothing happens, followed by a lull into a false sense of security and then the cash in. It gets really, really old but it’s how WWE books the stupid thing every year because they found something interesting years ago and now that’s what we get far more often than not.

We look at Lana going through a table eight straight times.

Lana has requested a six woman tag and explains her thinking to Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax. After more bad acting and line reciting, Lana goes into her speech about how she deserves to be here and gets laughed at, with Nia saying Lana better not tag herself in.

Nia Jax/Shayna Baszler/Lana vs. Asuka/Dana Brooke/Mandy Rose

Lana tries to start so Baszler tags herself in and knees Brooke down. Brooke is thrown outside so Jax can beat her up some more. This draws Mandy Rose over, with Baszler stomping the already injured arm onto the steps as we take a break. Back with Asuka coming back in to strike away at Baszler and Rose having been taken backstage due to the arm.

Nia makes a save so Brooke jumps on her back to no avail. The Asuka Lock is broken up so Baszler gets the Kirifuda Clutch, only to have Lana tag herself in. The referee breaks up the Clutch and Baszler is annoyed, especially as Lana kicks Asuka in the head for two. Asuka hits a kick of her own and the Asuka Lock makes Lana tap at 6:59.

Rating: D+. I know WWE thinks there is going to be some big moment where Lana gets her redemption, but she keeps losing over and over again, making it really hard to care about her in the first place. I’m sure that doesn’t matter in WWE logic, but it doesn’t make for the most thrilling story. Granted the two months of putting Lana through a table hasn’t helped either. Also, that seems like a way to write Rose off and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Asuka working twice.

Post match, it’s #9, despite Nia teasing that Lana is welcomed to the team now. I still can’t wait for that miraculous moment where Lana does one thing and it makes up for the last two months plus of this stuff.

In a completely unique and separate story from the women’s Survivor Series team not getting along, we recap the men’s team arguing last week and coming to blows as a result.

The men’s team is arguing again, this time over nicknames, so AJ Styles offers them matching t-shirts. Lee: “Am I supposed to wear this on my bicep?” The rest of the team leaves but Riddle comes back with a nickname for AJ’s friend. AJ: “Don’t even look at him.” Riddle seems to call the giant Armos (or something like that) and AJ asks if they have been talking. AJ: “Of course not. You don’t even speak English.” Giant: “Of course I do.” AJ: “….I have so many questions.”

Reckoning jumps Dana Brooke in the back and lays her out. Well it would be an upgrade.

It’s time for the Firefly Fun House, where Bray Wyatt talks about how annoying Miz is. He’d go so far as to say Miz isn’t that nice. Bray wants to face Miz tonight, and Miz doesn’t want to see Bray’s bad side. It’s short notice, but Bray’s friends are here to prepare him for tonight. We get a TRAINING MONTAGE of Bray getting ready, including Bray training in agility (by being blindfolded and beating up his friends), spelling (Bliss: “Your word is jacka**.” Bray: “Jacka**. M-I-Z.”), and accuracy (throwing darts at Ramblin Rabbit, even scoring a Rabbit’s Heart (instead of a bull’s eye you see)). Bray is ready.

Here’s Hurt Business for a chat before the Tag Team Title match. MVP says Sunday is about the best vs. the best and there is no one better than the Hurt Business. On Sunday, Bobby Lashley will crush Sami Zayn and after tonight, the Hurt Business is ready to go defend their newly won Tag Team Titles. Cue New Day to interrupt with Kofi saying Montel Vontavious Portier is lying a lot. The best vs. the best means that it’s going to be New Day on Sunday so Kofi calls them the Jerk Business. Xavier gets in the catchphrase and calls the Hurt Business jerks too because everyone needs to talk tonight.

Tag Team Titles: New Day vs. Hurt Business

Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander are challenging for the Hurt Business. Cedric Gator Rolls Kofi to start but Kofi is back up with a running clothesline for two. It’s off to Woods for a fist drop for two but Shelton comes in for a hard shoulder. Woods scores with a discus forearm though and hammers away in the corner until Shelton shoves him down without much effort. A spinebuster gives Shelton two and Alexander’s dropkick gets the same.

The chinlock doesn’t last long either as Woods fights away and gets the hot tag off to Kingston. A high crossbody gets two on Shelton but the Boom Drop is countered into a buckle bomb. The powerbomb/top rope clothesline combination gets two on Kofi and we take a break. We come back with King fighting out of a chinlock but getting caught on top. Shelton gets shoved off the top though and it’s the top rope DDT to put them both down again.

The hot tag brings in Woods, who missile dropkicks Alexander down for two. It’s back to Kofi for the top rope double stomp on Alexander for two more with Shelton making the save. Kofi is sent outside and Alexander’s suicide dive….I guess connects, even though it was mostly him crashing into the barricade.

Another dive doesn’t go far enough and is more Alexander flailing to smack Woods in the head. Back in and Alexander hits a fast brainbuster for two with Woods having to make a save. Kofi scores with a surprise Trouble in Paradise to Alexander, setting up the Day Break (backbreaker/top rope double stomp from Woods) to retain at 16:49.

Rating: B. I wasn’t feeling this one before the break but it picked up a lot in the end. In a way I was hoping to see the titles change hands, but at the end of the day I can understand why they went with New Day vs. the Street Profits after it has been set up for a few weeks. The Hurt Business is going to be fine with Lashley as their ace, but having them win another big match might be a good idea.

Sheamus talks to Drew McIntyre about their history together and Drew’s Scottish ancestry. He even has a present for McIntyre, in a near treasure chest. It appears to be ring gear, which Drew says he never thought he would see again. Sheamus even throws in a sword for good measure and wishes Drew luck tonight.

Retribution talks about how even a pawn can overthrow a king and they are always a step ahead of their competition. They are ready for Team Raw tonight because Team Raw is all the same: spineless cowards waiting to stab each other in the back. All Retribution has to do is stand back and let the team self destruct. Mustafa Ali hopes the so called captain is there to watch.

Retribution vs. Team Raw

AJ Styles is on commentary. Riddle takes Slapjack down to start so it’s quickly off to T-Bar, who is taken into the corner. Keith Lee gets kicked off the apron so Riddle suplexes T-Bar down into the Broton for one (AJ: “He just kicked out at one? Wow.”). The fighting begins as Sheamus breaks up Strowman’s tag attempt and the argument is on, with AJ intervening but getting shoved into the giant as we take a break.

Back with Riddle in trouble and AJ complaining about the triple teaming. Ali comes in with some shots to the face and asks if AJ is watching this. A neckbreaker gets two on Riddle and a big boot is good for the same. Shatter slips out of an ankle lock in a hurry and a kick to the head sets up the hot tag to Lee. House is cleaned, including Lee swinging Shatter into the rest of Retribution.

Lee is sent outside where Mace and T-Bar hold Lee in place for a dive from Ali. That’s good for two back inside, with Lee powering out in a big way. Strowman runs people over on the floor as Lee spinebusters Ali. Sheamus tags himself in but so does Strowman, meaning the argument is on. Strowman shoves Sheamus over the top so Riddle tags himself back in, only to have Strowman shove him down. In the melee, Ali shoves Riddle into Strowman and gets the rollup pin at 12:04. That’s two Survivor Series preview matches and two blind tags that have backfired. Come on already.

Rating: C-. Good. These morons deserve to lose after having the same argument one week after another. I’m still not sure why WWE is expecting its fans to care that OH NO RAW MIGHT NOT BE ON THE SAME PAGE FOR A ONE OFF MATCH but that’s been the case for years. They try to build this up in a similar way every year and my goodness it makes things very tiring.

Nikki Cross says that was the Fiend talking last week instead of Alexa Bliss. She’s going to save her friend.

Jeff Hardy is annoyed at a flier Elias has put up asking for information about the car running him over back in May. Hardy says his flier making skills are as good as his music.

Post break Hardy comes in to yell at Elias and even grabs his beard while shouting that he’s innocent. Hardy threatens him with something a lot worse if Elias doesn’t quit talking. Hardy: “CAN I GET AN AMEN BROTHER???”

Here are Miz and John Morrison, with the former saying that there is no reason for him to fight Bray Wyatt tonight. They have both done some bad things to each other, like when Bray sent a demonic doll to Miz’s one year old daughter and then Miz said some mean things. They shouldn’t have the match tonight because they should team up in the main event. Miz wants the title and Wyatt wants Orton so they should combine forces.

Alexa Bliss comes out to say he says no, but here’s Nikki cross to say Fiend is bad for her. Bliss says she’s right and slaps the heck out of Cross so the brawl can be on. Cue Bray Wyatt as Cross leaves and Bliss is rather happy. Maybe Bray can get the idea through Nikki’s head already.

Miz vs. Bray Wyatt

Bray offers a handshake to start, saying he will forgive Miz. The handshake doesn’t go so well and Miz hammers away, only to get run over (Bray: “OOPSIE!”). Miz hammers him onto the ropes so Morrison can get in a cheap shot, earning himself a hard stare. Bliss glares at Morrison and Bray chokes Miz down. The head to the floor with Bray sending him into the steps and shrugging off a boot to the face back inside.

A top rope ax handle into a DDT works better for Miz, though Bray is up at one anyway. The YES Kicks wake Bray up again and he runs Miz over, followed by the release Rock Bottom. Morrison offers a distraction so Bliss runs him over the barricade. Miz hits the running corner clothesline….and Bray just stares at him. Sister Abigail is good for the pin at 4:45.

Rating: D+. So that happened, as Fiend continues to be standing off to the side and sneering at McIntyre and Orton doing their thing. The Miz stuff continues to be rather annoying, which I get is kind of the point, though I never need to hear another I MIGHT CASH IN tease as long as I live. Nothing match of course, mainly because Bray doesn’t need to sweat Miz no matter what.

Post match Bliss pops up with an evil smile and stands on the barricade. Bray and Bliss go to leave….and the Fiend’s lights hit. Fiend pops up on screen and they stare up at him.

We get a video on Orton vs. McIntyre, focusing on the road that both took to get here, including clips from their early careers. McIntyre has taken a hard road to get here while Orton has been willing to do whatever he needed to get to the top. We see Orton winning the title and after the beginning and middle, everything ends tonight.

We look at Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose being taken out earlier.

Adam Pearce announces that Brooke and Rose are out of Survivor Series (which commentary told us earlier). Their replacements are Lacey Evans and Peyton Royce, which is quite the upgrade….I think.

Asuka rants about no one being ready for her.

Survivor Series rundown. Tom says this is the one night of the year where Raw goes head to head. On the same show where we recapped Raw’s Drew McIntyre beating Smackdown’s Jey Uso.

Angel Garza talks about how the women of the world are the roses in the garden. He sees himself as the thorn protecting their beauty and will protect his special rose.

Nia Jax isn’t sure why Shayna Baszler stomped on Mandy Rose’s arm so hard. Baszler points out that Nia put Lana through a table four nine weeks before saying they’re the only ones who matter. Lacey Evans and Peyton Royce come in and say they should talk strategy but get glared away. Nia: “This is the worst idea since Quibi.” To be fair it had been a full thirty minutes since the team bickered.

Raw World Title: Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton

McIntyre is challenging and comes to the ring in a kilt with a big sword. They lock up to start and McIntyre wastes no time in hitting the Glasgow Kiss. A spinebuster puts Orton on the floor and he tries to leave, only to get caught in a hurry. Back in and the Claymore misses so Orton bails to the floor again. Orton picks up the title and goes to leave….but here’s Adam Pearce to say the match will continue with no countouts or disqualifications.

We come back with Orton hitting the backbreaker and rolling to the floor to grab a chair. Said chair is driven into McIntyre’s recently healed jaw and Orton takes him outside for a step shot to the head. After the stomp in the ring, Orton heads outside again and drops McIntyre onto the announcers’ table a few times without breaking it (McIntyre is no Lana).

McIntyre fights back and drops Orton onto the announcers’ table twice in a row and the thing still won’t break (McIntyre is also no Nia Jax). The Claymore misses and McIntyre slides onto the announcers’ table as we take another break. Back again with a table having been set up at ringside and McIntyre fighting out of a chinlock. The belly to belly overhead sets up the nipup but Orton catches McIntyre on top.

