Raw Report
Date: 10/22/07 from Omaha, NE.
The Big News: Candice Michelle took a spill off the top rope in the middle of a women’s title match.
Show Analysis:
Mr. Kennedy was in the ring to start the show. He encouraged people to vote for him. He compared Jeff Hardy to Hillary Clinton, because Jeff has no testicles. He then compared Shawn Michaels to Rudy Giuliani, because they both live in the past. Gee, I wonder who they want to win the voting with those comparisons being made in Nebraska. Mr. Kennedy said he’s like John McCain, because he was on the fast track before everything fell apart. Okay, he didn’t say that. He asked what you can do for Mr. Kennedy instead. Jeff Hardy came out and said Kennedy’s approval rating sucks. He attacked Kennedy. Randy Orton and Shawn Michaels joined the fray, and Jeff cleared the ring.
Brian Kendrick, Paul London and Mickie James beat Trevor Murdoch, Lance Cade and Melina. The heels worked over Kendrick, who gave Cade an enzuigiri and made the hot tag. London came in with a drop kick and spinning heel kick. Cade accidentally clotheslined Murdoch and London gave Murdoch a standing shooting star press for the pin. This was an excellent little match. Mickie has great presence as a personality.
Next up was a cavalcade of backstage vignettes. Jeff Hardy and Shawn Michaels talked about facing Randy Orton. Shawn said he couldn’t trust Jeff in their tag match, and Jeff said he’ll do exactly what Shawn does. Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin made fun of Cody Rhodes for losing repeatedly to Hardcore Holly. Cody said he respects Holly. Benjamin was really effective here as a heel. William Regal and Coach had a conversation, where Coach convinced Regal to make a match between Hornswoggle and Umaga.
Cody Rhodes beat Shelton Benjamin. Cody hit a bulldog. Haas distracted Cody, and Benjamin rolled him up. However, Cody rolled through and scored the pin. The World’s Greatest Tag Team jumped Cody after the match, but Hardcore Holly made the save. This was an effective segment. If this were TNA, Cody would have turned heel and attacked Holly.
D. H. Smith (Harry Smith, son of Davey Boy) made his Raw debut, defeating Carlito. He dedicated the match to his father. He hit drop kicks, a northern lights suplex, and finished Carlito with a running power slam. There is no excuse for not building up Smith’s debut with vignettes. His debut would have been so much more poignant and impactful if it was preceded by a month’s worth of vignettes showing highlights of Davey Boy Smith’s career, and hyping his debuting son. Instead, he just debuted randomly, and a week after a show in England at that. He didn’t even have a ring entrance. This is such simple stuff as far as star making goes. Have an iota of patience and ensure potential stars make the best possible first impression.
Umaga was ready to face Hornswoggle, but Hornswoggle ran away and HHH came out. HHH and Umaga had a big brawl. The diva search is wrapping up, and they brought the final three contestants in front of the crowd. They eliminated one, so the whole thing is almost over. The final two each got 30 seconds to speak. The blonde struggled to string together two or three coherent words at a time. It was beyond embarrassing. The second woman was much better. Backstage, Randy Orton suggested to Mr. Kennedy that they work together to weaken the other two.
Ron Simmons beat Santino Marella via DQ. The match was weak with an awful finish, but Santino was gold as a personality in this segment. He said that everyone is in the new WWE magazine, including The Rock, The Undertaker, The Bret Hart, and Andre the French Giant. He was angry that Mantaur is in the magazine and he isn’t, and even angrier about Steve Austin. He was interrupted by Save Us. I think this slow build is working well. Fans chanted Y2J. Santino threatened to open a can of ass whip on Austin, which brought out Simmons. It was mostly just punches and kicks, until Santino hit a low blow and was disqualified. HHH backstage said that it doesn’t matter what type of match he has against Umaga, because he saw doubt in Umaga’s eyes and he will see fear on Sunday.
Beth Phoenix beat Candice Michelle two straight falls in a 2/3 falls match to retain the women’s title. Beth hit a tree slam to win the first fall quickly. In the second fall, Candice went for a series of pinning attempts but couldn’t finish Beth off. Candice went to the top rope. Beth went to knock her off, and Candice lost her balance. She fell straight down, landed on her head, and was knocked silly. It was an unplanned and scary looking bump. Beth quickly covered, and Candice was carried off on a stretcher. Nobody wants to see this sort of accident happen.
