Source: The Worm, Rajah.com
WWE RAW Report
Taped in Tokyo, Japan
February 7th, 2005
Reported by: The Worm, rajah.com RAW reporter
Welcome to RAW everyone as it emanates from Tokyo, Japan for the very first time (at least on television). I’m looking forward to seeing Edge take on Triple H for the title, but without reading the spoilers I already knew he wouldn’t be walking out of the Land of the Rising Sun with the World Heavyweight Championship in tow. I just hope that even if Edge doesn’t win, that the writers still keep his character rolling like it has been for a few weeks now and hopefully there will be a World title reign for Edge sometime in the future, as he really deserves one.
Bischoff makes his way down to the ring with the crowd booing him. Question: what purpose did shaving Bischoff’s head serve?
Bischoff says he is the GM of RAW and one of the most powerful and respected men in the wrestling business. A translator translates what he just said, and tonight, history is going to be made because RAW is broadcasting for the first time from Tokyo. Tonight, Bischoff is going to bring you one of the biggest RAWs anyone has ever seen because you will see Icon vs. Icon as Ric Flair takes on HBK Shawn Michaels. Plus, Edge will face Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship (Kinda funny how the crowd will cheer what Bischoff says, but will boo when the translator translates what he just said). Bischoff announces our first match for the night, a submission match between Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho.
Match #1 (Submission) – Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho:
They lock up and Jericho backs Benoit into the ropes and then they roll around into a corner. They continue to grapple, as the men take it to the outside before the ref breaks them up. They get back into the ring and butt heads, but the ref eparates them again. Jericho goes behind Benoit and takes him with a waist lock take down.
They lock up again with Benoit cinching in an armbar on Jericho. Jericho counters it, and then we see some more mat wrestling from two of the finest wrestlers the WWE has to offer today. Jericho tries for the Walls early, but Benoit counters out. Benoit tries for the Sharpshooter, but to no avail. They’re now at a stand still as the crowd applauds their efforts.
Jericho hits a couple of clubbing blows to Benoit’s back and then drops him on the top rope. Jericho tries for the springboard dropkick, but Benoit knocks him off the ropes. The two begin to fight on the turnbuckle as they begin to exchange punches. Both men are knocked down to the mat after a Benoit headbutt and then we go to commercial.
– Commercial Break –
Back on RAW, Benoit has knocked Jericho down on the canvas. Benoit picks him up and nails a snap suplex. Jericho begins to fight back with chops, but he misses one and this allows Benoit to attempt the rolling Germans. Benoit is able to connect with one before Jericho counters it into a unique submission manuever. Benoit counters out with a Northern Lights suplex-esque move and Benoit goes for the rolling Germans again but is only able to connect with two before Jericho is able to put Benoit in a half Boston crab.
Benoit struggles to get to the ropes , but he is able to do so. Benoit is attempting to put the Sharpshooter on Jericho, but Jericho is fighting, so Benoit has to weaken him some more by hitting more German suplexes and both men are getting pretty wore out this early in the match. Benoit signals for the flying headbutt and as he goes up top, he is able to connect it on Jericho’s back.
Benoit sees that Jericho is hurting and he attempts the Crossface, Jericho is able to fight out of it and attack Benoit, but after Benoit counters out of a Lionsault, Jericho tries for the Walls but has to opt for a catapult instead. Benoit is able to lock the Crossface on Jericho, but will he be able to reach the ropes? YES! He reaches the bottom rope and Benoit has to break the hold.
Jericho rolls Benoit over and he again tries for the Walls, but Benoit is kicking him in the head and Benoit tries for another Crossface. Jericho is forced to tap out, despite being a few inches away from the bottom rope.
Winner: Chris Benoit
Post-match, Jericho shakes Benoit’s hand and raises it to show his respect for the Rabid Wolverine.
– Commercial Break –
A video is shown talking about the superstars’ trip to Japan.
