Raw Report
Date: 08/14/06 from Charlottesville, VA.
The Big News: Raw was in full build mode for SummerSlam, with a focus on the Edge vs. John Cena and Randy Orton vs. Hulk Hogan matches.
Title Changes/Turns: Lita won the Women’s Title from Mickie James.
Match Results: Lita b Mickie James; Umaga b Alex Sage; Ric Flair b Johnny Nitro-DQ; Eugene Dinsmore & Hacksaw Jim Duggan b Mikey Mondo & Kenny Doane; Edge b Carlito Caribbean Cool-DQ.
Show Analysis:
Edge came out to start the show, and said John Cena wasn’t there. Edge said that he has been stressed out, so he took a trip to Cena’s hometown of West Newbury. They showed Edge going through the Cena childhood Thug’z Mansion. Edge didn’t run into Tupac or Nas, but he did run into Cena’s father. They got into an argument, and Edge smacked the elder Cena and left the house. Edge then recounted his long feud with Cena and said he would win at SummerSlam. I really liked this angle. It was a strong angle to build interest in the card, but they also didn’t go over the top to where it wouldn’t have felt as real. It was just right in tone and intensity.
Lita defeated Mickie James to win the Women’s Title. It was odd to see them take the title off Mickie so abruptly, particularly in her hometown to someone who is presumably still leaving. In any event, this was a fun match with Mickie playing hometown face. Lita hit a flying head scissors and kicks. Mickie responded with punches and a drop kick, but Lita threw her off the second rope by the hair.
Lita hit a side Russian leg sweep, but Mickie came back with elbows, punches and a huracanrana. Lita went for the DDT, but Mickie held onto the ropes and went for the cover with her feet on the ropes. Edge pushed the feet off, and Lita went for the cover with her feet on the ropes. The referee caught her and stopped the count. Mickie went for another rollup for a near fall. Mickie went for the DDT, but it was countered and Lita hit Mickie with the belt for the pin.
Mick Foley cut a backstage promo, and played off the feeling that last week his acceptance of the match with Ric Flair felt too abrupt. He said he was upset with himself for accepting the match. He slipped in that the reason was Flair said he had been in the greatest hardcore match ever, and Foley couldn’t accept that. Foley said that in all his hardcore matches, he has only bled four times, while Flair always bleeds. Thus, he concluded, if someone bleeds to death at SummerSlam it will be Flair. That pretty much guarantees Foley is blading. Foley invited Flair to come to ECW for some sort of hardcore event Foley has never done before.
A pair of matches followed. Umaga beat Alex Sage with the press into the Samoan drop, butt drop and a botched Samoan spike. Ric Flair then defeated Johnny Nitro via disqualification. Flair used chops, Nitro came back with the neck breaker, and Flair came back with chops. Nitro hit an elbow, body slam and then missed a sky twister press out of nowhere. Flair hit a chop block, but Foley ran out and attacked Flair. Melina gave Flair a low blow from behind and Foley threw Flair into the steps. He tried to throw steps into Flair’s head, but Flair moved. Foley gave Flair some more punches and left.
They eliminated another diva, and followed that with a water fight between the diva search contestants and Candice, Victoria & Torrie. It wasn’t erotic at all, as they just threw water at each other and had bikini tops under their white t-shirts. They all doused Miz with water at the end. Jim Ross, who was really on tonight in building SummerSlam, plugged 24/7 on Comcast and even made it a point to say he could call old promotions pro wrestling.
DX came out and got a fantastic reaction. Shawn Michaels said he wasn’t pleased with what happened last week. They told a couple “Vince is gay” jokes, and Shane and Vince interrupted. Shane pointed out they have taken DX out the past couple of weeks. Vince vowed to bring the wrath of Satan upon DX. HHH responded that DX would win no matter who Vince brings. This was a rather dull segment because nobody had anything to say. They are teasing interference at SummerSlam.
Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Eugene beat the Spirit Squad. Duggan was in control early with a body slam and punches but he was rammed into the apron by a non-legal Squad member. The Highlanders came out to even the odds. Kenny worked over Duggan with punches, but Duggan hit a clothesline and made the tag. Eugene hit the Rock Bottom on Mikey and an airplane spin on Kenny. Jim Ross referenced Chief Jay Strongbow. I thought he might reference Bryan Danielson. Maybe next week.
Come on, J.R. They’ll think you’re talking about some turn of the century wrestler and won’t know the difference. Johnny interfered, but the Highlanders then came in and hit the Scot Drop on Mikey. Eugene covered for the pin. Armando backstage offered Umaga’s help to Vince and Shane McMahon. Elsewhere, Trish said she would take care of Lita while Carlito took care of Edge. He kissed her.
Edge beat Carlito via DQ. Carlito hit punches, a suplex, an Irish whip, a leg drop and a springboard somersault senton, but Lita put Edge’s foot on the ropes. Edge gained control and worked on Carlito’s back, but Carlito still came back with a knee lift, clothesline, springboard elbow and huracanrana. Edge missed the spear and Carlito went for the back cracker, but he was sent into the turnbuckle. Edge did hit the spear, at which point Cena ran in and attacked Edge. This got a big reaction and there was a great wild brawl with Cena going after Edge. Edge ran out through the crowd.