Orton gets two off the superplex but McIntyre gets the same off a backslide. There’s the Future Shock for two more and Orton is sent to the apron, with a right hand putting him through the table. That gets two back inside but the Claymore is countered into a powerslam. They head outside with Orton hitting the hanging DDT off of the announcers’ table. Back in and another hanging DDT drops McIntyre….who is right back up with the Claymore for the pin and the title at 23:49.

Rating: B. They got me on that ending as I would not have bet on the title change going down. It’s nice to see something like that happen for a surprise though and above all else, they give the fans a much more interesting Survivor Series main event. Orton winning the title again for such a short reign does feel like padding his stats, but at least we are back where we should be, and with quite the surprise. The match was good as you would have expected too, which is always a nice bonus.

McIntyre celebrates and tells Roman Reigns to make a seat at the table for him to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. I don’t remember the last time I saw a show as back and forth as this one. The wrestling was pretty good with the two title matches delivering, but e pluribus gads it was rough watching everything else. Survivor Series has been my favorite pay per view for a long time now and they have managed to make me dread the build most years because of stuff like this. So much of this show was spent bickering and arguing about how much the teams dislike each other and that’s not a good way to make a show seem important. It’s going to come and go and we’ll forget it, which isn’t a good sign.

Other than that though, I liked certain parts of the show (Money in the Bank stuff aside). I want to know where the Fiend stuff is going and the title change at the end was a great surprise. In other words, when they did stuff that doesn’t feel like the same storylines they wrote years ago being rehashed, it’s a much better show. Survivor Series needs to come to an end already, but at least the title change was nice.

Results

Asuka/Mandy Rose/Dana Brooke b. Lana/Nia Jax/Shayna Baszler – Asuka Lock to Lana

New Day b. Hurt Business – Day Break to Alexander

Retribution b. Team Raw – Rollup to Riddle

Bray Wyatt b. The Miz – Sister Abigail

Drew McIntyre b. Randy Orton – Claymore

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Monday Night Raw – June 12, 2006: Everything Else Worked

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: June 12, 2006
Location: Bryce Jordan Center, State College, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 4,500
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

It’s the night after One Night Stand and that means we have a new WWE/ECW Champion in the form of Rob Van Dam. Sure it was a screwy finish, but that’s one of the places where ECW shines. That’s a big story in its own right, but we also need to get ready for Vengeance later this month. Let’s get to it.

Here is One Night Stand if you need a recap.

In Memory Of John Tenta.

Paul Heyman says that even though he isn’t an official official, Rob Van Dam is still the new WWE Champion. Tomorrow night on the debut of ECW on Sci-Fi, the WWE Championship will officially be rechristened the ECW Championship. Since Edge is the #1 contender, Van Dam will defend the title against him at Vengeance. Therefore, Edge, Lita, and all of you are invited to the debut show. Van Dam comes in to spin the title, which still says John Cena.

Opening sequence.

Randy Orton vs. Kane

So Orton is now on Raw. Orton gets in a right hand in the corner and manages to stomp Kane down in the corner. JR: “Kane was devastating in See No Evil. Maybe we can have a sequel here called Silence of the Slams.” A dropkick puts Orton down but Kane sits up and hits the big boot. The running clothesline into a side slam sets up the top rope clothesline but Orton blocks the chokeslam. Kane kicks him outside and they fight up the ramp for the quick double countout.

Rating: D+. This didn’t have time to go anywhere but it feels more like a means to set something else up in the near future. What we got here didn’t last very long and that’s probably a good thing given that this was a cold match with Orton just debuting on Raw. At least the See No Evil lighting seems to be over for no at least.

Post match they fight up to the stage until the Costume Kane shows up for the brawl with the real one. Costume Kane knocks the real one out to the floor for a crash.

Here’s Charlie Haas to talk about accidentally knocking Lilian Garcia off the apron last week. Lilian has a sprained wrist and Charlie is truly sorry, but here’s Viscera to interrupt. Viscera says that was very sweet and Lilian may accept the apology, but he doesn’t. The beatdown is on, including the big splash. Lilian isn’t sure what to think about this.

We recap Vince McMahon trying to get HHH to join his Club but HHH outsmarted the McMahons and by not drinking the drugged water, meaning Vince and Shane were left laying instead.

Jonathan Coachman is trying to make sure everything is perfect for Vince McMahon’s State Of The WWE Address tonight. The cameramen aren’t even in the right place!

ECW on Sci-Fi debuts tomorrow.

Jerry Lawler complains about Joey Styles costing him the match against Tazz. Then to make it even worse, Sandman attacked poor innocent Eugene.

Eugene is worried about Jim Duggan facing Umaga tonight. Duggan: “WAS BABE RUTH WORRIED WHEN HE FOUGHT GODZILLA ON TOP OF THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING??? Trust me, THAT HAPPENED!” He’s ready to fight tonight.

It’s time for the State of WWE, which means it’s time to talk about the return of ECW. In addition, Vince is not pleased with what happened between himself, HHH and Shane McMahon last week. The last person to cross the boss was Shawn Michaels, who isn’t in action anymore thanks to the Spirit Squad. Therefore, tonight HHH gets to face the Spirit Squad in a gauntlet match. After tonight, HHH will join Michaels on the highway to H***. Wasn’t that back in 1998?

Torrie Wilson vs. Candice Michelle

It’s a Wet N Wild match, meaning there are various water based implements in the ring and the winner is on the cover of the WWE Summer Special magazine. Naturally they’re both in white in case you didn’t get the idea here. They go back to back to start and start with the water guns before Candice throws her face first down onto the water balloons. Candice hits a backbreaker and puts some water balloons down Torrie’s clothes for a Vader Bomb.

That’s good for two and Lawler is way too happy about the kickout. Candice throws a bucket of water but stops for the Go Daddy Dance. A splash in the corner sets up another bucket of water being poured onto Candice, setting up the Stink Face. They go outside with Lawler being sprayed with the water gun and JR rather enjoying the visuals, calling it better than the Oklahoma State Fair. Back in and Torrie hits a facebuster for the pin.

Rating: D. I don’t think this really qualifies as a wrestling match for the most (Moist?) part and that’s fine. They weren’t trying to do anything here other than the obvious and in that regard, it worked rather well. They kept it short and in this case, Lawler’s commentary was as it was supposed to be. Not good of course, but looking for quality here is missing the point.

Trish Stratus hosted the inductions into the Canadian Walk Of Fame and kissed Pamela Anderson. This isn’t on the Network.

Commentary explains the various things required for Rob Van Dam to beat John Cena last week.

Video on Van Dam winning the title.

The Spirit Squad says it’s GAME OVER for HHH. I really hope that isn’t supposed to pass for clever at this point.

Spirit Squad vs. HHH

Gauntlet match. Actually hang on as here’s Vince McMahon to say we don’t need a referee right now. Instead we see what happened to Shawn Michaels when the Spirit Squad got their hands on him. Mikey starts for the team and gets clotheslined before the bell. The knee drop into the jumping knee to the face make it worse so Vince sends out Kenny. HHH beats up both of them with a neckbreaker and a spinebuster so it’s Johnny coming in as well.

The fans chant for DX as Nicky is here as well, making it 4-1. HHH is whipped into the steps and it’s time to wrap a chair around his knee. Vince: “Not on the knee. Break his d*** neck!” Mitch is called out to join the fray….but he comes sprawling out of the entrance because Shawn Michaels is back. Sweet Chin Music hits Mitch and Shawn goes to the ring to clean house. The Pedigree connects as well and DX is back, complete with stereo crotch chops. HHH even drops his trunks to make Vince’s eyes bug out as a bonus.

Rating: D+. There was a bell so this was an official match, but the wrestling wasn’t quite the point (again). It worked out well in getting Shawn back though, which was the point of the whole thing. Vince is going to need more than the Spirit Squad to give these two a challenge, but they’ll work fine for the first boss. The reunion was good as well, as that felt like a special moment.

Back from a break and Vince makes the Spirit Squad vs. DX at Vengeance.

Jim Duggan vs. Umaga

Eugene and Armando Alejandro Estrada are here as well. Duggan jumps him at the bell and hammers away but is quickly tied in the Tree of Woe. Eugene hands Duggan the board but Umaga kicks him in the head anyway. Umaga breaks the board over his own head and finishes in a hurry with the Samoan Spike.

Post match Eugene gets tied in the ropes and has to watch Umaga hit the running hip attack in the corner on Duggan.

See No Evil video.

Flair says he has been wanting to talk to Foley for three years and doesn’t care about One Night Stand. He wants to talk about the two of them, because Flair has heard what Foley has said about Flair’s comments on his wrestling career. The only person on Flair’s status around here is Joe Paterno so he is standing up for WWE against this ECW stuff.

For years, people like Flair, HHH, Shawn Michaels, Rock, Austin, Undertaker and Kurt Angle have wrestled their way to greatness. But then people say the greatest thing they ever saw was Foley going off the Cell and through a table. Flair: “We wrestle our way to greatness. You fall off a Cell and you’re great? That’s bulls***.” Foley says no one here cares about Flair vs. Race, Steamboat or Funk because that’s too old for them.

To Foley’s WWE fans, Flair’s thousand dollar suits will never match up to the Santa’s Village t-shirt and ripped flannel. Foley slept on a roof as WWF Champion to save a few bucks and what really bothers Flair is he can do nothing about it. This glorified stuntman could rip Flair apart so Flair takes the jacket off and backs Foley into the corner, but Foley cites his eye injuries from last night. Foley: “My eyes are so screwed up I might mistake you for Joe Paterno and start slapping the wrong old guy around!”

Foley leaves so Flair offers thumbtacks and a ladder if that’s what it takes to get Foley in the ring. That won’t work for Foley, but he’ll challenge Flair to a match at Vengeance, 2/3 falls. Flair can’t accept fast enough. I remember never liking this feud before so maybe watching it with fresh eyes will work better. This worked well and laid out the issues in the intense way you knew you would get from these two.

Johnny Nitro vs. Carlito

Melina is here with Nitro and Shelton Benjamin is on commentary, as he will be defending the Intercontinental Title in a triple threat against these two at Vengeance. Carlito grabs an armdrag and a hiptoss to start but goes outside when Melina steals his apple. Nitro uses the distraction to hammer away, with Melina getting in a headscissors from the floor. Carlito fights back up with a springboard elbow and a clothesline but Melina offers a distraction. That’s enough for Shelton to help block the Backstabber, setting up a standing shooting star press to give Nitro the pin.

Rating: C-. Very short by the book match here which worked fine as a way to set up the title match at Vengeance. It wasn’t about having a competitive match but Shelton screwing Carlito over makes sense. It’s nice to see Nitro added into the mix as well, though it makes his early struggles on Raw a little more confusing in hindsight.

Mickie James is rather amused by Beth Phoenix getting hurt last week. It’s amazing how many people get hurt for getting on her bad side. Ashley broke her leg and is on Smackdown, Trish Stratus has a bad shoulder and now Beth has to eat through a straw. Mickie and Beth grew up together but then Beth got really, really mean. Randy Orton of all people pops up to talk about the huge upset when Kurt Angle beat him. That was in ECW though so Angle should want a rematch at Vengeance under WWE rules. Spread the word.

The Highlanders are coming and raid the trash in Times Square.

We look back at the DX reunion.

Vengeance rundown.

Lita takes over interviewing duties for Maria and brings in Edge. He changed the face of wrestling last night by beating three ECW has beens and then costing John Cena the WWE Championship. Tomorrow night, the two of them will be at ECW but as for tonight, he’s facing Cena, who will never be WWE Champion again.

Stevie Richards, Justin Credible and Balls Mahoney are here to sit in the front row.

Edge vs. John Cena

Cena is serious tonight and double legs Edge down to start the fight in a hurry. They go outside with Edge going into the steps so Lita jumps on Cena for the DQ in less than a minute.

Post match the ECW guys jump the barricade so Cena cleans house with a chair. Cena says he got an awakening in ECW last night and since anyone can show up and do whatever they want, he’s going to be showing up on ECW tomorrow night as well. He likes this feeling and he’s going to have an extremely good time tomorrow.

Overall Rating: C. The wrestling was almost nothing here but this show did a good job of making me want to see tomorrow’s ECW show. That’s exactly what they were going for here and Vengeance is starting to look good as well. That’s a nice use of time tonight and I’m curious to see how they pull off both shows. Now that being said, the Raw stuff was actually pretty weak and the wrestling was just a step above awful, but I’m liking where things are going. Find a nice mixture of all that stuff and the show could be back on its roll in a hurry. For now though, nice job of building things up.

