Raw Report
Date: 01/29/07 from Dallas TX.
The Big News: WWE is teasing all sorts of scenarios for WrestleMania, with Batista vs. Undertaker and Michaels vs. Cena vs. Orton vs. Edge looking most likely.
Title Changes/Turns: John Cena and Shawn Michaels won the tag team titles.
Conclusive Finishes: 5 of 6.
Match Results: World’s Greatest Tag Team b Cryme Tyme; Melina b Maria; Umaga b Val Venis; Carlito Caribbean Cool & Super Crazy b Chris Masters & Kenny Dykstra; Great Khali b Jeff Hardy-COR; Shawn Michaels & John Cena b Edge & Randy Orton.
Show Analysis:
Shawn Michaels came out to a big reaction. He noted his declaration that no mortal man would beat him at the Royal Rumble, but said the problem was there were 29 mortal men and the Undertaker. Michaels said that the showstopper is still back and somehow he will become the next champion at WrestleMania. He said that if Undertaker chooses to wrestle for Lashley or Batista’s title, he would like to wrestle John Cena at Mania.
Cena came out and said that he liked the idea of Cena vs. Michaels. However, he observed that the decision isn’t up to either of them, but up to Undertaker. Edge came out and said he should get the title match. Randy Orton then came out and pointed out Edge has had tons of title shots against Cena and he has received none. Cena challenged Edge and Orton to fight. Vince McMahon appeared on the screen, and said that for fan appreciation night Cena and Michaels would wrestle Edge and Orton for the tag titles. This was a hot start to the show.
The World’s Greatest Tag Team defeated Cryme Tyme. Benjamin kicked Shad’s leg out of his leg early, and Haas & Benjamin worked over Shad’s leg. Eventually Shad made the tag to JTG. Benjamin was thrown over the top rope, but he skinned the cat and pulled Shad to the outside with a head scissors. JTG rolled Benjamin up in the ring, but Haas gave JTG a DDT and Benjamin scored the pin. Backstage, Vince spoke with Coach and Vince said that at the end of the evening Vince would be revered as a humanitarian along the lines of Gandhi, Mother Theresa or Desmond Tutu.
Melina beat Maria in a number one contender’s match for the women’s title. It’s silly to have Maria as a top contender for that, but they tried to get around that by having Melina get the match with help from Vince McMahon. The implication was that Melina was given the easy road to the title. This was a very bad match. Maria hit a bronco buster, but Melina worked her over for the rest of the match. She hit kicks, a flapjack and scored the submission with the sickle hold, called California Dreams.
Backstage, Michaels said he would win the tag titles but that Cena is no Triple H. Elsewhere, Super Crazy told Mickie James that he’s super crazy. Melina ended up getting into a brawl with Mickie James. Meanwhile, Edge spoke with Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch. Edge pointed out that he has never lost at WrestleMania, but also put over Randy Orton as his tag team partner.
Umaga beat Val Venis in a squash. He hit a head butt, butt drop and Samoan spike. I’m all for more squashes, where someone is just plainly put over. It’s too bad they only do them for “monster” types. I think in 2007 it’s a lot easier to promote more realistic characters than 80s monsters, but you need to let fans know which characters are being put over strong so the fans can get behind them.
Next up was a weird segment. Vince came out with a cowboy hat, and then stomped on it. He said he had a special gift for one fan, and brought an attractive female plant into the ring. He had a large poster of his Muscle and Fitness magazine cover and said he would give it to her. At this point Donald Trump appeared on screen. After all the buildup it was a bad sign that he got basically no reaction. He said that fans don’t like Vince’s product, nobody would want the Muscle and Fitness cover, and Vince doesn’t know his own audience.
Trump said that the audience wants value, so Trump said he had signed Bryan Danielson, KENTA and the Briscoes to the WWE roster. No, actually he just had money dropped from the ceiling. Vince said it wasn’t real money, but it was. For some reason, this infuriated Vince, and he stormed off. This just doesn’t strike me as a professional wrestling angle. I have absolutely no idea what it’s supposed to accomplish other than perhaps getting Vince some mainstream attention, but I’ll be surprised if they find a way to translate this into a wrestling match people will pay to see.
Carlito and Super Crazy defeated Kenny Dykstra and Chris Masters. Crazy and Carlito hit stereo somersault planchas early on. The heels worked over Crazy, who eventually tagged Carlito. Carlito came in with punches, a springboard elbow, a knee lift, clotheslines, and a dropkick. Masters got Carlito up for a gorilla press but Carlito went to the eyes and hit the back cracker for the pin.
Great Khali beat Jeff Hardy via count out. This was just a squash, with Khali no-selling basically all of Jeff’s offense. Khali threw Jeff over the top rope and gave him punches and a clothesline. Jeff hit the whisper in the wind but Khali barely sold that. He stuck Jeff on the top rope and gave him a chop, sending Jeff to the floor. Jeff was counted out. Khali is as worthless as ever. Backstage, Ric Flair told John Cena that Shawn Michaels might give him sweet chin music at the end of the show to make statement.
