Raw Report
Date: 05/12/08 from Detroit, MI.
The Big News: No matches were cut short this week by William Regal, but Regal found other ways to exercise his authority.
Show Analysis:
The lights were out to start the show, and then came on with King Regal standing in the ring. Lilian Garcia sung God Save the Queen. The people booed, so Regal decided to exercise his authority. He picked out two people at ringside to throw out. At first I thought he picked a guy wearing an Affliction t-shirt, which would have been freaking hilarious. Instead, it was the two people next to him. Mickie James came out to protest, as apparently this was her brother and his girlfriend.
Regal threatened to throw out Mickie or strip her of the title, which brought out John Cena. Cena said he can relate to Regal being annoyed at the fans being rude to him, but Regal is responding to that in the wrong way. Cena said everyone thinks Regal is doing a bad job. He read e-mails from fans complaining about Regal. One e-mail compared the blackouts to WCW Thunder. The fans chanted for Regal to be fired.
Regal thought over these e-mails, and gave his word he wouldn’t turn out the lights on any matches this show. He then announced Cena vs. Randy Orton, and if anyone interfered they would be suspended. He said that perhaps he had earned a little of the fans’ respect. That jerk Cena then interrupted Regal’s song, said he didn’t earn the fans’ respect, and berated him for playing God Save the Queen. As if it’s so horrible the man appreciates his country. Cena then had Lilian sing “Respect.”
Cody Rhodes and Hardcore Holly retained the tag titles by defeating Carlito and Santino. It was Super Bowl XXXVI all over again, as the heels entered separately and lost to the team that came out together. Roddy Piper watched at ringside because Santino wanted him there. Holly hit a dropkick and low blow but Carlito broke up the Alabama slam with a swinging neck breaker. The heels briefly got the heat on Holly, who then tagged Cody. Cody hit a springboard crossbody and power slam on Santino. Santino used a jaw breaker, but became distracted by Piper and Cody hit a DDT for the pin.
Mr. Kennedy beat Snitsky. Snitsky used punches, kicks, a body slam, an elbow drop, and a bear huge. Kennedy came back by going after the leg with kicks and a chop block. He then hit the mic check for a quick win. Backstage, an angry Santino said that it isn’t the 80s anymore and he’s going to find and hurt Roddy the Piper.
Also backstage, Mickie James thanked John Cena for helping her in the ring. She invited him to go out with her and her family after the show. Cena robotically said he had to focus on his job, but then said he was joking. He said he would go out with her and it might be a long night. Somebody doesn’t like poor Kenny Dykstra.
Mickie James and Maria beat Beth Phoenix and Melina. Beth and Melina collided early, and Beth became angry and left ringside. Mickie then hit a neck breaker for the pin.
Chris Jericho came out to apologize for claiming Shawn Michaels’ injury was fake. Shawn Michaels joined him and said that he’s feigning the injury and he’s not hurt. Jericho said this was some sort of trick and that Michaels is definitely hurt. Michaels gave him sweet chin music, said he isn’t hurt, and left the ring with no limp. This angle isn’t working for me.
Jeff Hardy beat Umaga. Jeff returned to Raw. He said he made a mistake and paid for it. He added that now he’s back and he has a lot of things to do. At that point the mic cut out and King Regal interrupted. He said now Hardy would be punished for his unspecified sins. This brought out Umaga. Umaga threw him into the barricade and hit a head butt off the second rope. Umaga then missed a running butt drop and Jeff hit the whisper in the wind for the pin. This match was too short, but I’m all for Regal cutting off interviews and not matches.
Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch beat Cryme Tyme. The two teams traded a few moves before Murdoch cradled Shad for the pin. Cade then grabbed a mic, and told Murdoch to sing a victory song. A lot of fans were still down on the singing. As Murdoch was singing, Cade attacked him. So that’s the end of that team. The fact that the crowd still booed Murdoch’s singing suggests they rushed this breakup a bit. With that said, I think this breakup is a good move, and has the potential to make each man more important than he was before.
Melina backstage was angry at Beth for leaving the match. Beth said that Melina cost her the women’s title on purpose because Melina knows it is easier to beat Mickie than Beth. Beth said she let off Melina easy. Melina and Beth then had a great intense brawl. Beth ended up destroying her. This was a really strong quick segment to get over Beth.
Randy Orton beat John Cena. Cena hit a fisherman buster early, but Orton scored with a back breaker. Orton went for the Garvin stomp, but Cena grabbed his leg and flung him over the top rope. Orton hit a kick to the head and DDT. Orton went for the RKO, but Cena brushed him off. Cena hit a blockbuster and top rope rocker dropper. JBL then came out and said that Regal determined he would be the new referee.
Cena immediately attacked JBL then turned his attention back to Orton. He went for the FU on Orton, but JBL kicked him in the head and used a fast count for an Orton win. The heels double teamed Cena, which brought out HHH. Cena and JBL fought to the back. In the ring, Orton was attacking HHH. A cage lowered, but HHH hit the spine buster, and threw Orton into the cage to close the show.
Final Thoughts:
This was a much better show than last week. It didn’t do anything to screw the fans, and the angles were largely strong. The only issue was the matches were too quick. No match besides the main event went five minutes, and the average match had to last in the vicinity of two and a half minutes. It’s fine to have some quick matches, but they went so far in that direction it felt like wrestling was a total afterthought. Still, this show reminded me much more of the average quality Raw show of 2008 than what they gave us last week.
The Big News: No matches were cut short this week by William Regal, but Regal found other ways to exercise his authority.