Shawn Michaels and Jeff Hardy beat Randy Orton and Mr. Kennedy. The heels worked over Jeff, and then worked over Shawn. He made the hot tag to Jeff. Jeff hit the whisper in the wind and gave Kennedy the swanton for the pin. After the match, Orton went for the RKO on Jeff, but Shawn cut him off with sweet chin music. This was a good conclusion to the show.
Final Thoughts:
This show was generally effective and entertaining.
The Big News: Candice Michelle took a spill off the top rope in the middle of a women’s title match.
Show Analysis:
Mr. Kennedy was in the ring to start the show. He encouraged people to vote for him. He compared Jeff Hardy to Hillary Clinton, because Jeff has no testicles. He then compared Shawn Michaels to Rudy Giuliani, because they both live in the past. Gee, I wonder who they want to win the voting with those comparisons being made in Nebraska. Mr. Kennedy said he’s like John McCain, because he was on the fast track before everything fell apart. Okay, he didn’t say that. He asked what you can do for Mr. Kennedy instead. Jeff Hardy came out and said Kennedy’s approval rating sucks. He attacked Kennedy. Randy Orton and Shawn Michaels joined the fray, and Jeff cleared the ring.
Brian Kendrick, Paul London and Mickie James beat Trevor Murdoch, Lance Cade and Melina. The heels worked over Kendrick, who gave Cade an enzuigiri and made the hot tag. London came in with a drop kick and spinning heel kick. Cade accidentally clotheslined Murdoch and London gave Murdoch a standing shooting star press for the pin. This was an excellent little match. Mickie has great presence as a personality.
Next up was a cavalcade of backstage vignettes. Jeff Hardy and Shawn Michaels talked about facing Randy Orton. Shawn said he couldn’t trust Jeff in their tag match, and Jeff said he’ll do exactly what Shawn does. Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin made fun of Cody Rhodes for losing repeatedly to Hardcore Holly. Cody said he respects Holly. Benjamin was really effective here as a heel. William Regal and Coach had a conversation, where Coach convinced Regal to make a match between Hornswoggle and Umaga.
Cody Rhodes beat Shelton Benjamin. Cody hit a bulldog. Haas distracted Cody, and Benjamin rolled him up. However, Cody rolled through and scored the pin. The World’s Greatest Tag Team jumped Cody after the match, but Hardcore Holly made the save. This was an effective segment. If this were TNA, Cody would have turned heel and attacked Holly.
D. H. Smith (Harry Smith, son of Davey Boy) made his Raw debut, defeating Carlito. He dedicated the match to his father. He hit drop kicks, a northern lights suplex, and finished Carlito with a running power slam. There is no excuse for not building up Smith’s debut with vignettes. His debut would have been so much more poignant and impactful if it was preceded by a month’s worth of vignettes showing highlights of Davey Boy Smith’s career, and hyping his debuting son. Instead, he just debuted randomly, and a week after a show in England at that. He didn’t even have a ring entrance. This is such simple stuff as far as star making goes. Have an iota of patience and ensure potential stars make the best possible first impression.
Umaga was ready to face Hornswoggle, but Hornswoggle ran away and HHH came out. HHH and Umaga had a big brawl. The diva search is wrapping up, and they brought the final three contestants in front of the crowd. They eliminated one, so the whole thing is almost over. The final two each got 30 seconds to speak. The blonde struggled to string together two or three coherent words at a time. It was beyond embarrassing. The second woman was much better. Backstage, Randy Orton suggested to Mr. Kennedy that they work together to weaken the other two.
Ron Simmons beat Santino Marella via DQ. The match was weak with an awful finish, but Santino was gold as a personality in this segment. He said that everyone is in the new WWE magazine, including The Rock, The Undertaker, The Bret Hart, and Andre the French Giant. He was angry that Mantaur is in the magazine and he isn’t, and even angrier about Steve Austin. He was interrupted by Save Us. I think this slow build is working well. Fans chanted Y2J. Santino threatened to open a can of ass whip on Austin, which brought out Simmons. It was mostly just punches and kicks, until Santino hit a low blow and was disqualified. HHH backstage said that it doesn’t matter what type of match he has against Umaga, because he saw doubt in Umaga’s eyes and he will see fear on Sunday.