Shawn Michaels and John Cena won the tag team titles by defeating Edge and Randy Orton. Michaels was dominant early, hitting Edge with chops and giving him a knee lift. The bulk of the match consisted of Edge and Orton working over Cena. Edge and Orton collided at one point and Edge teased leaving. He came back, and they continued to work over Cena, who bled. Cena tagged Michaels, who came in with punches, a flying forearm, an inverted atomic drop, a body slam and an elbow off the top. He went for sweet chin music on Edge but Orton intercepted him.
Orton went for the RKO but Michaels escaped and tagged Cena. Cena quickly hit the FU on Orton for the pin. After the match, Michaels was about to give Cena sweet chin music but Cena caught him. Cena got in his face, at which point Undertaker appeared on the stage. He stared down a concerned Cena with fire going off in the background. This was a really good end of the show, and there is a lot of potential in this whole scenario.
Final Thoughts:
This was a slightly above average show. The start and the close of the show were both very strong, while the middle was mostly lacking. There was a lot of bad wrestling, as Raw has too many talentless physical freaks. The top issues on Raw and Smackdown for WrestleMania are hotter right now than I would have figured a month ago.
The Big News: WWE is teasing all sorts of scenarios for WrestleMania, with Batista vs. Undertaker and Michaels vs. Cena vs. Orton vs. Edge looking most likely.
Title Changes/Turns: John Cena and Shawn Michaels won the tag team titles.
Conclusive Finishes: 5 of 6.
Match Results: World’s Greatest Tag Team b Cryme Tyme; Melina b Maria; Umaga b Val Venis; Carlito Caribbean Cool & Super Crazy b Chris Masters & Kenny Dykstra; Great Khali b Jeff Hardy-COR; Shawn Michaels & John Cena b Edge & Randy Orton.
Show Analysis:
Shawn Michaels came out to a big reaction. He noted his declaration that no mortal man would beat him at the Royal Rumble, but said the problem was there were 29 mortal men and the Undertaker. Michaels said that the showstopper is still back and somehow he will become the next champion at WrestleMania. He said that if Undertaker chooses to wrestle for Lashley or Batista’s title, he would like to wrestle John Cena at Mania.
Cena came out and said that he liked the idea of Cena vs. Michaels. However, he observed that the decision isn’t up to either of them, but up to Undertaker. Edge came out and said he should get the title match. Randy Orton then came out and pointed out Edge has had tons of title shots against Cena and he has received none. Cena challenged Edge and Orton to fight. Vince McMahon appeared on the screen, and said that for fan appreciation night Cena and Michaels would wrestle Edge and Orton for the tag titles. This was a hot start to the show.
The World’s Greatest Tag Team defeated Cryme Tyme. Benjamin kicked Shad’s leg out of his leg early, and Haas & Benjamin worked over Shad’s leg. Eventually Shad made the tag to JTG. Benjamin was thrown over the top rope, but he skinned the cat and pulled Shad to the outside with a head scissors. JTG rolled Benjamin up in the ring, but Haas gave JTG a DDT and Benjamin scored the pin. Backstage, Vince spoke with Coach and Vince said that at the end of the evening Vince would be revered as a humanitarian along the lines of Gandhi, Mother Theresa or Desmond Tutu.
Melina beat Maria in a number one contender’s match for the women’s title. It’s silly to have Maria as a top contender for that, but they tried to get around that by having Melina get the match with help from Vince McMahon. The implication was that Melina was given the easy road to the title. This was a very bad match. Maria hit a bronco buster, but Melina worked her over for the rest of the match. She hit kicks, a flapjack and scored the submission with the sickle hold, called California Dreams.
Backstage, Michaels said he would win the tag titles but that Cena is no Triple H. Elsewhere, Super Crazy told Mickie James that he’s super crazy. Melina ended up getting into a brawl with Mickie James. Meanwhile, Edge spoke with Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch. Edge pointed out that he has never lost at WrestleMania, but also put over Randy Orton as his tag team partner.
Umaga beat Val Venis in a squash. He hit a head butt, butt drop and Samoan spike. I’m all for more squashes, where someone is just plainly put over. It’s too bad they only do them for “monster” types. I think in 2007 it’s a lot easier to promote more realistic characters than 80s monsters, but you need to let fans know which characters are being put over strong so the fans can get behind them.
Next up was a weird segment. Vince came out with a cowboy hat, and then stomped on it. He said he had a special gift for one fan, and brought an attractive female plant into the ring. He had a large poster of his Muscle and Fitness magazine cover and said he would give it to her. At this point Donald Trump appeared on screen. After all the buildup it was a bad sign that he got basically no reaction. He said that fans don’t like Vince’s product, nobody would want the Muscle and Fitness cover, and Vince doesn’t know his own audience.
