Source: PWTorch.com
-Raw is live tonight from Tampa, Florida.
-John Cena’s music hits, and the crowd erupts in cheers. No noticeable boos this week. Ross and Lawler discussed Cena’s “amazing feat” of beating Khali at One Night Stand. Cena took the mic, and looked around at the crowd, and now he’s getting some boos. He milked the crowd for a minute before saying that this, being the crowd, is what he loves about this business. He says from the fat guy saying he sucks, to the hot chick with the top two sizes two small, this is everything you could want. It’s intensity, it’s action, it’s noise, but tonight it seems just a little bit louder. He said he doesn’t know what it is, but maybe after six weeks of getting his ass beat, the seven foot Punjabi beast has been told FU. Wonder what the parents of Cena fans thought of that little comment. Cena says he thinks he’s finally in the clear and then they spring the draft on him. He says he knows what it’s like to be drafted. He says after what happened last night, if he gets drafted to Smackdown or ECW, and tonight is the last night that he’s on Raw, then he’s going to take it all in. He said if that’s going to be the way it goes down, then for one last time let it be said loud and proud,” the Champ…Is…”. Cue Vince McMahon.
Vinnie Mac, in lots of pain, kind of hobbled down to the ring. Vince took the mic and the crowd started a “you suck” chant. Vince said he knows why Cena’s here, and he crazily accused Cena of being there to embarrass him, humiliate him. He said he’s there to remind people that Vince isn’t a World Champion anymore. The crowd chanted “asshole” at Vince. Vince said Cena wants to come out and rub his nose in the dirt, but he’s not going to let him do that. Vince said he’s not going to bend, he’s not going to bow, and he’s damn sure not going to break. He said his name is Vincent Kennedy, and then Cena turned his back to him before he could finish. The crowd chanted for Cena. Cena said he’s going to tell himself that Vince is just tired. He’s going to tell himself, Vince is a little tired beat up, emotional, and a little bit delusional. Vince just glared at Cena and tried to say his name again, but Cena once again moved away. Cena said he knows Vince had a rough night, but the only thing keeping him alive is his patience. Cena said Vince is out babbling like he’s lost his freaking mind. Vince called him a liar and said he hasn’t lost a damn thing. He said he hasn’t lost his money, his empire, or his dignity as a human being. The only thing he’s lost is his World Title, which is exactly, according to him, what Cena’s doing tonight. Vince said Cena’s going to defend the title tonight in a triple threat match. Cena vs. Umaga vs. The Great Khali. Vince smugly smiled but it turned into a scowl as he stared down Cena. The crowd once again chanted for Cena, but he just nodded and mouthed “you’ve lost it” to Vince. Vince slowly backed up and dropped the mic with a big smile on his face. He left the ring slowly as his music hit. Ross and Lawler said something was very wrong with Vince. This was a strange segment, but the crazy Vince angle could be interesting. Is anyone else groaning at the prospect of yet another Cena vs. Khali match? Even with Umaga in the mix this time, they’re definitely treading water until next week’s draft.
[Commercial Break]
-Cryme Tyme came out with Candice Michelle in urban gear. I don’t know when Candice turned street, but whatever.
1—CRYME TYME & CANDICE MICHELLE vs. JOHNNY NITRO & KENNY & MELINA
Melina tried to attack Candice before the bell, but their teams broke them up. JTG and Kenny started out, and Kenny got JTG to the corner and tagged in Nitro. Nitro landed an elbow drop from the outside and got in a few moves before tagging Kenny back in. Kenny and Nitro set up their corner spot where Kenny draped JTG over his knees for Nitro to land an elbow from over the top rope. Nitro slapped on a rest hold but JTG worked out of it. Nitro tossed JTG to the corner, but he went up to the second rope. He tried to jump at Nitro but got kicked in the gut. He got away and got the tag into Shad. Shad , who cleaned house. The action broke down with everyone coming in, and Candice went after Melina. Shad picked up Candice and tossed her at Melina, and then Shad and JTG hit their finisher on Nitro for the win.
WINNER: Cryme Tyme and Candice in 4:00. Not bad action while it lasted, but it was short.
-Maria was talking to Santino in the back and was gleaming over his belt. Vince came in and said that Santino had a Championship. He had a thumbs up and a big smile on his face, but it turned to a frown. He told him he was going to defend the Title, right now, and sent him to the ring. He taunted him by saying “git, git, git” over and over again. The man is definitely nuts.
[Commercial Break]
2—SANTINO MARELLA vs. CHRIS MASTERS—Intercontinental Title Match
Santino started with some kicks to the leg of Masters. He tossed him to the ropes and tried a drop kick , but Masters held onto the ropes. Masters choked Santino in the second rope for a near fall. Santino tried to get some knees in to Masters, but he got raked in the eyes. Masters tossed Marella into the corner and tossed him down to land a leg drop. Masters wrenched Santino’s neck, very weakly. Santino fought out by flipping Masters over. Marella landed some right hands, and a back hand to Masters. Santino took Masters down for a near fall and came up with a head of steam, but got caught up and tossed to the top rope. Masters tried to get the Master Lock, but Santino slipped out and kicked him in the arm. Santino got Masters rolled up for the pin.
WINNER: Santino Marella in 3:30. Santino’s strongest win yet, but the matches between these two are nothing noteworthy at all.