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Monday Night Raw – November 9, 2020: The Fans Get Screwjobbed

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: November 9, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Samoa Joe

We are less than two weeks away from Survivor Series and that means it is time to find something to talk about for the show. So much of the build is spent on the Raw vs. Smackdown elimination match and there is almost nothing else going on. That doesn’t make for the most thrilling shows and unfortunately I don’t know if WWE is going to do much to fix it. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of Randy Orton attacking Drew McIntyre last week with the Fiend being somewhere on the outside looking in.

Opening sequence.

Here are Miz and John Morrison for MizTV. Miz is excited about tonight’s six man main event when the two of them team with Randy Orton against Drew McIntyre and New Day. Big things are happening, and Morrison thinks that might mean cashing in the briefcase. That’s a possibility, but also that Miz and Mrs. debuts this week. Miz wants to bring out the guests but here’s Orton to interrupt.

Orton isn’t happy because he wants to get his hands on McIntyre but now Miz is teasing cashing in the briefcase. He remembers the time when he threw Miz out of the locker room and then Miz went down to wrestle in the minor leagues. Orton turns his back on them and says try it but Miz says Orton needs to stop making it about himself.

It could go big for all three of them, because Miz and Morrison could get a Tag Team Title shot after tonight’s main event. Cue New Day to laugh off the idea and get in, where Orton hits a RKO on Kofi and Woods is sent outside. McIntyre runs in but gets hit with the briefcase and an RKO. Total mentions of the Hurt Business, who pinned New Day last week, or Orton’s match with Roman Reigns at Survivor Series for that matter: zero.

Survivor Series Qualifying Match: Riddle vs. Elias vs. Jeff Hardy

For the final spot on the team. Before the match, Elias talks about how he had a vision of becoming the final member of the team. For now though, he is going to sing a song and looks towards the entrance for the interruption. He does it a few more times and then starts, which finally draws out Jeff’s entrance. I chuckled a bit, which is destroyed as soon as I see that it’s actually Riddle instead of Matt Riddle.

They trade rollups to start until Riddle is sent to the apron. Elias knocks him outside and posts Riddle before running Jeff over. We take a break and come back with Elias hammering on both of them until Hardy hits back to back atomic drops. A quick Drift Away gets two on Hardy with Riddle diving in to make the save. Riddle kicks Elias down for two but can’t get Bro Derek on Jeff. Instead Elias knocks Jeff to the floor and it’s the Bro Derek to finish Elias at 8:49.

Rating: C-. Riddle (erg) is the best choice of the ones they had available here but it’s not like the Survivor Series match has any heat on it. I know this kind of thing happens every year but there is just nothing going on with this year’s version. I’m not sure how much better they can make it with just a few shows to go, but Riddle getting on the team helps a bit.

AJ Styles is in the back and says of course he’s happy with Riddle being on the team. Sheamus comes in to say he doesn’t like this. Styles is NOT his captain, and here’s Braun Strowman to say the same.

Retribution talks about how they respect Ricochet but the team has been forgotten. They were never given the chance and they will not stop until they shut you down. Noted. Now go lose again.

We look at the Hurt Business beating New Day last week.

Drew Gulak comes up to the Hurt Business and offers his services because the 24/7 Title could make the team that much better. MVP: “Are you serious?” They find out that Drew is wearing a clip on tie, which is due to needing to be ready to run to protect the title. The beating is on in a hurry….and here’s R-Truth to get the title back.

Veterans Day video.

Lana vs. Shayna Baszler

Lana looks scared to come to the ring and we see a montage of her being put through the announcers’ table time after time. Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke are on commentary. Lana jumps on Shayna’s back to start and gets kneed in the corner for her efforts. Shayna throws her around again but misses another knee in the corner. That means a kick to the face and the stomp to the arm connects. Another knee into the Kirifuda Clutch makes Lana tap at 1:50. As expected.

Post match Nia Jax loads up the announcers’ table but Mandy and Dana scare Shayna and Nia off. I’m having a bit of trouble buying that as realistic.

Post break Lana thanks Mandy and Dana, who tell her to stay out of their way.

Here’s AJ Styles for a Survivor Series team meeting. AJ, with his large friend, brings out the rest of the team (Keith Lee, Riddle Braun Strowman and Sheamus) and the arguments are on in a hurry. Strowman threatens to let Sheamus have these hands so Sheamus says bring it. Riddle says that AJ is the skipper, Lee (Riddle: “Happy birthday Keith!”) is Bro Lee and Sheamus is Fire Face, because his face gets rid. Sheamus: “So what’s your code name? Dopey?” Riddle: “Yeah!”

AJ cuts this off and says what they’re up against on Smackdown. Sheamus should be worried about Jey Uso and if Strowman isn’t paying attention, he’ll bow down to King Corbin. This gets their attention but they don’t like AJ saying he’s captain. AJ says he’s talked to Adam Pearce and tonight it’s Sheamus/Strowman vs. Riddle/Lee with himself as guest referee. Saxton: “This is going to be a catastrophe. This is never going to work.”

Keith Lee/Riddle vs. Sheamus/Braun Strowman

AJ Styles is guest referee and Sheamus bounces off of Lee to start. Riddle comes in to strike away in the corner but Sheamus drives him into the other corner to take over. Strowman comes in to step on Riddle’s hair and it’s already back to Sheamus to hammer away. AJ yells at Sheamus for getting too violent and Riddle accidentally knocks him down. Back up and Riddle does it again, meaning it’s time for Lee and Strowman to get in a fight of their own.

The large friend gets in the ring and we take a break. Back with Strowman chinlocking Riddle before hitting him with a toss suplex. Strowman’s charge hits post though (he never learns) and it’s Lee coming in for running splashes in the corner. Sheamus is thrown into Strowman and it’s a Spirit Bomb to put Riddle onto Sheamus in a crash. A heck of a clothesline drops Strowman for two but Sheamus is back with a jumping knee to Lee.

The Brogue Kick puts Lee on the floor but Riddle grabs a German suplex for two on Sheamus. Riddle goes after Strowman on the apron though and it’s Sheamus running him over again. The Brogue Kick is loaded up but Strowman tags himself in and throws Riddle around some more. The running powerslam is loaded up, though this time it’s Sheamus tagging himself in. A Brogue Kick knocks Sheamus off the apron and it’s a rollup to give Riddle the pin on Sheamus at 12:24.

Rating: C. This is rapidly approaching the levels of Money in the Bank for most pointless wastes of time in all of the WWE calendar. The matches aren’t bad but we’re sitting here watching these people argue over who is captain in a match where they can’t get physical with their opponents in a match over brand supremacy. If this is the best they can come up with for Survivor Series, maybe it’s time to come up with a very new concept for the pay per view.

Post match Lee and Riddle show some respect.

Alexa Bliss is playing with some flowers in the back when Nikki Cross comes up. She apologizes for not being there when Bliss needed her but Bliss says she’ll get Cross an invitation to the Fun House for a play date. Cross says Fiend is evil and it’s time to pick either her or the Fiend. Bliss blows flowers in her face and picks Fiend before walking away smiling. If Nikki didn’t get the hint before this, that’s not going to change her mind.

Next week: Hurt Business gets a Tag Team Title shot against New Day. Well at least they addressed it.

Here are MVP and Bobby Lashley to, believe it or not, talk about Survivor Series. MVP talks about the champion vs. champion match, where Lashley is going to show that the United States Title is superior to the Intercontinental Title. Lashley didn’t hear Sami talking on Smackdown because Sami knows what is going to happen at Survivor Series.

Cue Titus O’Neil of all people to interrupt, because he isn’t happy that his offer to join the Hurt Business was turned down. MVP says he respects O’Neil for his charity work and as a result he has a chance to walk away right now. Titus says he isn’t leaving and gets fired up to ask where the pride is in being US Champion if he won’t defend the title. Lashley says Titus can have a shot, but it’s going to be his first and last.

US Title: Titus O’Neil vs. Bobby Lashley

Lashley is defending and MVP says this is taking place above the ring rather than beneath it. Titus unloads on Lashley in the corner but Lashley runs him over. The Hurt Lock goes on and Titus taps at 1:08.

Sheamus rants about what happened in the tag match to Drew McIntyre. He can’t stand anyone on his team almost as much as he despises New Day. Drew does the clap and Sheamus calls him a lunatic. They talk about the old days when they teamed together and agree to have some pints together later.

Asuka vs. Nia Jax

Non-title. Before the match, we got to the back where Nia and Shayna Baszler argue over who the team leader is (AGAIN) with Nia saying she’ll dominate Survivor Series and then beat Asuka to become Raw Women’s Champion. The rest of the Raw women’s team is at ringside. Asuka starts fast with an Octopus hold into an armbar but Nia takes her to the floor. That means a swing into the barricade to drop Asuka hard and we take a break. Back with Asuka grabbing a guillotine choke but getting reversed into a suplex.

The running splash in the corner gets two on Asuka, who has to bridge out of the near fall. Asuka’s hurricanrana gives her two of her own and there’s the running hip attack for one. Nia is right back with a powerbomb but gets a little too cocky with the cover, allowing Asuka to grab a cross armbreaker. Lana and Baszler get on the apron with Baszler grabbing the Clutch so Asuka hip attacks both of them. The Samoan drop is loaded up but Asuka reverses into the Asuka Lock, drawing in Baszler for the DQ at 7:26.

Rating: C. This was every Nia match you’ve seen with someone trying to slay the giant. That has been the case for months now and it is probably going to be the case with every match Jax will be doing for months, because it’s all she does. I like Asuka a lot, but I feel like I’ve seen this same match from Nia since she was down in NXT. Find something new, because the impact is gone.

Post match Nia and Shayna clean house and it’s another Samoan drop to put Lana through the announcers’ table (eight). Nia says Lana should quit because she’s dragging the team down.

We look back at the opening segment.

R-Truth is defending the 24/7 Title in a seven way match, which he calls a 24/7 Title Seven Camera DQ Photo Shoot. After a quick correction, he wants to know what he’s supposed to do with the clip on tie.

Andrade says he is going to fight for every woman when he gets in the ring. This one woman though should get everything that he wants though and has a rose for her.

24/7 Title: R-Truth vs. Drew Gulak vs. Tucker vs. Erik vs. Lince Dorado vs. Gran Metalik vs. Akira Tozawa

Truth is defending and gets jumped to start. Everyone else brawls and Tozawa rolls Truth up to win the title at 28 seconds.

Post match Erik wins the title.

Gulak wins the title.

Tucker wins the title.

Gulak wins the title.

Tucker wins the title.

Gulak and Truth go after the title and the brawl breaks out until Metalik hits a top rope elbow to win the title.

Dorado turns on Metalik to win the title.

Truth wins the title and runs off.

Mustafa Ali vs. Ricochet

They go right at it to start with an exchange of early strikes. Ricochet starts flipping around and gets knocked down, meaning it’s off to an early chinlock. Back up and Ricochet scores with a backdrop but gets sent out to the apron. Ricochet pulls Ali out there with him and hits a headscissors to the floor. The rest of Retribution glares at Ricochet and Ali grabs a running….well we’re not sure as they couldn’t wait one more second before going to a break.

Back with Ricochet fighting out of a chinlock but getting caught with a running neckbreaker for two. Ricochet fights out of another chinlock and rolls some northern lights suplexes. He keeps spinning into a brainbuster for two and takes Ali up top, only to get caught in a super Backstabber (geez) for two more. Ricochet is back up with a reverse hurricanrana but goes up top for a very corkcrewy give onto Retribution. The Phoenix splash misses though and Ali grabs a Koji Clutch to knock Ricochet out at 13:57.

Rating: B-. Hokey freaking smoke Retribution won a match. I mean it only took five people to beat one and it was because Ricochet went after the team instead of going for the win but they did manage to win. That’s as good as you can get for Retribution here and somehow it’s a step in the right direction.

Adam Pearce tells Randy Orton that he is defending the title against Drew McIntyre next week on Raw. Orton shoves him up against the wall and says since Pearce is just a messenger, he can tell the staff to go to h***.