Trump said that the audience wants value, so Trump said he had signed Bryan Danielson, KENTA and the Briscoes to the WWE roster. No, actually he just had money dropped from the ceiling. Vince said it wasn’t real money, but it was. For some reason, this infuriated Vince, and he stormed off. This just doesn’t strike me as a professional wrestling angle. I have absolutely no idea what it’s supposed to accomplish other than perhaps getting Vince some mainstream attention, but I’ll be surprised if they find a way to translate this into a wrestling match people will pay to see.
Carlito and Super Crazy defeated Kenny Dykstra and Chris Masters. Crazy and Carlito hit stereo somersault planchas early on. The heels worked over Crazy, who eventually tagged Carlito. Carlito came in with punches, a springboard elbow, a knee lift, clotheslines, and a dropkick. Masters got Carlito up for a gorilla press but Carlito went to the eyes and hit the back cracker for the pin.
Great Khali beat Jeff Hardy via count out. This was just a squash, with Khali no-selling basically all of Jeff’s offense. Khali threw Jeff over the top rope and gave him punches and a clothesline. Jeff hit the whisper in the wind but Khali barely sold that. He stuck Jeff on the top rope and gave him a chop, sending Jeff to the floor. Jeff was counted out. Khali is as worthless as ever. Backstage, Ric Flair told John Cena that Shawn Michaels might give him sweet chin music at the end of the show to make statement.
Shawn Michaels and John Cena won the tag team titles by defeating Edge and Randy Orton. Michaels was dominant early, hitting Edge with chops and giving him a knee lift. The bulk of the match consisted of Edge and Orton working over Cena. Edge and Orton collided at one point and Edge teased leaving. He came back, and they continued to work over Cena, who bled. Cena tagged Michaels, who came in with punches, a flying forearm, an inverted atomic drop, a body slam and an elbow off the top. He went for sweet chin music on Edge but Orton intercepted him.
Orton went for the RKO but Michaels escaped and tagged Cena. Cena quickly hit the FU on Orton for the pin. After the match, Michaels was about to give Cena sweet chin music but Cena caught him. Cena got in his face, at which point Undertaker appeared on the stage. He stared down a concerned Cena with fire going off in the background. This was a really good end of the show, and there is a lot of potential in this whole scenario.
Final Thoughts:
This was a slightly above average show. The start and the close of the show were both very strong, while the middle was mostly lacking. There was a lot of bad wrestling, as Raw has too many talentless physical freaks. The top issues on Raw and Smackdown for WrestleMania are hotter right now than I would have figured a month ago.
posted by Todd Martin at 11:22 PM
6 Comments:
the wwe would sign bryan danielson, job him to eugene and then he would get lost in the cruiserweight division.
the wwe would sign bryan danielson, job him to eugene and then he would get lost in the cruiserweight division.
And tag KENTA with Jimmy Wang Yang. Neither would get to use Cattle Mutilation or Go To Sleep, for that matter.
maaaaaaaaan, Todd as if you didn't mention in the cryme tyme/WGT match how much Shad was selling. I thought he did a pretty impressive job selling his leg right when Shelton nailed it. buuuuuuuuuuuut, i cant remember, but im sure his injured leg was magically healed during the hot tog aftermath.
Pretty good show last night. Having a 4-way for the title would be lame. Are they afraid that the showstopper would upstage Cena?
I actually like that it seems like they're going to let Edge and Orton into the Wrestlemania main event. Edge, despite the fact that he's been in the title scene for over a year now, has never had a main event-level WM match. Orton did last year, but was basically an afterthought. I like RKO, Michaels, and Cena, and I think they'd have a good match together. I have no problem with them doing a 4 way match for the main event, since the Smackdown title match is going to be 1 on 1, and is going to suck big time. Also, they have done a surprisingly great job of building issues between the 4 participants. I can't see what else they could do with Edge and Orton at WM, other than having them face each other, which would be a big disappointment.
I think ROH getting big is far better for
the business then TNA getting big. I've said bad
things about the company and the talent in the past,
but as I've gotten more into ROH they flat out do a
hell of a job. Alot of the top guys in TNA and
newcomers to WWE are former/current ROH stars. They
have captured the niche that Paul Heyman's ECW left
behind so well it is amazing. A late night TV spot in
New York would catapult them. I really believe that.
It's like the same exact setting as 1996. You've got
WWE draggin' ass but still dominating, ROH the
underground product workin their asses off trying to
create a fantastic product, and then the other "big
name" company TNA with the inmates running the asylum.
They should move Edge to ECW.
They should move Lance Cade to ECW and give him that biker/rebel redneck gimmick theyre lacking.
AND THEY SHOULD SIGN THE MOTHER F'N BRISCOE BROTHERS AND PUT THEM IN ECW AS WELL.
Post a Comment
<< Home