Backstage, we see Triple H and Ric Flair getting geared up for their respective matches and they have a little talk and Flair says he’s gonna make HBK pay homage to the Nature Boy and Triple H is gonna beat Edge just like that. Triple H has second thoughts about Batista’s possible jump to Smackdown, and he feels that it should be Batista vs. Triple H at Wrestlemania XXI. Flair talks him out of that idea as he wants him to picture Triple H ruling RAW and Batista ruling Smackdown.
We then see Christian with Tyson Tomko talking to a Japanese interviewer when they come across Stacy Keibler. Christian says that the interviewer wants to ask her a couple of “Christian” questions. The first question he asks is where he can find Randy Orton. Christian wants to know why he’d be looking for him, and it’s because Christian is annoying. Christian proceeds to talk trash about Orton. Christian tells Stacy to go tell Orton to meet him later in the ring, and Christian decides to have Tysom Tomko take him on with Christian at his side. Before we go to commercial, we see Batista heading out for his match.
– Commercial Break –
The latest Wrestlemania 21 commercial features Triple H as William Wallace from the movie “Braveheart” giving a speech to rile up the men. However, the camera turns and we see that Triple H is talking to nobody. Ric Flair then shows up in peasant’s garb pulling a donkey saying a bunch of stuff I didn’t listen to.
Maven is in the ring and he feels people wanna know why Maven wasn’t in the Royal Rumble. That’s because if he was, he would have won. He would have thrown Batista out of the ring and before he can continue talking trash, Batista makes his way out to the ring.
Match #2 (Singles) – Maven vs. Batista:
Maven attacks Batista from behind and he tries to clothesline him, but to no avail. Maven goes to bounce off the ropes and he is met with a spinebuster. Batista hits the Batista Bomb and that ends this squash.
Winner: Batista
As Batista celebrates his victory, a video is shown on the ‘Tron where the Big Show made some comments about Batista on Smackdown last week.
– Commercial Break –
We see Batista walking through the arena as he comes across Bischoff and he complains about the sudden appearance of SD videos. Bischoff says he’ll get to the bottom of it and he talks Batista into staying on RAW.
Match #3 (Tag Title) – La Resistance (C) vs. William Regal & Tajiri:
You should hear the Japanese crowd as they popped HUGE for Tajiri. It’s Regal and Conway starting this match. We see the usual shenanigans as any match tends to start, and Tajiri is tagged in. He takes it to Conway before taking Regal back in. Regal goes for a pin , but Grenier breaks it up. Conway drives Regal into his corner and rams some shoulders into his gut. Grenier gets in some cheap shots and Conway continues to single out Regal. Grenier is tagged in and he continues to keep Regal from his corner. He knocks Tajiri off the apron and Regal locks in an STF. Conway breaks it up and Regal hits a back body drop on Grenier. Tajiri is tagged in and he cleans house of La Resistance. Tajiri connects with a Mysterio-esque bulldog on Grenier and he goes for a pin, but Grenier kicks out. Tajiri continues to weaken Grenier and as he goes for another pin, Conway is there to break it up. Tajiri chops away at Grenier after fending off Conway and he locks the Tarantula on Grenier, but again Conway breaks up the hold.
Regal slams Conway on the outside and with the ref distracted, Grenier grabs the Quebec flag. It’s a swing….and a miss. Tajiri mists Grenier, ala The Great Kabuki, and connects with the Kick of Death to win the titles.
Winner and NEW World Tag Team Champions: Tajiri & William Regal
Post-match, Tajiri says something in Japanese and then the new champs go into the crowd to celebrate with the fans.
Up next will be HBK vs. Flair Part whatever (how many times have these two faced each other in singles competition?)
– Commercial Break –
The cameras show that Akebono is in the crowd, and he’s a former Sumo champion.
The Class of 2005 inductees are “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff, The Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, “Cowboy” Bob Orton, and “The Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart, and I wonder if there will be more to come as it gets closer to WM21?