Beth Phoenix beat Candice Michelle two straight falls in a 2/3 falls match to retain the women’s title. Beth hit a tree slam to win the first fall quickly. In the second fall, Candice went for a series of pinning attempts but couldn’t finish Beth off. Candice went to the top rope. Beth went to knock her off, and Candice lost her balance. She fell straight down, landed on her head, and was knocked silly. It was an unplanned and scary looking bump. Beth quickly covered, and Candice was carried off on a stretcher. Nobody wants to see this sort of accident happen.
Shawn Michaels and Jeff Hardy beat Randy Orton and Mr. Kennedy. The heels worked over Jeff, and then worked over Shawn. He made the hot tag to Jeff. Jeff hit the whisper in the wind and gave Kennedy the swanton for the pin. After the match, Orton went for the RKO on Jeff, but Shawn cut him off with sweet chin music. This was a good conclusion to the show.
Final Thoughts:
This show was generally effective and entertaining.
posted by Todd Martin at 11:27 PM
10 Comments:
The referee realized right away that Candace was in trouble and told Beth to pull her away from the ropes and cover her. It didn't help that Beth tried to first pull her out by her hair...yikes!
I hope she is going to be alright.
I thought the dumbest part of the Harry Smith debut was that it took place directly after a segment featuring Cody Rhodes. It gave off the impression that their entire developmental system is sons of former wrestlers (which isn't too far off). If a casual fan just happened to flip through and see Cody Rhodes followed immediately by Harry Smith, they would probably think WWE was pathetically trying to recapture past glory.
Yet again, I see that Shelton Benjamin gets jobbed by this Cody kid, I mean please! I can't stand it. He can't even beat Hard Core Holly but he can beat Shelton, and he needs help by Charlie Hass? It doesn't make sense to me. I mean the World’s Greatest Tag Team, how you going to have a name like that and get beat up by Spark Plugg and Cody Rhodes? Then I understand building up Harry Smith but you couldn't find a mediocre jobber for him to beat? I mean he beat a former IC Champ, I don't get it, this doesn't make sense. I mean seriously. I do not watch Raw anymore and I can see why.
Randy Orton and Shawn Michaels joined the fray, and Jeff cleared the ring.
I had to re-read this, because I swore it should have read "Shawn cleared the ring" and not Jeff. Are they actually trying to get Jeff to take the next step? Will he be blocked by Aitch's glass ceiling? I also find it interesting that they have Jeff and Shawn working together recently, when Jeff was supposed to become the next Shawn. Has this been mentioned by JR at all?
If this were TNA, Cody would have turned heel and attacked Holly.
And then Haas would have turned face and saved Hardcore, leaving Cody and Shelton as a new tag team.
I heard the ref tell Beth to pull Candace away from the ropes. Why? How did they know she wasn't paralyzed? Ridiculous and a sure-fire way to get sued one day.
My favorite part of the show is Santino on the mircophone. I wish they'd give him some sort of interview segment like a Carlito's Cabana. It would be the highlight of the show.
I heard the ref tell Beth to pull Candace away from the ropes. Why?
I didn't see how everything unfolded, but I'd say it was probably because of the "rule" where if someone is under the ropes a pinfall is broken. A rule they routinely ignore and which should be completely ignored in such a situation.
I understand about the pinfall/ropes rule. But is that more important that someone's ability to walk again? Luckily it's not as bad as it looked but they couldn't have known it at the time.
I like the suggestion Caldwell made on the Torch site - referees should have the discretion to just call off a match if someone is injured. You see that in UFC, and they essentially did that with the low blow earlier in the show. And it makes perfect sense - one person is unable to continue so the ref stops it and awards the match to the other person. That would remove some of the dangers from the dragging situation Monday.
Todd,
I'm pretty sure that in the Cade-Murdoch-Melina vs. Mickie-London-Kendrick, they were setting it up where Murdoch actually saved Mickie from being clotheslined by Cade. He pushed her out of the way, then they focused on a confused Mickie James after the match, who mouthed a "Thank you" to Murdoch.
Thanks, Houston. That segment went so fast I think I just flat missed exactly what happened. I saw Mickie looking confused but didn't know why. I think WWE was kind of aiming for that by not airing a replay.
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