Randy Orton/Miz/John Morrison vs. Drew McIntyre/New Day

Morrison and Woods start things off with a quick double team putting Morrison down. Miz comes in and gets taken down as well, sending him over to Orton for a tag, though Orton is not exactly interested. Instead it’s back to Morrison, who gets taken down with a standing stomp. Everything breaks down and Miz and Morrison are sent to the floor. The big double dive takes them down again (though Woods seemed to get caught in the ropes and might not have made contact whatsoever).

Back from a break with Morrison hitting an Alberto double stomp to drive Woods into the apron. Morrison hits something like a Samoan drop on Woods so Miz comes back in, only to still not get a tag from Orton. The delay lets Woods fight up and bring in McIntyre to clean house. A double overhead belly to belly suplex sends Miz and Morrison flying, followed by the Future Shock to Morrison.

McIntyre stares down at Orton and begs him to make his day. Orton teases tagging in but walks away instead. Morrison hits a crazy flip dive onto Woods but the Flying Chuck is knocked out of the air with the Glasgow Kiss. The Claymore pins Morrison at 13:26, with McIntyre glaring at Orton during the cover.

Rating: C-. This was the latest match in a series tonight with very low stakes, if there were any there whatsoever. I know they’re teasing tensions between Miz and Orton, but unless that cash-in is taking place really soon (and to be fair it may be), I’m not sure how much interest there was in having these people fight. Orton vs. McIntyre has been set up for months now, while New Day and Hurt Business, who have a title match next week, didn’t even look at each other tonight. That should be an easy one, but I guess teasing a cash-in which might not come for months is more important.

Overall Rating: D. I know Raw is bad a lot more often than not, but this was a rare example where I really felt like I wasted my time. The wrestling was acceptable all night long and none of the matches were terrible (Ricochet vs. Ali was good) but I have no idea what almost any of this did to make me want to watch next week’s show or Survivor Series.

The Raw team is fighting over who is the real leader, and in case you haven’t heard that story enough, Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax are having the exact same argument. Riddle is now on the team, though is there any actual interest in that match? Lashley talked a bit of trash about Sami Zayn and then squashed Titus O’Neil. Lana has now been put through eight tables by Jax, but I’m sure that big moment where she does it once will be worth it. The main event was just there, as they desperately try to make me care about Money in the Bank and fail more miserably every time.

Survivor Series was mentioned in passing a few times and Fiend was nowhere in sight. It’s like Survivor Series is this weird pit stop they have to make on the way to their next show, and that is the case with far too many pay per views this year. Either find a better way to present Survivor Series or just make it whatever other generic pay per view your team of 38 writers come up with in ten seconds, because this is approaching Money in the Bank levels of wasting my time.

Results

Riddle b. Elias and Jeff Hardy – Bro Derek to Elias

Shayna Baszler b. Lana – Kirifuda Clutch

Riddle/Keith Lee b. Sheamus/Braun Strowman – Rollup to Sheamus

Bobby Lashley b. Titus O’Neil – Hurt Lock

Asuka b. Nia Jax via DQ when Shayna Baszler interfered

Akira Tozawa b. R-Truth, Tucker, Drew Gulak, Erik, Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik – Rollup to R-Truth

Mustafa Ali b. Ricochet – Koji Clutch

Drew McIntyre/New Day b. Miz/John Morrison/Randy Orton – Claymore to Morrison

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And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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Monday Night Raw – June 5, 2006: The Face Looks Good On Him

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: June 5, 2006
Location: Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 11,000
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

It’s the go home show for One Night Stand and that’s a big deal, but at the same time, it is interesting to see what ECW is going to do when they come back full time. Last week, things got interesting when Paul Heyman announced that Kurt Angle would be joining the show. I could certainly go for more from Paul Heyman this week and hopefully that is what we get. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Shane McMahon comes in to see an anxious HHH, who is not looking forward to possibly joining Vince McMahon’s club. HHH is ready to explode but Shane says go talk to Vince and it’ll be fine.

Opening sequence.

Cena, barely able to contain his laughter, asks about the passionate fans before saying he is one. He isn’t going to be just handing over the title jack, but everyone knows that Van Dam is going to fight. Cena has fought and bled to keep it too though, so Van Dam better be ready. This soldier is locked in and ready to fight and they both sign. We get a handshake but Heyman says Cena has something else to do first. There is going to be a WWE vs. ECW battle royal so now it’s time for Cena to get a little preview.

Cue a bunch of ECW guys to surround Cena, who looks cool with it. Cena: “Hey Paul Heyman, let me guess: these guys are all here for John Cena autographs right?” Cena says he’s going down swinging so the fight is on until Sandman canes him in the head. Sabu grabs a chair and drives him through the table until Big Show and a bunch of other guys come in for the save. They’re doing something different with ECW this year and that’s a good idea. If nothing else, it makes more sense to have them go after Cena in a big swarm like this as no one is going to buy Cena as being in trouble against one or even two of them.

Carlito vs. Shelton Benjamin

Non-title. Shelton knocks him down to start and fires off some knees in the corner. Carlito fights up and snaps off a dropkick, only to get kicked in the face for his efforts. We hit the early chinlock as Lawler thinks Carlito’s hair is a cry for help. That’s broken up for some clotheslines and the springboard elbow to Shelton’s jaw gets two. Shelton misses the Stinger Splash and the Backstabber gives Carlito the clean pin.

Rating: C-. Not much to see here, other than the champ losing clean in about four and a half minutes of course, because Shelton isn’t allowed to look impressive for any extended length of time. I’m still not wild on Carlito but they have to push someone as the next challenger and this is about as logical of a move as they have.

Video on See No Evil.

HHH reluctantly goes into Vince’s office but finds Coach, who goes to get Vince. The fact that there is a large photo of Shawn Michaels being forced to join the Club isn’t exactly encouraging. Post break, Vince comes in to talk about how awesome of a time he had in New York earlier this week, including a special sand blasting of a certain area. HHH shrugs that off and says this isn’t happening. That sends Vince into a rant about how HHH needs to lead the locker room by example, but we have a plan B. Instead, HHH can face the Big Show and if he wins, the whole Club thing is off the table. Let’s just have that match….now.

HHH vs. Big Show

HHH slugs away in the corner but charges into a gorilla press. Show gets low bridged to the floor though….and here’s the Spirit Squad to jump him for the DQ, meaning HHH’s Club deal is still on.

Post break HHH storms into Vince’s office and blames Vince for that, but Vince says a deal is a deal. If HHH doesn’t do it, he never gets any title shot ever again.

Eugene vs. Matt Striker

Before the match, Striker asks why Eugene thinks he can win. Eugene says he has a tutor, so here’s Jim Duggan of all people. Striker jumps Eugene from behind and hits a quick DDT for two. The chinlock goes on so Duggan starts the EUGENE chant, which means the comeback is already on. An airplane spin dizzifies Striker but he counters the Rock Bottom into a neckbreaker. Duggan’s flag waving distracts Striker though and Eugene hits a three point clothesline for the fast win.

Here’s hometown boy Kurt Angle for a chat. Angle knows he’s part of ECW but nothing was going to stop him from being here in Pittsburgh. Cue Mick Foley to interrupt and this could be interesting. Foley isn’t happy with Angle going for the blatant cheap pop like that because that’s his deal. Angle asks if Foley had a bunch of cash waved in his face to turn on ECW and says everything Ric Flair said about Foley was true. Angle: “WOO!” Foley brushes that off and says that he heard Angle was having an open challenge at One Night Stand. Paul Heyman said it though so it’s probably a lie. Angle: “Oh it’s true Mick, it’s d*** true!”

Angle knows Foley is in his tag match, but come answer the challenge and get another paycheck like a hair prostitute. Angle: “Speaking of hairy prostitutes, hi Lita!” Cue Lita to whisper something to Foley. That would be a special introduction, as here’s Edge as well. Edge talks about shaving Angle’s head and compares Angle to the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he’s really more like the Pittsburgh Pirates. Like, Willie Stargell for instance. Not the All-Star version of him, but the rotting corpse which has been dead for five years.

The trio gets in Angle’s face so Angle threatens to break Edge’s ankle. Edge: “Ok wrestling machine.” Edge talks about Angle’s history with ECW and thinks he would have been a better pick for ECW. He’s the #1 contender to the WWE Championship though and Angle won’t last two weeks in ECW. Angle promises to change the face of ECW and goes for Edge’s ankle. The Angle Slam cuts off Foley and the ankle lock has Edge in trouble until Lita makes the save. The trio bails so it’s Randy Orton running in for an RKO to drop Angle.

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During the break, Orton said he was accepting the challenge after Angle put him on the shelf for sixty days. I didn’t know Angle came in suspension form.

Lance Cade vs. Kane

Kane knocks him around without much effort to start and decks Trevor Murdoch off the apron for a bonus. The side slam sets up the chokeslam….and the lights go red with the old Kane mask appearing on screen. The mask says to come back so Kane walks up the ramp for the countout.

Cade and Murdoch celebrate so we got to the back where Kane says come fight him. The costumed Kane pops up behind him and beats the unmasked Kane down.

The Highlanders are coming but first it’s time for some shenanigans in New York. I liked these guys.

Charlie Haas vs. Johnny Nitro

Haas runs in and hits the ropes, knocking Lilian Garcia off the apron in a heap. Melina looks down at her and we cut to a shot of Haas in a hurry. Haas knocks Nitro into the corner to start but gets dropkicked outside. Melina rakes the eyes for a bit and Nitro kicks him in the back for two.

Nitro forearms to the back and grabs a cravate as the LILIAN chant begins, mainly because she is being helped to the back. Lawler manages to blame this on ECW as Haas monkey flips Nitro down onto his face. Haas rains down right hands in the corner until Melina comes in, intentionally falls down, and grabs her ankle. This is enough of a distraction for Nitro to grab a rollup for the pin, making Haas the dumbest wrestler in….well at least this week.

Rating: D+. That distraction ending was pretty awful as Haas looks like the biggest numskull imaginable. There wasn’t anything to the match either with Haas being his usual self and Nitro somehow needing help to beat him. Nitro’s Raw tenure hasn’t gone well, but at least he isn’t losing again.

Back from a break and we see Lilian being taken to the back after being knocked to the floor. Justin Roberts is taking her place.

Victoria vs. Beth Phoenix

Mickie James and Trish Stratus are here as well. An early distraction lets Victoria hammer away to start and a kick to the ribs sends her into the ropes. There’s a knee to the back for two more but Beth is back with a snap suplex. Some clotheslines set up a dropkick for two and Beth nails a side slam. Mickie offers a distraction though and Victoria grabs a rollup with tights (which are pulled WAY out of position) for two. Beth is right back with a Michinoku Driver for the pin.

Rating: C-. The match itself was just there, but what mattered here was Beth broke her jaw at some point but finished the match anyway. That would be it for her for over a year on Raw as she would need a bunch of surgeries and then get sent back to OVW for a bit. She hid the injury rather well, but she was grabbing her face as soon as the match was over. As you should probably do.

Monday Night Raw – November 2, 2020: The Double Life Shows

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: November 2, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Samoa Joe, Byron Saxton

We’re on the way to the Survivor Series and that means we are in for some more building. Last week saw some of the Raw teams being set up but there are still a few spots to go. There is also a Guitar on a Pole match set for tonight, because that’s something we need to see. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of last week, focusing on the World Title situation.

Opening sequence.

Here’s Randy Orton to get things going. He talks about winning the title eight days ago and now he is the best of the best. That doesn’t do him justice though because eight days ago, he proved that he is the best, period. He is better than Edge, the Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, John Cena and of course Drew McIntyre.

People have said that HHH took care of him when he started around here but eight days ago, he showed the entire world that he is the best. He is no longer the Legend Killer because he is now the best in the world. Cue Alexa Bliss to say he could be here. The Fiend’s lights come on but it’s Drew McIntyre with the Claymore to drop Orton instead. McIntyre dares Orton to give him his rematch and leaves. Cue Miz and John Morrison to cash in Money in the Bank but McIntyre breaks it up, saying no one is cashing in on Orton while he is around.

Post break Miz rants about how the briefcase was never cashed in. He is tired of not being treated with the respect that he deserves just because Drew can’t admit that his fifteen year journey is over. That’s why it’s time for someone else to become the new star of Monday Night Raw, so tonight, how about Miz/Morrison vs. McIntyre in a handicap match?

Here’s Elias for his match with Jeff Hardy, but first he needs to brag about how awesome his new album is. He can do some great things with his guitar, so tonight he is going to break it over Hardy’s back. We get an acoustic version of Amen, but here’s Hardy to cut things off.