Match #4 (Singles) – Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels:
They lock up and Flair backs HBK into a corner. The ref wants a clean break, but Flair hit a cheap elbow to the head of HBK. Flair begins to punch and chop away at HBK. HBK blocks a punch and connects with some chops of his own. Flair is whipped into a corner, and is met with a back body drop. HBK clotheslines Flair over the ropes and to the outside. HBK chops away at Flair, but Flair hits a thumb to the eye. Flair charges, but HBK is back dropped onto the mat. In the ring, Flair begs for mercy and HBK must be feeling gullible as he falls for another thumb.
Flair chops HBK to knock him down and then pins him, but HBK kicks out. Flair puts HBK into a corner and hits a couple of chops before HBK begins to take a few jabs. Flair flops and HBK goes for a pin, but Flair kicks out. Flair kicks HBK in the gut and then whips him into the corner. Flair follows it up with a chop block and Flair has begun to focus on HBK’s leg as he stomps down on his left leg.
Flair is able to hit another chop block after bouncing HBK off the corner and he then locks in the Figure Four leglock. HBK is slowly working to turn Flair over, and Flair breaks the hold. Both men are back on their feet and Flair hits a chop before causing HBK’s leg to buckle. HBK goes for a rolling clutch pin, but Flair kicks out. Flair tries for another Figure Four, but HBK rolls him up into an inside cradle and again Flair kicks out. Backslide from HBK, Flair kicks out. HBK hits an enziguiri on Flair after Flair grabs his leg and both men are down.
HBK is first to his feet and the two begin to exchange chops with HBK gaining the upper hand. Flair stomps on his leg and then goes to the top turnbuckle. HBK slams him off of it and then connects with a flying forearm. HBK kips up and he is getting all fired up. He body slams HBK and HBK looks like he’s gonna do his elbow drop. It connects and it’s time to tune up the band.
HBK connects with the SCM and that’s it for this match.
Winner: Shawn Michaels
– Commercial Break –
The WWE Rewind recaps Kane defeating Snitsky in a cage match last week.
The All-American Diva Fashion Show (Host: Jerry “The King” Lawler):
This features Maria, Victoria, and my favorite, Christy Hemme (who I hope will be appearing in Playboy if what I heard is true).
Maria comes out in a cowgirl get-up. Next up is Victoria, who is dressed in what I guess is supposed to be a biker chick get-up. Last, but not least, Christy comes out in a bikini to represent the sunny beaches.
Before the show can continue, they’re interrupted by Simon Dean and there is no way airtime is going to be wasted on the fashion show when Simon Dean can talk to an international audience about his Simon System. He proceeds to talk trash about Japan (and I’m guessing they have no idea what he’s saying). Akebono stands up like he’s going to come after Simon Dean, but Simon Dean says he’s cool with Akebono. Simon then proceeds to belittle the divas and make fun of their appearance.
The King then stands up for the fans and divas. Simon knows why he’s really upset and that’s because he’s been packing on the pounds and can’t lose the weight. Simon then calls him “Burger King” (I remember when that used to bug the crap out of the King), and this segment ends with Christy low-blowing the exercise nut.
– Commercial Break –
Wrestlemania 21 goes Hollywood in 55 days.
Backstage, Evolution is talking. Triple H & Flair talk to Batista about jumping to SD and they feel it would be a good idea so Batista can shut all of the running mouths and become WWE Champion.
We then see Edge with the Coach and he doesn’t seem to be too thrilled. He is fixated on the fact that he’s being overlooked, but one thing is for sure, he’s hellbent on walking out of Japan with the World title.
– Commercial Break –
Match #5 (Singles) – Randy Orton vs. Tyson Tomko:
They lock up and Tomko backs Orton into the ropes. The ref breaks it up and Orton hits a right to the head of Tomko. Orton locks in a headlock and then takes him down with a drop toe hold. Tomko whips Orton and Orton takes him down. Orton goes for a pin, but Tomko kicks out. Tomko slams Orton and we see Christian dragging Stacy down the ramp. Orton is distracted, and this allows Tomko to clothesline him.
Tomko stomps away at his head and as Orton tries to back off, he finds himself cornered and Tomko decides to choke him on the bottom turnbuckle with his foot. Tomko continues to work on Orton and then he goes for a pin, but Orton is able to kick out.