Show Analysis:
The lights were out to start the show, and then came on with King Regal standing in the ring. Lilian Garcia sung God Save the Queen. The people booed, so Regal decided to exercise his authority. He picked out two people at ringside to throw out. At first I thought he picked a guy wearing an Affliction t-shirt, which would have been freaking hilarious. Instead, it was the two people next to him. Mickie James came out to protest, as apparently this was her brother and his girlfriend.
Regal threatened to throw out Mickie or strip her of the title, which brought out John Cena. Cena said he can relate to Regal being annoyed at the fans being rude to him, but Regal is responding to that in the wrong way. Cena said everyone thinks Regal is doing a bad job. He read e-mails from fans complaining about Regal. One e-mail compared the blackouts to WCW Thunder. The fans chanted for Regal to be fired.
Regal thought over these e-mails, and gave his word he wouldn’t turn out the lights on any matches this show. He then announced Cena vs. Randy Orton, and if anyone interfered they would be suspended. He said that perhaps he had earned a little of the fans’ respect. That jerk Cena then interrupted Regal’s song, said he didn’t earn the fans’ respect, and berated him for playing God Save the Queen. As if it’s so horrible the man appreciates his country. Cena then had Lilian sing “Respect.”
Cody Rhodes and Hardcore Holly retained the tag titles by defeating Carlito and Santino. It was Super Bowl XXXVI all over again, as the heels entered separately and lost to the team that came out together. Roddy Piper watched at ringside because Santino wanted him there. Holly hit a dropkick and low blow but Carlito broke up the Alabama slam with a swinging neck breaker. The heels briefly got the heat on Holly, who then tagged Cody. Cody hit a springboard crossbody and power slam on Santino. Santino used a jaw breaker, but became distracted by Piper and Cody hit a DDT for the pin.
Mr. Kennedy beat Snitsky. Snitsky used punches, kicks, a body slam, an elbow drop, and a bear huge. Kennedy came back by going after the leg with kicks and a chop block. He then hit the mic check for a quick win. Backstage, an angry Santino said that it isn’t the 80s anymore and he’s going to find and hurt Roddy the Piper.
Also backstage, Mickie James thanked John Cena for helping her in the ring. She invited him to go out with her and her family after the show. Cena robotically said he had to focus on his job, but then said he was joking. He said he would go out with her and it might be a long night. Somebody doesn’t like poor Kenny Dykstra.
Mickie James and Maria beat Beth Phoenix and Melina. Beth and Melina collided early, and Beth became angry and left ringside. Mickie then hit a neck breaker for the pin.
Chris Jericho came out to apologize for claiming Shawn Michaels’ injury was fake. Shawn Michaels joined him and said that he’s feigning the injury and he’s not hurt. Jericho said this was some sort of trick and that Michaels is definitely hurt. Michaels gave him sweet chin music, said he isn’t hurt, and left the ring with no limp. This angle isn’t working for me.
Jeff Hardy beat Umaga. Jeff returned to Raw. He said he made a mistake and paid for it. He added that now he’s back and he has a lot of things to do. At that point the mic cut out and King Regal interrupted. He said now Hardy would be punished for his unspecified sins. This brought out Umaga. Umaga threw him into the barricade and hit a head butt off the second rope. Umaga then missed a running butt drop and Jeff hit the whisper in the wind for the pin. This match was too short, but I’m all for Regal cutting off interviews and not matches.
Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch beat Cryme Tyme. The two teams traded a few moves before Murdoch cradled Shad for the pin. Cade then grabbed a mic, and told Murdoch to sing a victory song. A lot of fans were still down on the singing. As Murdoch was singing, Cade attacked him. So that’s the end of that team. The fact that the crowd still booed Murdoch’s singing suggests they rushed this breakup a bit. With that said, I think this breakup is a good move, and has the potential to make each man more important than he was before.
Melina backstage was angry at Beth for leaving the match. Beth said that Melina cost her the women’s title on purpose because Melina knows it is easier to beat Mickie than Beth. Beth said she let off Melina easy. Melina and Beth then had a great intense brawl. Beth ended up destroying her. This was a really strong quick segment to get over Beth.
Randy Orton beat John Cena. Cena hit a fisherman buster early, but Orton scored with a back breaker. Orton went for the Garvin stomp, but Cena grabbed his leg and flung him over the top rope. Orton hit a kick to the head and DDT. Orton went for the RKO, but Cena brushed him off. Cena hit a blockbuster and top rope rocker dropper. JBL then came out and said that Regal determined he would be the new referee.
Cena immediately attacked JBL then turned his attention back to Orton. He went for the FU on Orton, but JBL kicked him in the head and used a fast count for an Orton win. The heels double teamed Cena, which brought out HHH. Cena and JBL fought to the back. In the ring, Orton was attacking HHH. A cage lowered, but HHH hit the spine buster, and threw Orton into the cage to close the show.
Final Thoughts:
This was a much better show than last week. It didn’t do anything to screw the fans, and the angles were largely strong. The only issue was the matches were too quick. No match besides the main event went five minutes, and the average match had to last in the vicinity of two and a half minutes. It’s fine to have some quick matches, but they went so far in that direction it felt like wrestling was a total afterthought. Still, this show reminded me much more of the average quality Raw show of 2008 than what they gave us last week.
posted by Todd Martin at 11:48 PM
1 Comments:
No comments - I wonder if this reflects a dwindling interest in the show even among internet fans. I know my post-Wrestlemania interest has already faded, last week was the first Raw since Wrestlemania that I forgot to record...
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