Message sent
By Ed Williams III
May 8, 2006
When RAW went off the air in Anaheim, we were left with a wide array of questions. When will Triple H get his championship opportunity? How will Mr. McMahon respond to The Game defying his wishes for a second week in a row? How will Shawn Michaels respond to the beating he took at the hands of the Spirit Squad? Why did Mick Foley join forces with his arch enemy Edge to bloody Tommy Dreamer? What does Mr. McMahon have in store for Rob Van Dam? Who was the mysterious woman that attacked Mickie James? But one thing is for certain. When The Game ambushed John Cena and laid him out with a vicious Pedigree, Triple H sent a message. And that message is loud and clear – The King of Kings wants his championship opportunity so he can reclaim his throne.
As a matter of fact, Triple H wanted his WWE Championship Match at The Pond on RAW. And The Champ was more than willing to grant him his wish, but The Chairman, Mr. McMahon, had other plans. Since The Game defied him last week when he left his post as special referee, Mr. McMahon said that he couldn’t just roll over and do whatever he wanted. He said that Triple H would get a championship opportunity, but not quite yet. Instead, he gave the King of Kings the rest of the night off, and told him to leave The Pond.
Cena, however, was in action as he teamed up with HBK to take on the Spirit Squad in a five-on-two Handicap Match. Before the match Kenny of the Spirit Squad, said that Cena was fair game, but Michaels was all his since he cost him the WWE Championship one week ago. Once again, The Champ had the odds stacked against him, but he and HBK seemed to be handling things. But eventually, the numbers were too much to overcome. While Cena was knocked out on the outside, HBK rallied. But after knocking Johnny to the outside with Sweet Chin Music, HBK was blasted in the face by Kenny with the World Tag Team Championship belt and pinned him for the 1-2-3. With the pin, Kenny gained revenge on the Showstopper for costing him the opportunity at being the youngest WWE Champion in history, but he wasn’t done yet. He knocked out referee Mike Chioda, took his belt, and proceeded to mercilessly whip HBK like a proverbial government mule.
As the Squad continued their beat-down of Michaels, Triple H, who was thought to have left the arena already, made his way down the ramp. In the meantime, Cena somehow recovered and cleaned house of the Squad. But after The Champ disposed of the athletically annoying Squad members, Triple H caught Cena in a Pedigree. The Game stood over the fallen Cena and delivered a series of crotch chops, signifying that a message had been sent. The King of Kings is ready to become an 11-time World Champion. But how will Mr. McMahon feel about The Game’s actions? He told Triple H to take the night off. He had also said that Triple H would receive a championship opportunity. When will it come?
While Triple H hopes to get his WrestleMania rematch next week, the Rated R Superstar Edge and Mick Foley were slated to have their WrestleMania Hardcore Rematch on RAW. Earlier in the week, on WWE.com, Mick Foley said, “I want the fans to be talking about the match the next day. That’s all that’s important to me.” People will surely be talking about the match, but not because it was a rematch of epic proportions.
Before the match even began, Foley said that if they were having a Hardcore Match, then it had to include ECW. With that he announced that it was now a Triple Threat Hardcore Match – Edge vs. Foley vs. ECW’s Tommy Dreamer. It appeared clear that Dreamer and Foley would team up to take out Edge, but the Hardcore Legend belted the Innovator of Violence from behind with a barbed wire-covered baseball bat. In a bizarre turn of events, Foley had seemingly joined forces with his enemy, Edge. Foley handed the Rated R Superstar the deadly weapon, and he walloped Dreamer in the face, busting the former ECW Champion wide open. The two finished off a savage beating when Foley sunk in the Mandible Claw, while Edge simultaneously hit the spear, giving Foley the victory. Then, oddly enough, Foley, Edge and Lita all shook hands and raised their arms in victory. What made Foley join forces with his arch nemesis? Why did he target Dreamer of ECW?
Intercontinental Champion Rob Van Dam was also in action defending the championship for the first time since defeating Shelton Benjamin at Backlash. RVD had been on an incredible roll as of late, but the odds were stacked against him as it was a Fatal Fourway Tornado Match against Shelton Benjamin, Chris Masters and Charlie Haas. All four Superstars were in the ring at once, and RVD didn’t even have to be involved in the decision to lose the gold. And that’s exactly how it looked like it would go down. Masters had Haas in the unbreakable Master Lock, and it looked like The Masterpiece would become the new Intercontinental Champion. But then, from out of nowhere, RVD flew more than half-way across the ring with a picturesque sunset flip on Masters for the victory.
RAW also marked the return of Good Ol’ J.R., Jim Ross, to the RAW announce booth as the play-by-play man. One week ago, Joey Styles quit, stating he was sick of sports-entertainment. Before his match, RVD said what happened with Styles was crap. “For the record, I agree with everything he said about sports-entertainment. I get a lot of energy from hearing you (fans) say my initials (RVD), but tonight I want you to chant three other letters – ECW,” said Van Dam. After the match, while chatting about their respective “medical ailments,” Mr. McMahon told Candice that he had a crazy idea for Rob Van Dam for next week. Candice then said that she had a crazy idea for her and Mr. McMahon. Something tells me the two ideas don’t have anything to do with each other…let’s just hope so anyways.
Plus, in a battle of former World Tag Team Champions, Kane went one on one with Big Show. The two giants of the squared circle went back and forth before the lights went out and a voice coming from the Titan Tron was saying “May 19”, whipping Kane into a chaotic frenzy. A video resembling Kane’s old mask appeared on the Tron as well, prompting the Big Red Monster to grab a chair and maniacally attack Big Show with 11-straight chair shots. What is the reason behind Kane snapping every time he hears May 19, which coincides with the release date of his new movie See No Evil?
And one week after Maria scored a pinfall over the Women’s Champion Mickie James in a tag team match, the two Divas went one on one. Mickie’s nemesis Trish Stratus was at Maria’s side as well. Mickie was able to take care of Maria with a vicious DDT, but Trish tried to attack her after the match. Mickie was able to take advantage of the Diva’s injured shoulder, though. Then, from out of nowhere, an unidentified blond woman stormed the ring and tried to attack Mickie. Security stormed the ring and subdued her, but Mickie was visibly shaken. “What are you doing here? You ruin everything! No one invited you,” screamed the Women’s Champion. Mickie apparently knew her attacker, but what is their relationship?
Also, Carlito faced Matt Striker in singles competition. Carlito had the upper hand, but Eugene stormed the ring and attacked Striker. Last week Striker leveled the lovable Eugene with a dictionary, so Uncle Eric’s nephew was looking for some revenge. But it ended up costing Carlito the victory as Striker won by disqualification. Following the match, Carlito took out both Striker and Eugene out of frustration.
And the Samoan bulldozer Umaga totally dismantled two local wrestlers. Perhaps J.R. put it best when he said that “Umaga seemingly doesn’t have any weaknesses.”
Matches
Matt Striker def. Carlito (DQ)
Women’s Champion Mickie James def. Maria
Spirit Squad def. WWE Champion John Cena & Shawn Michaels
Mick Foley def. Edge and Tommy Dreamer (Hardcore Triple Threat Match)
Intercontinental Champion Rob Van Dam def. Shelton Benjamin, Chris Masters and Charlie Haas (Fatal Fourway Tornado Match)
Big Show vs. Kane (no contest)
Umaga def. two locals (Handicap Match)