Orton better let go of the front of Tomko’s tights because I don’t wanna have a reason to not continue this report. Orton is beginning to fight back as he hits his signature backbreaker. Orton begins to repeatedly club Tomko’s chest with forearms. Orton takes a breather, which allows Tomko to recover enough to hit a gut shot. Orton dropkicks him and he signals for the RKO, but Orton collapses into the ropes. Tomko seizes the moment as he attacks Orton. Orton wins this with a roll-up that came out of nowhere.
Winner: Randy Orton
Stacy looks on with concern for the legend killer and post-match, Christian ambushes Orton and Tomko stretches him out. Christian lands the Unprettier and he stands over him in triumph.
– Commercial Break –
Main Event (World Title) – Triple H (C) vs. Edge:
They lock up and Triple H hits a side headlock take over. More exchanges between the two wrestlers and they’re at a standoff. The crowd applauds their efforts and they lock up again. Triple H puts Edge in a hammerlock and Edge does the same to Triple H. Triple H puts Edge in a head scissors. The two men continue to exchange move after move.
Triple H counters out of another head scissors by flipping out and clocking Edge with a punch. Edge whips the champ into the corner and drives his shoulder into his gut. Edge tries the same move again, only Triple H steps out of the way and sends Edge into the ringpost. Triple H sends him into the opposite ringpost twice in a row and then we go to commercial and Edge’s shoulder must be sore as hell after taking three shots to the ringpost like that.
– Commercial Break –
Edge hits a backbreaker and follows it up with a pin cover, but Triple H is able to kick out, much to Edge’s chagrin.
Edge tries to suplex Triple H, but he counters it with a DDT and both men are down. The two begin to exchange blows and Triple H is able to hit his signature facebuster. Triple H goes for a pin, but Edge kicks out. Edge is on the apron and Triple H tries to suplex him into the ring, but Edge counters by snapping Triple H’s neck off the ropes. Edge hits a missile dropkick off the top and he goes for another pin, but Triple H kicks out.
Triple H counters a whip and hits a spinebuster. Triple H goes for a pin, but Edge kicks out. Triple H goes for a back suplex, but Edge floats over and hits the Edge-o-Matic. Triple H kicks out of the pin and a tired Edge continues to weaken the Game. The Game counters a whip, but Edge kicks out of the corner. Edge counters out of a Pedigree attempt after Triple H catches him from the top. Edge signals for the spear, but he runs into the high knee of Triple H. Triple H goes for another cover, but Edge kicks out.
Triple H bounces Edge off the ropes and grabs him into a sleeper. Edge counters out of it and he locks in the Edgeucator. Triple H finally grabs the bottom rope and I’m disappointed that they couldn’t save this match for a future PPV where Edge would actually have a chance of winning. Edge accidentally spears the ref and Triple H goes for a clothesline, but Edge ducks and hits a neckbreaker. Edge goes for a pin, but there’s no ref to make the count.
Flair comes in with a chair and Edge spears him. Edge spots the chair and grabs it. Triple H ducks and hits a back suplex. Both wrestlers are down and the ref is still out. They’re crawling for the chair and just then, Batista comes down to the ring and takes the chair out of the ring. Edge gets up on the apron, and while Edge is distracted, Triple H nails Edge off the apron and into Batista. Triple H tosses him back into the ring and he goes for another Pedigree, but Edge counters it into an Edgecution.
Edge signals for another spear, but Batista comes into the ring and hits a hard spinebuster. The ref is starting to come to and both men are exhausted. Triple H finally connects with a Pedigree and what a big surprise, Edge is unable to win the World title. It was a solid effort for Edge to take on the champ for his title, but it was basically a huge waste of time since there was no chance whatsoever of the title actually changing hands on a non-PPV show.
Winner: Triple H
The show closes with Batista raising Triple H’s arm with the title in his hand, and Batista is seen eyeing Triple H’s title.
END OF SHOW