Elias vs. Jeff Hardy

Guitar on a Pole, meaning you can climb the pole and use the guitar to win. Elias hammers away to start but it’s way too early to get the guitar. Instead Jeff pulls him down for a ram into the steps and there’s Poetry In Motion against the barricade. Hardy goes up but Elias throws a stool at him for the save as we take a break.

Back with Elias hammering and talking trash, followed by a jumping knee to the face to cut off the comeback. Hardy pulls him down for trying to go after the guitar though and the comeback sequel works a bit better. The legdrop between the legs has Elias down again and a hurricanrana cuts off Elias’ powerbomb out of the corner attempt. There’s the Twist of Fate and Hardy grabs the guitar for a shot rope shot to the back and the pin at 8:20.

Rating: D+. This was slow and one of the less necessary stipulations in a long time. Odds are this doesn’t wrap things up for the time being because one gimmick match is nowhere near enough for a feud to end. I’m not sure where they’re going with trying to find out who ran Elias down but it’s only so interesting of a story in the first place.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Dana Brooke/Mandy Rose vs. Nia Jax/Shayna Baszler

Jax and Baszler are defending and here’s Lana to watch. Jax drives Brooke into the corner for an early crushing so it’s off to Mandy for an Octopus of all things. Brooke comes back in to knock Jax down for two with Baszler making the save. It’s off to Baszler, who is taken down with a double suplex for two. She’s right back up to suplex Rose down and yell at Lana, allowing Brooke to hammer away in the corner.

The handspring elbow hits Baszler as well and it’s a bulldog for two, even with Rose cutting Jax off. Baszler goes after Lana though and gets dropkicked through the ropes. Another Lana distraction breaks up the Kirifuda Clutch, but Baszler kicks Brooke into Lana, setting up the Clutch to retain at 3:35.

Rating: C-. Slightly better match than I was expecting, though you probably shouldn’t be having the new up and coming team losing, especially when you factor in Lana helping against the champs. Mandy and Dana have come a pretty long way though and could be fine as a plucks face team, as the division could use a lot more regular teams.

Randy Orton promises to give Drew McIntyre an RKO to remind him what a predator looks like. This has to be their last match right?

R-Truth vs. Bobby Lashley

Non-title, but R-Truth is a little confused before the match: he thinks he is facing the Waterboy, Bobby Boucher. He even has his water bottle to get signed. Once Lashley comes out, Truth says they’re both champions so no one needs to get hurt. Truth lays down so Lashley can pin him, only to get in a few cheap shots. The spear cuts Truth down and the Hurt Lock finishes at 56 seconds.

Post match Lashley puts him in the Hurt Lock again to leave Truth laying. Drew Gulak comes out to steal the 24/7 Title but gets beaten up by Lashley as well. Lashley throws Gulak onto Truth to make him champion anyway. After leaving, Lashley comes back in and…leaves again.

We cut to the back where Lucha House Party wants to win the 24/7 Title but run into AJ Styles’ bodyguard. The House Party remembers they were going the other way actually.

Nia Jax does not want to hear about Lana, who put her in jeopardy tonight. Just because she put Lana through a table? If Lana is such a fighter, come fight her.

Here’s AJ Styles, with Jordan Omogbehin, for a chat. AJ talks about how Team Raw needs a leader to bring them together, like….well him of course. Is there really any other option? His intangibles have intangibles. In his first act as captain, he is introducing his team. We’ll start with Sheamus and then Keith Lee, with AJ saying that they are the best of the best. AJ doesn’t care who he has to face at Survivor Series but Lee cuts him off to say that he isn’t intimidated by AJ’s big friend. AJ tells Sheamus to set Lee straight but Sheamus agrees with what Lee said.

With AJ panicking, cue Braun Strowman to say he should be on the team too. Strowman gives his usual aggressively scripted statement about why he should be on the team after beating Lee clean and having all kinds of Survivor Series success. Cue Adam Pearce to say he can’t find a Survivor Series qualifying match for Strowman. Lee cuts them both off to ask what Strowman means by clean. Sheamus wants to know why Lee thinks his opinion matters around here. Sheamus is ready to fight Strowman right now so AJ says let’s have a triple threat. If Strowman wins, he’s on the team.

Sheamus vs. Braun Strowman vs. Keith Lee

AJ Styles is on commentary and if Strowman wins, he’s on the Survivor Series team. Strowman knocks Sheamus outside to start but Lee sends Strowman outside for a change. Sheamus’ shots to the ribs are cut off and Lee tries a running flip dive, which sees him hit his head on the apron on the way down for a nearly horrible result. Sheamus and Lee slug it out on the floor but Strowman runs them over at the same time.

A steps shot to the face drops Strowman again and Sheamus hits the forearms to Lee’s chest. Lee blocks one of the shots though and Sheamus is sent hard into the barricade. Sheamus grabs a choke though, only to have Strowman drive both of them through the barricade for a huge crash. Back from a break with Sheamus….armbarring Lee. That’s kind of a downgrade but that could apply to so many things around here.

Strowman comes in for the save but it’s White Noise to give Sheamus two. Lee catches Sheamus on top (not with his awesome rising up from NXT though, because that’s too cool for this show) but gets raked in the eyes. Strowman catches Sheamus on top in a superplex but Lee turns it into a Tower of Doom to put them all down. AJ is impressed as they take their time getting back up.

Lee hits his running crossbody on Strowman and then suplexes Sheamus for a bonus. A knee to the face gives Sheamus two on Lee but Strowman is back to knock Sheamus off the top. Lee’s big clothesline hits Sheamus for two but Sheamus is up with the Brogue kick to put Lee down. Strowman’s running powerslam finishes Sheamus at 14:33. AJ: “I GOT STROWMAN ON THE TEAM!”

Rating: C+. There were problems here (I shook my head at coming back from the big crash to an armbar) but Lee didn’t get pinned and they had the right ending. Strowman is going to be important in the Survivor Series match because he’s kind of made for the wrecking ball spot in a match like that. Just don’t let him talk and everything will be fine for the next few weeks.

Post match Strowman says he doesn’t like any of them but Sheamus hugs him. And then Brogue Kicks him. Lee decks Sheamus and they crash to the floor. AJ drops to his knees and shouts WHY for the melodramatic moment.

Angel Garza talks about making you feel real every time you see him. Your cheeks will go read and you will feel butterflies in your stomach. He feels the same way about someone and knows she feels the same way with those lips and smile. This rose is for you.

We look back at the opening brawl.

Drew McIntyre says Orton has a 6’5 handsome guardian angel. No one is taking that title from Orton except him, so Fiend can back off. McIntyre wants the dream match with Roman Reigns and tonight, it’s all about smiling faces, which he’ll make when he has a two for one special later: Claymores for all.

It’s time for the Firefly Fun House. Bray welcomes us in German and dedicates this week’s show to three important letters: RKO. Abigail: “After what he did to us, Randy Orton can go **** himself.” Alexa Bliss wants ten cents in the swear jar so she can go **** herself too. Bray talks about Orton being a bad man and we see some clips of Wyatt Family Compound being burned down.

Bray says he used those ashes to create a new world….and we get a much more dramatic look at the house burning down. It can’t be that simple though because He never forgets. We see the Fiend, but Bliss has been practicing a nifty trick. Bray puts his hand over her face and Bliss’ eyes go evil as she….spits out some of the Ghostbusters II slime? Bray: “OH S***!”

Nia Jax vs. Lana

Before the match, Lacey Evans and Peyton Royce say it’s time for Lana to go through the table again. During her entrance, Lana says it’s time to stop going through the tables. Nia drives her into the corner to start and Lana fights back, with commentary putting over how hard she fights and never gives up. A headbutt rocks Lana again and Nia shouts that this is what Lana wanted. Nia hits a slam and plants Lana with the Samoan drop for the pin at 3:10.

Rating: D. I’m almost scared to think of what we’re going to get with Lana as the underdog who fights to the end because she really isn’t that good. Throw in that everything about her screams villain and that she’s more of a call back to the model days of women’s wrestling in a lot of ways and this could be a tough sell. Maybe not Nia tough, but touch enough.

Post match, for the seventh time, Nia puts Lana through the announcers’ table.

R-Truth runs into the Hurt Business and walks away, even though they still have his water bottle.

Here’s the Hurt Business for the VIP Lounge. MVP talks about how great the team is and Bobby Lashley is ready for Sami Zayn at Survivor Series. Now that Retribution has been dispatched, it is time to collect payment, in the form of the Raw Tag Team Titles. Cue New Day to mock MVP for being old and praise Shelton for having such a successful career. Cedric will be here for a long time too, but New Day has been successful for a long time as well.

Kofi talks about all of the titles he has won, including the one title that Lashley never won. MVP brings up the eight second loss to Brock Lesnar and thinks Lashley can do it even fast. That surprises Kofi because he didn’t think the Hurt Business would be hurting his feelings. Oh and speaking of eight seconds, Lana says that’s how long Lashley can last. MVP mocks New Day for not being serious enough and dancing too much.

Shelton and Cedric are ready to dance on their faces but Woods says the Hurt Business is just another failed 2020 startup business. The only profits New Day is worried about is the Street Profits and Kofi hits a very high pitched catchphrase. I’m not sure what this really accomplished but it was long and felt like they were looking for a point somewhere in there.

New Day vs. Hurt Business

Non-title and MVP is on commentary. Woods grabs a suplex on Cedric to start things off as MVP agrees that the titles are silver instead of gold. Another suplex keeps Cedric in trouble until a quick tag brings in Shelton. Kofi is taken down in a hurry so it’s back to Cedric, who pounds away and tries a monkey flip, only to have Kofi land on his feet for some dancing. A monkey flip drops Cedric on his face and Kofi adds a dropkick.

The double tags bring in Shelton and Woods, with Woods dropkicking him off the apron. That’s fine with Woods, who takes both of them down and sends Shelton outside for a dropkick through the ropes. Back in and Shelton knocks Woods off the apron, setting up a whip into the barricade. Cedric scores with a superkick for two and we take a break. Back with Woods fighting up so Kofi can get the hot tag.

The Boom Drop gets two (and approval from MVP) but Cedric hits the Michinoku Driver for two of his own. Shelton gets two off a spinebuster to Woods, who comes right back with the middle rope DDT. It’s back to Kofi but the dive is cut off by Shelton tossing him into the air. The Neuralizer into Paydirt finishes Woods at 12:52.

Rating: C. You might think that challengers talking about getting a title shot and promising to take the gold would suggest that this would be a title shot but WWE doesn’t work that way. I’m sure New Day will get the big match against the Street Profits at Survivor Series, though it would make more sense to go with the title change first. Hurt Business has been great and could go with some more success, so let New Day transition them to another team again.

Nikki Cross comes up to Alexa Bliss to ask what happened. She knows it’s the Fiend doing this but Bliss is stronger than him. Nikki makes her turn around but Bliss’ eyes are all freaky, sending Nikki running. What part of IT’S OVER is not getting through to her?

Ricochet vs. Tucker

Mustafa Ali comes out to watch as Tucker throws Ricochet off to start. Some kicks to the face set up the Recoil to finish Tucker at 40 seconds.

Post match here’s Retribution to destroy Ricochet, with Ali looking on. Ricochet asks why Ali is doing this and Ali says it’s about punishment. A double spinebuster plants Ricochet.

Sheamus asks McIntyre to be the fifth man on the team but McIntyre says his mind is somewhere else right now. That’s cool with Sheamus, who wants McIntyre to kick Miz’s head off. That makes two rather face like statements from Sheamus tonight.

Drew McIntyre vs. Miz/John Morrison

Miz tries to hammer on McIntyre in the corner to start but is toss into the same corner. McIntyre shows him how to really beat someone up and then punches Morrison down for a bonus. Now it’s Morrison being pulled in but Miz sneaks in with a chop block. A double backbreaker has McIntyre in more trouble but he sends them outside anyway. The reverse Alabama Slam sends Morrison face first into the ramp and we take a break.

Back with Miz and Morrison managing to take it outside again and sending McIntyre hard into the barricade. Morrison’s springboard corkscrew splash gets one on McIntyre and we hit the chinlock. McIntyre fights up again and puts Morrison on the top rope. The elbows knock McIntyre into the Tree of Woe but McIntyre muscles himself up for a release German superplex.