Randy Orton came out for the final segment. They ran a video package on Orton, and he said Hogan’s act is tired. He said he wants to be the one to destroy Hulkamania. Real American played, but it was the Hulk Hogan impersonator rather than Hogan. They made fun of Hogan until the real Hogan came out. He gave Orton the big boot and cleared him from the ring.
The impersonator attacked Hogan from behind. This guy didn’t know how to run the ropes, so this was an unmitigated disaster. They badly botched a boot and a visibly frustrated Hogan needed to use a body slam and two elbow drops. He said he would be at SummerSlam and Hulkamania would run wild. I liked the way they built towards Hogan’s entrance, and this was an effective segment save for the Hogan impersonator, which was a strong negative.
Final Thoughts:
This show featured very solid build heading into SummerSlam. It could have used more wrestling content, but the talking was overall quite good and it was effective in its primary goal of getting people interested in SummerSlam. John Cena vs. Edge in particular may have stolen back some last minute interest from Mick Foley vs. Ric Flair.
The Big News: Raw was in full build mode for SummerSlam, with a focus on the Edge vs. John Cena and Randy Orton vs. Hulk Hogan matches.
Title Changes/Turns: Lita won the Women’s Title from Mickie James.
Match Results: Lita b Mickie James; Umaga b Alex Sage; Ric Flair b Johnny Nitro-DQ; Eugene Dinsmore & Hacksaw Jim Duggan b Mikey Mondo & Kenny Doane; Edge b Carlito Caribbean Cool-DQ.
Show Analysis:
Edge came out to start the show, and said John Cena wasn’t there. Edge said that he has been stressed out, so he took a trip to Cena’s hometown of West Newbury. They showed Edge going through the Cena childhood Thug’z Mansion. Edge didn’t run into Tupac or Nas, but he did run into Cena’s father. They got into an argument, and Edge smacked the elder Cena and left the house. Edge then recounted his long feud with Cena and said he would win at SummerSlam. I really liked this angle. It was a strong angle to build interest in the card, but they also didn’t go over the top to where it wouldn’t have felt as real. It was just right in tone and intensity.
Lita defeated Mickie James to win the Women’s Title. It was odd to see them take the title off Mickie so abruptly, particularly in her hometown to someone who is presumably still leaving. In any event, this was a fun match with Mickie playing hometown face. Lita hit a flying head scissors and kicks. Mickie responded with punches and a drop kick, but Lita threw her off the second rope by the hair.
Lita hit a side Russian leg sweep, but Mickie came back with elbows, punches and a huracanrana. Lita went for the DDT, but Mickie held onto the ropes and went for the cover with her feet on the ropes. Edge pushed the feet off, and Lita went for the cover with her feet on the ropes. The referee caught her and stopped the count. Mickie went for another rollup for a near fall. Mickie went for the DDT, but it was countered and Lita hit Mickie with the belt for the pin.
Mick Foley cut a backstage promo, and played off the feeling that last week his acceptance of the match with Ric Flair felt too abrupt. He said he was upset with himself for accepting the match. He slipped in that the reason was Flair said he had been in the greatest hardcore match ever, and Foley couldn’t accept that. Foley said that in all his hardcore matches, he has only bled four times, while Flair always bleeds. Thus, he concluded, if someone bleeds to death at SummerSlam it will be Flair. That pretty much guarantees Foley is blading. Foley invited Flair to come to ECW for some sort of hardcore event Foley has never done before.
A pair of matches followed. Umaga beat Alex Sage with the press into the Samoan drop, butt drop and a botched Samoan spike. Ric Flair then defeated Johnny Nitro via disqualification. Flair used chops, Nitro came back with the neck breaker, and Flair came back with chops. Nitro hit an elbow, body slam and then missed a sky twister press out of nowhere. Flair hit a chop block, but Foley ran out and attacked Flair. Melina gave Flair a low blow from behind and Foley threw Flair into the steps. He tried to throw steps into Flair’s head, but Flair moved. Foley gave Flair some more punches and left.
They eliminated another diva, and followed that with a water fight between the diva search contestants and Candice, Victoria & Torrie. It wasn’t erotic at all, as they just threw water at each other and had bikini tops under their white t-shirts. They all doused Miz with water at the end. Jim Ross, who was really on tonight in building SummerSlam, plugged 24/7 on Comcast and even made it a point to say he could call old promotions pro wrestling.
DX came out and got a fantastic reaction. Shawn Michaels said he wasn’t pleased with what happened last week. They told a couple “Vince is gay” jokes, and Shane and Vince interrupted. Shane pointed out they have taken DX out the past couple of weeks. Vince vowed to bring the wrath of Satan upon DX. HHH responded that DX would win no matter who Vince brings. This was a rather dull segment because nobody had anything to say. They are teasing interference at SummerSlam.
Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Eugene beat the Spirit Squad. Duggan was in control early with a body slam and punches but he was rammed into the apron by a non-legal Squad member. The Highlanders came out to even the odds. Kenny worked over Duggan with punches, but Duggan hit a clothesline and made the tag. Eugene hit the Rock Bottom on Mikey and an airplane spin on Kenny. Jim Ross referenced Chief Jay Strongbow. I thought he might reference Bryan Danielson. Maybe next week.
Come on, J.R. They’ll think you’re talking about some turn of the century wrestler and won’t know the difference. Johnny interfered, but the Highlanders then came in and hit the Scot Drop on Mikey. Eugene covered for the pin. Armando backstage offered Umaga’s help to Vince and Shane McMahon. Elsewhere, Trish said she would take care of Lita while Carlito took care of Edge. He kissed her.
Edge beat Carlito via DQ. Carlito hit punches, a suplex, an Irish whip, a leg drop and a springboard somersault senton, but Lita put Edge’s foot on the ropes. Edge gained control and worked on Carlito’s back, but Carlito still came back with a knee lift, clothesline, springboard elbow and huracanrana. Edge missed the spear and Carlito went for the back cracker, but he was sent into the turnbuckle. Edge did hit the spear, at which point Cena ran in and attacked Edge. This got a big reaction and there was a great wild brawl with Cena going after Edge. Edge ran out through the crowd.
Randy Orton came out for the final segment. They ran a video package on Orton, and he said Hogan’s act is tired. He said he wants to be the one to destroy Hulkamania. Real American played, but it was the Hulk Hogan impersonator rather than Hogan. They made fun of Hogan until the real Hogan came out. He gave Orton the big boot and cleared him from the ring.
The impersonator attacked Hogan from behind. This guy didn’t know how to run the ropes, so this was an unmitigated disaster. They badly botched a boot and a visibly frustrated Hogan needed to use a body slam and two elbow drops. He said he would be at SummerSlam and Hulkamania would run wild. I liked the way they built towards Hogan’s entrance, and this was an effective segment save for the Hogan impersonator, which was a strong negative.
Final Thoughts:
This show featured very solid build heading into SummerSlam. It could have used more wrestling content, but the talking was overall quite good and it was effective in its primary goal of getting people interested in SummerSlam. John Cena vs. Edge in particular may have stolen back some last minute interest from Mick Foley vs. Ric Flair.
posted by Todd Martin at 11:17 PM
11 Comments:
Monday Night Football is back!
Doesn't sound like a whole lot happened on RAW last night.
Are you saying that Lita is on her way out of the WWE?
Also, I thought that Hogan was out of SummerSlam due to a knee injury??
I hate to see the Spirit Squad fall to Eugene and Duggan.
It's good to see Umaga back where he belongs, fighting some schlep.
What's the deal with Vince McMahon's infatuation with 1) taking on G-d and 2)calling on the wrath of Satan? If you put those two together, you would have to come to the conclusion that Vince McMahon is a Satanist.
It was Kornheiser's time to shine on MNF last night. I'm waiting for Theismann to turn heel on Kornheiser and hit him with a chair. Joe was getting a little hot with Kornheiser as the night went on.
RAW was decent but the RAW before a PPV is always uneventful. Umaga goes from HBK to HHH to Alex Sage? Why? Even if you hate Umaga, that's a silly way to capitalize on his momentum.
Correction: the greatest hardcore match of all time being talked about by Mick Foley was almost certainly Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk, not Ric Flair vs. Big Show. He didn't mention either explicitly, but the former makes much more sense. My bad.
Maybe they could get Jim Ross to sub for Mike Tirico on the night that Theismann does go postal on Kornheiser.
I'm currently keeping up with RAW through this site. I couldn't help but notice that Mick Foley is talking about the greatest hardcore matches ever. I thought that he was proclaiming his match with Edge as the greatest hardcore match ever. Has this angle been dropped?
Poor Hogan. He can barely move and it looks like could just snap and break at anytime. The beat down on the faux Hogan was just awful. You would figure they would practice and practice an angle like that but with Hogan at this stage just can't handle that. Hogan needs to retire retroactive many years ago. I could almost predict like a Sid Vicious injury for Hogan if he spends anymore time in the ring.
As for Jim Ross, I swear he said six simple letters, I QUIT. Guess ole Jimbo didn't pass Math in Oklahoma.
JR did, in fact, say "two words, six letters: I quit."
And shouldn't the report be edited? Should be Edge defeated Carlito by DQ, no?
What's this about Lita leaving?
Done, Dean.
Dave has reported that Lita and Trish are leaving the company on good terms to pursue other interests. Perhaps this has changed, but I still believe Lita will be leaving by the end of the year.
The only thing of interest for me last night on raw was the sign that read "Live tv = no Khali" totlly priceless.I'll bet Vince just loved seeing that.I know i did.
I saw that sign, too! I thought it was really clever as well, but I have a general policy of not mentioning signs because I dislike their presence in general and would prefer to see less of them. But yeah, that was a good one.
Trust me the signs are a pain being that i usually attend live events...but some of them are very well thought up..another one while king and jr were talking about 24/7 the sign behind the king was "bring back the honkytonk man" Perfect sign placement if u ask me. Its sad that stupid things like that are usually the reason i watch anymore.
Post a Comment
<< Home