McIntyre is right back up with the spinebuster, meaning Morrison has to shooting star press the cover for the break. Morrison is knocked outside again so Miz hits the Skull Crushing Finale for two instead. McIntyre knocks Morrison down again and hits the Future Shock on Miz. The Claymore is loaded up but Morrison pulls Miz outside. The big flip dive means it doesn’t matter and it’s the Claymore to finish Miz at 15:35.

Rating: D+. I like everyone in the match but it felt like they didn’t have much to do during the middle section, leaving them to do stuff more than once to fill in the time. This was more of an exercise in patience until McIntyre got the win, as there was no way he was losing again here, especially to Miz and Morrison. Even WWE isn’t screwing that up (so far).

Post match here’s Orton with the RKO to McIntyre. Orton poses but Fiend’s laugh ends the show.

Overall Rating: D+. I wasn’t feeling this show for the most part as the time got to be a major factor near the end. There was a lot of stuff that felt either long or like we were just killing time until we got to the important stuff. The build to Survivor Series often feels like it’s a few different shows at once and that’s what we’re doing here. Odds are there is going to be a big title match on TV in the near future though and that is going to be a better use of time than almost anything else they could do. This wasn’t a horrible show but it’s nothing you need to see for the most part.

Results

Jeff Hardy b. Elias – Top rope guitar shot to the back

Nia Jax/Shayna Baszler b. Mandy Rose/Dana Brooke – Kirifuda Clutch to Brooke

Bobby Lashley b. R-Truth – Hurt Lock

Braun Strowman b. Sheamus and Keith Lee – Running powerslam to Sheamus

Nia Jax b. Lana – Samoan drop

Hurt Business b. New Day – Paydirt to Woods

Ricochet b. Tucker – Recoil

Drew McIntyre b. Miz/John Morrison – Claymore to Miz

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Monday Night Raw – May 29, 2006: There Goes The Streak

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: May 29, 2006
Location: Tacoma Dome, Tacoma, Washington
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

We’re on the way to One Night Stand and the top of the show is starting to take place. Given that it isn’t a traditional show, there is a good chance that we won’t be seeing much more than just the two main matches. I’m not sure what we’re going to see on the way there, but Rob Van Dam vs. John Cena needs some build. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with the traditional Memorial Day video. That’s always nice to see.

Here’s Vince McMahon to get things going. He gets to the point by saying that losing HHH was like losing one of his own (maybe not the best illustration on Memorial Day) and we see HHH hitting Shane McMahon with the sledgehammer two weeks ago. Shane is still recovering but he has a lot of headaches. As for everything else, Shawn Michaels is no more because of what the Spirit Squad did to him last week.

After looking at Shawn’s knee being destroyed, Vince talks to Shawn at home, suggesting that the fans are chanting various insults at him. There is always a place for Shawn in WWE though. Maybe he could set the ring up or be a timekeeper or something like that. We also look at HHH turning on the Spirit Squad last week, which has Vince flabbergasted. Vince is ready to see HHH’s true colors tonight, as he faces Kenny.

Other than that though, Vince needs to announce a new General Manager, but there is no one who fits the requirements. Instead, here’s his new Executive Assistant: Jonathan Coachman. Coach comes out to announce some matches tonight, including John Cena vs. someone he has never faced before, Edge vs. Big Show, with the winner getting a WWE Title shot at Vengeance, and Shelton Benjamin defending the Intercontinental Title against Kane. Coach thanks Vince for the chance but Vince orders him to get HHH in his office right now.

Intercontinental Title: Kane vs. Shelton Benjamin

Kane is challenging and knocks Shelton down before the bell to start fast. Shelton slips out of a suplex to start and hammers away, which earns him a big boot to the floor. We take a break and come back with Shelton holding a chinlock, thanks to posting Kane while we were away. Shelton kicks him in the head but Kane sits up and hits another big boot. There’s the side slam into the top rope clothesline.

The chokeslam is countered into a rollup but even the feet on the ropes isn’t enough to keep the title. The Dragon Whip is countered as well but the counter is countered into a spinning DDT. Shelton’s Stinger Splash hits Kane’s back so Shelton tries one to his face, which is countered into a chokeslam. That should be it, but here’s Kane’s old music and….a guy in a really bad Kane Halloween costume, complete with the old mask. The real Kane is even more confused and gets chokeslammed as the match was thrown out somewhere in there.

Rating: D+. What we got wasn’t too bad but I don’t see this Kane vs. Kane story going very well. The Undertaker vs. Undertaker idea didn’t work twelve years before this and something tells me that the modern version isn’t going to be better. If nothing else, at least find a better costume. Like the inverted red and black one which always looked great.

Post break, here’s what you saw pre-break, which might not be the best thing to remind the fans about.

Coach is looking for HHH but runs into Armando Alejandro Estrada, who offers Vince his services instead. With Coach gone, Viscera pins Estrada face first against the wall and swears vengeance on Umaga as I try not to imagine various thrusting motions.

HHH comes in to see Vince and tries to calm things down. Vince makes tonight’s main event a Spirit Jack match, with a Spirit Squad member in each corner. HHH: “You would do that for me?” He promises to bring a friend of his own, and happens to have his sledgehammer.

Umaga vs. Viscera

Umaga jumps him before the bell and sends Viscera face first into the ramp. They get in and the Samoan Spike finishes in thirty seconds. They kept cutting to Lilian Garcia because she and Viscera are still a thing.

More See No Evil stuff.

Torrie Wilson/Beth Phoenix vs. Victoria/Candice Michelle

Trish Stratus and Mickie James are the thirds. Beth and Victoria slug it out to start, with Lawler making “trading licks” jokes. Torrie comes in to help Beth with a double chop, followed by the Stink Face. Victoria slams her down and hands it off to Candice for a Vader Bomb. A dancing elbow gets two but another misses, allowing the hot tag to Beth to clean house. Beth knocks Victoria into Mickie and finishes Candice with a Michinoku Driver.

Rating: D. They did what they were trying to do here by introducing Beth and letting her get a win, though you can only get so far with Torrie and Candice working a good chunk of the match. They’re trying to do something new though and just adding Beth and Mickie is a great breath of fresh air. The division has needed that for years so maybe this can help.

Back from a break with Lawler ranting about how bad ECW, including several shots at Tazz, but here’s Rob Van Dam to interrupt. Van Dam doesn’t hit Lawler but does sit in on commentary, suggesting that Lawler hang up his boots like Tazz did. Wouldn’t that be just the same situation that Lawler is in now? Think this stuff through Rob.

John Cena vs. Johnny Nitro

Non-title and the Nitro, with Melina, push begins. That entrance really does make them seem like some of the biggest stars around. Melina gives Nitro a kiss on the cheek to start but Cena punches him in the face to get things going in a hurry. Nitro kicks him down and drops the breakdancing legdrop before hammering away in the corner. Lawler and Van Dam argue about ECW on commentary (you can tell Lawler really didn’t like it and that helps a lot) as Cena makes the comeback (about two minutes into the match), hits all of his signature stuff, and finishes clean with the STFU in a hurry.

Rating: D+. Well ok then. I understand that Nitro, a career tag guy so far, shouldn’t be beating or realistically even hanging with Cena, but maybe they shouldn’t put him against Cena in his singles debut. Aside from the legdrop and a few right hands, this was all Cena, who barely looked like he broke a sweat. I’m not sure I get this, as someone like Chris Masters or any other midcard heel would have been far more expendable and been able to do the same thing.

Cena and Van Dam have a staredown post match until Nitro sidesteps a charging Nitro to send him into Rob.

Here are Mick Foley, with the Hardcore Title, and Paul Heyman, at face to face podiums for a chat. Foley talks about Heyman calling him a prostitute last week and yeah Foley is guilty. If you’re here to see men of principles taking a stand, you’re in the wrong place. The only difference between ECW Mick Foley and WWE Mick Foley is Mick has traded up for a billion dollar pimp in Vince McMahon.

That brings him to One Night Stand, which is where Foley gets upset. How can ECW claim to be hardcore after he and Edge tore the house down at Wrestlemania? Either way, Foley wishes Heyman and his porn addicted, pot smoking band of Mick Foley wannabes with their show. Heyman says that would mean more if it didn’t come from a Terry Funk knockoff. Foley admits that Funk is the greatest wrestler he has ever seen and Dreamer was tough but they couldn’t do what he did. Heyman: “Pull a sock out of their crotch, put it on his hand and entertain Vince McMahon while he was in the hospital?”

Foley says Funk and Dreamer had “Bingo Hall Balls” because they would never venture to WWE (uh…..) and do what Foley did. Foley goes around to Heyman’s side and says you either left ECW as a drunk, a drug addict, a criminal or a corpse. Heyman just resents Foley for becoming the biggest star the industry has ever seen. That’s not true actually, as Heyman’s issue is that Foley is a w****.

However, Heyman wants Foley to understand the new vision for ECW. It isn’t just going to be about flaming tables and piledriving women (Heyman: “We’ll still have some of that.”) but as Foley knows, ECW is coming back full time (if that had been mentioned before, it was completely in passing). Anyone from Raw or Smackdown is welcome to jump over, but Vince has also given him two Draft picks, one from each show.

Foley says the Raw pick is going to be Rob Van Dam, because Rob really was, ahem, a high flier. Heyman: “The Kool-Aid comes in many forms Mick.” As for the Smackdown pick….Foley cuts him off, suggesting that it is going to be a scarred up Mick Foley ripoff. Actually it’s someone ECW has been wanting for some time and he’s here tonight: KURT ANGLE. Foley is ready to fight and is taken down in a heartbeat, setting up the Angle Slam to send Foley leaving.

There’s a lot to unpack here, and that’s a good thing. First of all, these two were the perfect picks for this argument as they are two of the best talkers ever and Foley can easily keep up with Heyman when he’s on. Heyman can get away with calling out Foley’s hypocrisy and make you believe every bit of it, which isn’t something everyone can do.

Then there’s the ECW relaunch, which is a pretty big deal of its own. Having big names come over will help it, but the one thing I always got out of it was that it wasn’t WCW, the AWA, WCCW or something else coming back or some new show. It was ECW, which does say something about the impact that it had. At the very least there was a nostalgia for it, which says a lot about a company that wasn’t really around that long. It’s cool to see it coming back, though I don’t know how much faith you could have put into WWE to do it right, even from here.

This Week In Wrestling History: Andre the Giant debuts, June 1, 1971. Dang it why can’t these clips be on the Network?

Edge vs. Big Show

Lita is here with Edge and the winner gets a World Title shot at Vengeance. JR: “This is a Wrestlemania like environment.” I don’t remember many #1 contenders matches at Wrestlemania. Edge ducks a chop in the corner to start and slugs away but the second chop attempt works rather well. Another chop puts Edge down but Lita grabs Show’s foot so Edge can slug away to no avail.

Show hits Snake Eyes but Edge manages to snap him throat first off the top. The charge sends Show head first into the buckle and Edge manages an Impaler. The spear is countered into a chokeslam attempt so Edge throws the referee down. Edge is sent outside and grabs a chair, which is swatted away. Lita gets in a low blow so now it’s a chair, setting up the spear to finish Show.

Rating: D+. We haven’t been having very good matches tonight but they are accomplishing their goals, which is much more important. Edge cheated over and over here but gets a title match out of it, which I’ll take over them just announcing his shot at Vengeance. This did what it was supposed to do and that is what matters most.

Yet another See No Evil video.

Smackdown Rebound.

HHH, with sledgehammer, runs into Vince, who takes the hammer away and says not tonight.

Kenny vs. HHH

The Spirit Squad is here too. HHH punches him down to start so Kenny bails to the floor. A neck snap across the top rope lets Kenny take over for all of a second before HHH runs him over again. The jumping knee to the arm region looks to set up the Pedigree but Mitch grabs the leg. Mitch is sent hard into the steps and some more of the Squad is knocked down as we take a break.

Back with Kenny still in trouble and HHH beating up the Squad for trying to help him up. The triple teaming puts HHH down for a change and Kenny gets two. A right hand into some choking from the floor sets up another right hand but Kenny is sent shoulder first into the post. More interference lets Johnny kick HHH in the face to give Kenny two and the group stomping is on again.

Back in and Kenny Tunes Up The Band but HHH counters (he’s seen it enough) with a DDT. A low blow cuts HHH down again though and it’s time to wrap the knee around the post a few times. Kenny starts pulling on the knee and drops some elbow but HHH kicks Mikey into the ropes to crotch Kenny down. The facebuster starts the comeback and HHH pounds away in the corner. There’s the spinebuster but the Pedigree attempt is broken up by more distractions. The next attempt is enough to finish Kenny off.

Rating: C-. While it was better than the rest of the matches on the show (the time helped a lot), this was a little bit too much HHH, as not only did he survive the 5-1 beatdown, but he won the match as clean as can be expected. It wasn’t the worst match, but HHH winning over these odds is kind of a lot to take.

Post match the beatdown is still on but HHH whips out a spare sledgehammer. HHH cleans house but here’s Vince to say next week, HHH joins his special club.

Overall Rating: D+. And there goes the hot streak, as they did advance stories in a logical way but it also included so many bad to very bad matches that the storyline stuff was overwhelmed. Throw in the double Kane thing and there was only so much that could be done. The Heyman/Foley showdown was rather good (as you might have guessed), but there were so many things that felt either shortsighted or just dumb that it was knocked backwards. Bad show, and hopefully not the start of a trend.

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Monday Night Raw – October 26, 2020: They Cleared That Low Bar

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 26, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Samoa Joe

We’re on the way to Survivor Series, meaning that the rosters, which have now been together for all of a week and a half, will suddenly realize how much they can’t stand the people on the other show because of all of their newfound pride. I’m not sure how WWE is going to make us believe that the shows are invading each other when they work in the same building and the people have been appearing on the other shows since the Draft anyway, but this show isn’t the most logical. Let’s get to it.

Here is Hell In A Cell if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of Randy Orton beating Drew McIntyre to win the Raw World Title.

Opening sequence.

Here’s McIntyre for a chat. He lost the title last night but he will be getting it back. The loss made him think of the movie Rocky, because Rocky got knocked down a lot but kept getting back up. McIntyre is going to get back up and keep going, but here are Miz and John Morrison to interrupt. McIntyre: “You just messed up.” They praise McIntyre for his title reign but say it’s really doing him a favor. Now he doesn’t have to worry about facing Randy Orton for the title, because Miz is Mr. Money in the Bank.

Miz even talks about beating Orton for the title when he first cashed in the title….right here actually. And it turns out that Orton is a guest on A Moment Of Bliss right here tonight! They hope McIntyre doesn’t take another 19 years to get the title shot but McIntyre headbutts Miz and suplexes Morrison. Miz breaks up the Future Shock though and the two of them get away, minus the briefcase. McIntyre does stomp on Morrison’s sunglasses though and says he has an idea to run by management.

We run down tonight’s three Survivor Series qualifying matches.

Survivor Series Qualifying Match: AJ Styles vs. Jeff Hardy

Before the match, AJ says he is 2-0 on Raw, so why is he in a qualifying match? Hasn’t he proven himself around the world? Does he have to prove himself to Adam Pearce and the rest of the jokers in the back? AJ should be the captain of Team Raw because he is the face that runs this place. He is still over Hardy using a knee brace to win a match and promises to make Jeff with he was still on the bottle.

We start fast with Jeff hammering away but stopping to dive onto Jordan, who catches him in the air and we take a break. Back with AJ hitting a brainbuster for two but the Phenomenal Forearm is broken up. The basement dropkick gives Hardy two of his own and there’s the slingshot dropkick in the corner for the same. AJ’s fireman’s carry backbreaker gives him a breather though and it’s the torture rack powerbomb for two more. Hardy fights back but has to stop to glare at Jordan, allowing AJ to catch him on top. AJ sends him into the buckle and the Phenomenal Forearm sends AJ to Survivor Series at 9;57.

Rating: C. This was more about making AJ look like a threat because of Jordan being out there with him and that’s fine. Hardy isn’t going to be hurt by a loss and AJ belongs on the team. The wrestling was completely acceptable because it was AJ Styles vs. Jeff Hardy but beyond that, the action wasn’t the point here.

Post match AJ and Jordan leave so here’s Elias to hit Hardy with another guitar.

R-Truth is ready for all of his challengers. He eats and sleeps dangerously so much that his name is R Franklin Dangerously Cobblepot Truth.

Susan G. Kommen video.

Lucha House Party vs. Akira Tozawa/Drew Gulak

Gulak and Dorado knock each other down to start and here’s R-Truth to walk around the ring. Tozawa rolls him up for two and everyone goes after Truth until Gulak grabs a rollup to actually win the tag match at 2:07.

Post match everyone tries to pin Truth but he runs off.

It’s time for the Firefly Fun House where everyone is having a tea party. Ramblin Rabbit doesn’t understand any Bray is upset because Hell in a Cell is awesome. Cue Alexa Bliss with some special tea for Rabbit. It has strawberry, peach, cinnamon and a secret ingredient. Why yes, it is arsenic, and Rabbit dies again.

Bray thinks they’re all mad to come here because this is a wacky place. You need to let him heal you, so Bliss goes into her trance and says let him in. Rabbit tells Honey Bunny that he’s coming home and Bray beats him senseless as Bliss laughs. Bray is looking forward to seeing Randy Orton on A Moment Of Bliss tonight. BYE! Of note: this segment included camera shots of the non-existent crowd watching the screen. They felt the need to show monitors watching monitors. Twice. Think about that for a second and try to keep your brains in your skulls.

We look back at Braun Strowman beating Keith Lee last week with a low blow.

Keith Lee says there was nothing fair about last week and promises to show Braun a real monster next week. Tonight it’s about getting on the Survivor Series team though, because that’s what’s important around here.

Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler argue over who is the team captain. HEY! DID YOU KNOW THEY ARGUE A LOT??? BECAUSE THEY ARGUE A LOT! GET IT???

Here’s Elias for a song before his match. His new album is #2 on the charts so let’s get it to #1. The playing begins but there’s something else going on.

Survivor Series Qualifying Match: Elias vs. Keith Lee

Lee runs him over to start and hits a running crossbody to put Elias on the floor. A Pounce sends Elias over the announcers’ table and we take a break. Back with Elias fighting out of an armbar and knocking Lee down. An elbow drop gets two but Lee is right back with a powerslam. Lee hammers away in the corner but Elias faceplants him down for two. Cue Jeff Hardy’s music for a distraction though and Lee is back with the Spirit Bomb for the pin at 9:58.

Rating: D+. Lee is now to the point where he needs interference to beat ELIAS in about ten minutes. Remember like two months ago when he was the unstoppable monster of NXT? Yeah forget all that, because now he is just another person in the overflowing midcard on Raw. It’s incredibly frustrating and really not that surprising, which is a lot of the problems in WWE in one situation.

Post match, Hardy breaks a guitar over Elias’ back.

The Hurt Business yells at someone for daring to go near their bathroom.

We recap Orton winning the title last night.

Orton doesn’t care who is coming for the title because there is only one Randy Orton and that means the same thing for everyone.

Long video on the Hurt Business vs. Retribution. I really wouldn’t advise reminding us of that.

Retribution vs. Hurt Business

Elimination rules. Before the match, MVP talks about how the Hurt Business has been taking the fight to Retribution as part of a deal with Raw. Once they are dispatched, it will be time to collect payment, and the Hurt Business wants to be paid in gold. Lashley and T-Bar get things going and they fight over the lockup to start. They slug away (sweet goodness with the camera cuts) until Lashley powers him down with a Downward Spiral. It’s off to MVP to hammer away as well but T-Bar gets in a shot to the ribs, allowing the tag to Mace.

The pounding continues and Slapjack hits a dropkick to the back of the head for two. MVP is back with a running boot in the corner and an exploder gets two. Cue Reckoning on the apron to…scratch herself a lot and shout GET OFF ME, suggesting that there are bugs all over her (or she’s a fan of Billy Kidman’s time in the Flock). The distraction lets Slapjack roll MVP up for the pin, but she keeps writhing around and freaking out as we take a break.

Back with Lashley waistlocking Slapjack as we see Reckoning admitting the whole thing was faked during the break, earning herself an elimination. The spear gets rid of Slapjack without much effort so it’s T-Bar in to beat on Lashley. They fight to the floor and that’s a double countout to get us down to Alexander/Benjamin vs. Mace/Ali. Alexander goes after Mace in a hurry but gets knocked into the corner.

Mace pounds away in the corner and hits a running splash but Alexander knocks Ali off the apron. A boot to the face staggers Mace and it’s the Neuralizer into Paydirt to finish Mace and get it down to 2-1. Cedric starts pounding on Ali, who manages a running kick to knock Benjamin off the apron. A big backdrop puts Ali down though and Alexander kicks him to the floor. That’s fine with Ali, who hits Alexander with the chair for the DQ at 13:49.

Rating: D+. This is the kind of ending that would usually be fine for a team like Retribution, but given that they have lost every match they have had so far, including some via clean submission, this is another nail in their already hole filled coffin. At least they didn’t save this for Survivor Series, because it would have been the biggest waste of time since Four Doinks. Nothing match, but the death of Retribution continues to be more sad than anything else.

Post match the Hurt Business chases Ali off.

Angel Garza hits on Mandy Rose, Dana Brooke and Nia Jax, who gets rid of them. With Garza gone, Jax/Baszler and Mandy/Dana argue over who the captains should be. Oh and watch the titles. Shayna can’t believe Nia seems interested in Garza. Jax: “Why not?” Are we really going to have to sit through this “I’M THE CAPTAIN” stuff for the next month again?

The Miz vs. Drew McIntyre

John Morrison is here with Miz and his distraction lets Miz go after the knee. That goes badly for Miz as McIntyre knocks him to the floor for the chop, only to get sent ribs first into the steps. Back in and Morrison’s cheap shot actually works, allowing Miz to hammer away. McIntyre doesn’t seem to mind and nips back up, only to have the Future Shock broken up. Morrison’s briefcase shot misses and Drew sends the briefcase flying. Back in and the Claymore finishes Miz at 4:13.

Rating: D+. Just a quick match here to show that McIntyre is still around. The match was a glorified handicap match anyway so McIntyre gets to look extra good in a short outing. It isn’t like Miz losing is going to hurt him whatsoever and the briefcase will keep him relevant for a long time to come.

New Day, dressed as the Street Profits (with Kofi getting a little groggy from the red solo cup), are ready for Survivor Series where it’s champions vs. champions. That means the Street Profits vs. the New Day, Asuka (who comes in) vs. Sasha Banks, Randy Orton vs. Roman Reigns and, with the Hurt Business coming in, Bobby Lashley vs. Sami Zayn. MVP says they have their eyes on the Tag Team Titles too but Asuka starts the New Day Rocks dance to get rid of the Hurt Business.

Adam Pearce and Pat Buck are here to introduce the Raw women’s Survivor Series team: Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler, Mandy Rose, Dana Brooke and….hang on as Nia wants to announce the fifth member because she’s the captain. Not so fast because Shayna thinks she’s the captain, but Pearce makes a four way to crown the fifth member.

Lana vs. Lacey Evans vs. Peyton Royce vs. Nikki Cross

It’s a brawl to start with Royce diving onto Cross and Evans as we take a break thirty seconds in. Back with Royce running Cross over for two but Cross is back up to dive onto Lana. Cross’ high crossbody gets two on Royce as we hear about Elias’ album reaching #1 on Apple Music. Lana comes back in (tripping over the ropes a bit on the way) and is promptly hit with the Woman’s Right to give Evans two. Lacey’s superplex attempt on Cross is broken up and Cross knocks Peyton down as well. The Tower of Doom works well enough though…and Lana steals the pin at 8:05.

Rating: D. And there it is, despite very little drama in the whole thing. Who else was going to win here? Lana is the spunky underdog of the team and in a normal promotion, she would make a big impact at Survivor Series. In other words, odds are she is eliminated in two minutes after Nia crushes her through a table again.

Post match Nia hugs Lana before driving her through the announcers’ table for the sixth time.

Randy Orton isn’t worried about the Fiend and Alexa Bliss coming after him on A Moment Of Bliss. If Fiend wants to get involved, Orton can introduce him to the RKO.

Mustafa Ali says Retribution isn’t a failure because they will win when everyone else suffers. Yeah no one believes you.

Survivor Series Qualifying Match: Sheamus vs. Matt Riddle

Riddle goes for the legs to start so Sheamus bails out to the floor. Back in and Sheamus grabs a headlock to take him to the mat but Riddle muscles him up into a gutwrench suplex. Sheamus hits the Irish Curse, only to have Riddle knock him outside for the flipping dive as we take a break. Back with Riddle winning a strike off and kicking Sheamus in the head. The Broton gets two but Sheamus is back up with a knee to the face for the same.

Sheamus goes up but Riddle catches him with a top rope exploder superplex. Riddle goes up this time but the Floating Bro hits knees. Another Irish Curse is countered into a rear naked choke, which is broken up as well. The Brogue Kick misses and Riddle grabs a bridging German suplex for two more. Riddle’s back gives out on the Bro Derek attempt though and Sheamus Brogue Kicks him for the pin at 12:48.

Rating: B-. I’ve been a Sheamus fan for a long time now but SHEAMUS??? Pinning Matt Riddle completely clean in a match with some stakes? This was a brutal and hard hitting match but they have these options and they picked Sheamus? For the life of me I don’t get this company at times and it can get rather head scratch inducing trying to make it work.

It’s time for A Moment Of Bliss with Randy Orton as the special guest. Orton isn’t interested in sitting so Bliss asks him if he was surprised about his win last night. Of course not, so Bliss asks about Orton and McIntyre burning the house down. Orton knows what that means and asks about the Fiend, but here’s McIntyre instead. The fight is on with a laughing Bliss sitting on the top rope.

The Claymore is loaded up but we’ve got the Fiend. Well at least the Fiend’s entrance, which Orton uses to escape. Orton knows what’s behind him though….and is actually smart enough to walk forward and fight with McIntyre instead of turning to face the Fiend. McIntyre is dropped onto the announcers’ table and Orton pounds away to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. Above all else, this show was miles better than last week and that’s what I needed out of it. There was a point to this and while I don’t get a lot of the booking choices, they did some things that made sense and advanced us towards Survivor Series. I still wouldn’t call it good as there were some bad matches, but you can see where they’re going for the pay per view. Just tighten some things up and get rid of some stupid ideas and we’ll be in for a pretty good show. This wasn’t great, but it was an upgrade and that’s what they were badly needing.

Results

AJ Styles b. Jeff Hardy – Phenomenal Forearm

Drew Gulak/Akira Tozawa b. Lucha House Party – Rollup to Dorado

Keith Lee b. Elias – Spirit Bomb

Hurt Business b. Retribution via DQ when Mustafa Ali used a chair

Drew McIntyre b. The Miz – Claymore

Lana b. Lacey Evans, Nikki Cross and Peyton Royce – Tower of Doom to Cross

Sheamus b. Matt Riddle – Brogue Kick

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Monday Night Raw – May 22, 2006: What More Could You Ask For?

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: May 22, 2006
Location: Thomas And Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

Smackdown has gotten through its pay per view now so it’s time for Raw to get ready for something of its own. In theory at least, as the next show is ECW One Night Stand, which could go in a lot of directions. This show has been a lot better than Smackdown as of late though so hopefully they keep it up here. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of the end of last week’s show with HHH accidentally hitting Shane McMahon in the face with a sledgehammer.

Vince McMahon is looking rather serious and says Shane only survived because of superior conditioning and genetics. Tonight, HHH is apologizing and if it is anything less than severe, HHH will incur his wrath.

Here’s Mick Foley, in a suit, to open things up with something covered up in the ring. Mick thanks the fans for their support in light of the strange circumstances over the last few weeks. Contrary to popular belief, he is not a bad guy. He’s the guy who sticks his thumb and says how great it is to be right here in Las Vegas. Except it isn’t, because he doesn’t like a city where you can change your life on a gamble.

People should earn it like he did, because he didn’t become a three time WWE Champion with a roll of a dice. Foley is like this man, so here are Edge and Lita. After kissing Lita’s hand again and is blown away by her lack of a shirt. Anyway, Foley talks about how great of a hardcore match they had and they embody the entire hardcore style instead of what ECW did. That’s why he is giving Edge his Hardcore Title, which was given to him in his retirement ceremony. Edge puts the belt on his shoulder but says he can’t accept it….because he has the hottest girl in Vegas going to bed with him tonight.

Edge talks about everything Foley did for hardcore wrestling and knows Foley should be champion. Foley takes a shot at Ric Flair for calling him a glorified stuntman and earning a Wrestlemania paycheck by not dying in a ladder match. With that out of the way, Foley suggests one more hardcore match tonight to crown the real champion. Edge has a better idea and has Lilian Garcia announce them as co-champions.

Cue Paul Heyman to say he knows it’s legal here, but he’s looking at live prostitution in the ring. He actually doesn’t mean Lita because Mick Foley is prostituting his legacy for Edge and Lita. Foley has prostituted his name and legacy but he isn’t prostituting the name of hardcore. Instead, Foley can tell us what it means to look in the mirror and see a shell of yourself. Foley says he sees a co-holder of the Hardcore Title and a living legend. He finds it ironic that Heyman is talking about someone being a shell of himself because Heyman has nothing.

Heyman says he has no power, but he can make a challenge for One Night Stand: Edge/Mick Foley vs. any two ECW guys Heyman can drag up. Foley tells him to get out so Heyman says Lita is the only one in the ring with any testicles. Lita grabs her crotch but Edge says the match is on. The two of them go after Heyman so here are the opponents for the save: Tommy Dreamer and Terry Funk.

The fight is on and the villains run off from the threat of violence. We get the ECW theme to make it even better, after another step in a perfectly well done story. Dreamer fits in really well here (yeah I said it) and Funk is always game, so this has a lot of potential. The promos have been great too, with Heyman being the only person who could say those things and hang with Foley.

The Diva Search is back. Does it have to be?

Intercontinental Title: Rob Van Dam vs. Shelton Benjamin

Van Dam is challenging and shoulders Benjamin down to start. A floatover suplex gives Rob two but Shelton elbows him in the face. The stepover kick to the face looks to set up Rolling Thunder but Shelton rolls to the floor and we take a break. Back with Van Dam fighting out of a chinlock but Rob fights up and gets two off a sunset flip. Shelton’s neckbreaker gets the same and we’re back in the chinlock with a bodyscissors.

Rating: C+. They were having a nice match and the ending keeps Van Dam hot while keeping the title on Benjamin. That’s as logical of a move as they could have had and I’ll take that over Van Dam losing via cheating. That briefcase seems ready to go and it would make a lot of sense for an ECW wrestler to use that at an ECW show.

Post match Rob gives Shelton a Five Star to make the fans smile.

Vince McMahon is with ZZ Top when Candice Michelle comes in. They seem impressed with her homemade pearl necklace.

We see the same video that opened the show.

Here’s Vince McMahon for a chat. He wastes no time in demanding that HHH get out here right now for the apology. After a few moments, here’s a serious looking HHH. Vince reminds HHH of what Shawn Michaels said to him a few months back, when Shawn told him to move on. HHH might want to remember what happened to Shawn since then before he gets to his apology.

Vince wants him to say two words, so HHH has two words for him: I’m sorry. Those are the right words, but there’s one more thing: HHH has to crush Shawn’s skull with a sledgehammer after the Spirit Squad beats Shawn tonight. HHH shakes his hand and says they have an understanding. Sounds shenanigansy.

Another look at See No Evil. At least it’s in theaters now so we can start getting away from these videos.

Kane says May 19 was the date that his family was killed in a fire but now he can no longer block all the pain. Now he has a movie out where he kills a lot of people and now he gets to let out some anger tonight. He’s never been better.

John Cena vs. Chris Masters

Non-title. Masters punches away to start but gets slammed and elbowed for two. It’s too early for the FU and Masters blasts him with a clothesline to the floor. Back in and the delayed suplex gets two as we have some pro Cena chants. Cena blocks the Masterlock attempt and they crash out to the floor as we take a break. Back with Cena slugging away and hitting some clotheslines. The STFU makes Master tap in a hurry, with the post break stuff barely lasting thirty seconds.

Rating: D+. They didn’t have time to do much here but was anyone doubting Cena’s chances against Masters? There is only so much you can get out of Masters in a main event roll because he is a one move wrestler. Cena barely broke a sweat here and that’s how it was supposed to go.

Post match here’s Rob Van Dam to say sup champ. He forced his way into this spot so now he wants his title shot in a place where he isn’t likely to get screwed. Like at One Night Stand. Cena is stunned by this for some reason and the fight is on. Masters tries to jump Cena and is quickly dispatched, allowing Van Dam to use the briefcase for a Van Daminator.

Carlito tries to get Maria to help him cheat in poker. They run into Snitsky, who is trying to hook up with a Las Vegas showgirl. He goes over to talk about her feet and offers her Chinese food and See No Evil. It’s Goldust for your gag of the night, which Carlito dubs “not cool”.

Shawn Michaels wants to know what HHH is thinking. He always respected HHH (oh here we go) but HHH sold his soul to the devil out there. Glaring ensues.

Trevor Murdoch thinks Tom Hanks will get an Oscar nomination over Kane. I think you know where this is going.

Kane vs. Trevor Murdoch

Chokeslam finishes in less than a minute.

The fans request and receive another chokeslam, with Kane adding a third for fun. The fire comes out of the posts….and Kane’s mask is on the screen. In what shouldn’t be a shock, the mask starts talking, saying this started on May 19 and will never be over.

This Week In Wrestling History: Scott Hall jumps the barricade. Again, not on the Network for some reason.

Torrie Wilson vs. Mickie James

Non-title and Torrie has new music. Mickie drives her into the corner to start but Torrie is back with a rollup. The swinging neckbreaker gets two on Mickie and they mistime a hot shot. Mickie hammers away and finishes with the MickieDT before it can get worse.

Post match here’s Trish Stratus to say Beth Phoenix is now part of the roster. Beth jumps Mickie at ringside and the chase is on through the crowd.

Here’s Viscera to say it’s time to settle down….with Lilian Garcia. Lilian gets in the ring and cuts Viscera off, saying he dumped her for Godfather’s ladies the last time they were in Vegas. Viscera has something for her here though: a cheeseburger. See, if they get married in a chapel tonight, she can cook for him every day so he doesn’t have to eat cheeseburgers every day. He drops to a knee but here’s Armando Alejandro Estrada to interrupt. Viscera has a little problem, so here’s Umaga for the brawl, with Viscera being crushed against the post. The beating continues until the Samoan Spike leaves Viscera laying.

Another See No Evil video.

The Spirit Squad tells HHH to stay in the back until they give him a signal. Those are Vince’s orders, and HHH doesn’t seem thrilled.

WATCH ONE NIGHT STAND!

Shawn Michaels vs. Spirit Squad

Non-title and it’s a big pop for Shawn, who comes to the ring with a chair. Hang on though as here’s Vince to say we won’t need a referee or that chair either. The referee takes it away and leaves as the Squad comes in to start the fight in a hurry. The Upsa Daisy plants Shawn and the series of moonsaults has Vince rather pleased on the stage.

There’s a double suplex and a lot of stomping, plus a big running clothesline in the corner (with the Squad providing a double step up). Hold on though as Shawn gets in a few shots before grabbing the chair to even things up a bit. The top rope elbow connects on Mikey and there’s Sweet Chin Music to make it worse. Nicky chairs Shawn’s knee out though and they rip the gear off of his leg.

The fans chant for HHH as the knee brace is taken off. Kenny Pillmanizes the leg with a top rope legdrop so NOW Vince calls HHH down to the ring. Cue HHH with the sledgehammer but Kenny takes it away because he wants to do it. HHH steps in front of him and beats the Squad down himself as we have a face turn (or at least most of one) to end the show.

Rating: D. There wasn’t a ref and there wasn’t an ending so I don’t think you can really call this a match, but the bell did ring. This was more of the same with Vince stacking the deck but this time they changed it up a bit, which is a good way to mix it up. The wrestling wasn’t the point here and it was only a match in the loosest sense of the word anyway.

Overall Rating: B. This show is nailing it as of late as they are doing almost everything you could want in two hours. There are new people being introduced and developed, an interesting main event, some good action and One Night Stand is looking promising. The biggest issue is having too much See No Evil stuff, but I can forgive that well enough. Rather good show here as Raw’s roll continues.

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

New Column: Everything But The Draft

Yeah all that other stuff.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/kbs-review-everything-draft/