[Commercial Break]
-The Hardys were talking to each other backstage, and Cade and Murdoch came up to them. They congratulated them, and asked when they were going to get their Title shots. They said they wanted the Hardys when they were 100%. Vince came up, and went into his crazy spiel about them being Champions, and said they were going to defend them tonight. Cade asked who it would be against, and Vince said it might as well be them two. Vince then continued walking and came upon Flair and Torrie. Vince said there’s one thing he can’t stand, and that’s some degenerate hanging out with a woman half his age. Torrie brought up Vince’s wife walking in on them once with his pants around his ankles, and Flair and her had a laugh about it. Vince said tonight, Torrie would take on Carlito. Flair told Vince you win some you lose some. Vince said there is a big difference between Flair and him, that he doesn’t hear his name chanted everywhere he goes, but he always hears “whooo.” He said that makes Flair a legend, and he told Flair he’s a legend. Vince said a legend should take on a legend killer tonight, and he made Flair vs. Orton official for tonight.
[Commercial Break]
-They showed what Orton did to RVD last night at One Night Stand.
3—RANDY ORTON vs. RIC FLAIR
Orton slapped Flair before the bell and Flair started on him with a barrage of chops. Basic action for Flair until Orton caught him with a power slam. Orton stared down Flair and was measuring him up when they went to break.
[Commercial Break]
Flair all of a sudden had Orton in the figure four as they came back from break. Orton tried to get himself to the ropes and he finally was able to. Orton hung Flair up on the top rope but got caught with a chop when he got back in the ring. Orton ducked another chop and hit Flair with a back breaker. Orton stomped on Flair. Orton hit his knee drop on Flair, but came up favoring his knee, selling the figure four. There it is. Well at least he waited until seven minutes in to apply that headlock. Flair fought out of it and hit a chop. He ran to the ropes but got hit with a drop kick from Orton for a near fall. Orton caught Flair with a back body drop for another near fall. He went back to the headlock/sleeper hold. Flair fought out again and hit a back suplex. Flair went for the figure four, but Orton caught him in a rollup for a one count. Orton charged at Flair and hit him with multiple right hands until the ref pulled him off. He had an evil lok on his face as he went back to Flair in the corner. They exchanged blows until Flair caught Orton with a thumb to the eye. He chopped him down for a near fall. He hit a knee drop on the face of Orton. Orton reversed Flair with an Irish whip into the corner and hit a hard clothesline. They once again exchanged blows and Flair hit Orton with a reverse elbow and knocked him to the outside. Flair went outside after him, but Orton caught him with a clothesline on the outside, followed by a suplex on the floor. He rolled Flair back into the ring and went down, measuring Flair for the RKO. Flair got to his knees, and Orton got up and landed the boot to the head that he’s landed on RVD and HBK. Flair struggled to get to his feet, pulling himself up by the top rope. He walked right into Orton who hit him with the RKO for the win. Ross asked legend killer, or career killer? He told the audience to take their pick. Orton was setting up to give Flair another boot to the head, but the ref stopped him and went back to check on Flair as Orton slowly backed up the ramp.
WINNER: Randy Orton in 12:00. Pretty good match. They were limited to exchanging punches and chops for most of the match, but they pulled it off well and it was one of Flair’s better performances in recent memory. Orton is coming off extremely well as a menacing heel right now.
[Commercial Break]
4—CARLITO vs. TORRIE WILSON
Torrie hobbled down with her right leg taped heavily. Carlito told her he didn’t want to hurt her, because she had a bad leg. He told her just to walk out after the bell rang and have it end in a count out. The ref rang the bell and Carlito told her to walk out. She started walking out, but Carlito grabbed her from behind. He took her down once, picked her up, and hit his backstabber for the win.
WINNER: Carlito in :30. Unnecessary, and doesn’t do much to elevate Carlito at all.
-The Hardys were walking backstage.
[Commercial Break]
5—THE HARDYS vs. CADE & MURDOCH—World Tag Team Championship Match
Both Matt and Jeff were selling from last night’s ladder match. Cade and Murdoch offered up hand shakes before the match. Matt’s ribs were taped, as well as his left arm. Cade and Matt started out. The two started out with some decent chain wrestling until Cade hit Matt with an elbow. Matt got a couple of near falls. Cade hit a nice drop kick on Matt for a near fall and then tagged Murdoch in. Murdoch worked on Matt’s arm and then hit a hard back elbow. Matt caught Murdoch with a back drop and then tagged in Jeff. They double teamed Murdoch for a near fall and then Jeff tagged Matt back in. They traded quick tags and hit Murdoch in the corner. They knocked Cade and Murdoch to the outside and Jeff landed a cross body to the outside on Murdoch. Jeff came up holding his knee and limped in to tag in Matt.
[Commercial Break]
Matt had Murdoch in a headlock back from break. They showed a replay of the cross body block from Jeff and it looked like he tweaked his knee pretty bad. Hopefully he’s going to be okay, because they can’t afford too many more injuries. Cade and Murdoch used quick tags to work over Matt. The were working over his ribs mainly. Matt tried a comeback but got hit with a hard spinebuster for a near fall. Cade tagged Murdoch back in and he hit a hard slap across the back off Matt. Matt finally landed a reverse ddt on Murdoch to get out of his predicament. He made the tag to Jeff. Jeff landed a flurry of offense on Cade and Murdoch, walking gingerly on his right leg. Jeff went up top, but got caught by Murdoch. Matt disposed of Murdoch and hit Cade with a side effect. Jeff went for the Swanton, but Cade moved out of the way. Cade pinned Jeff and as Jeff put his foot on the rope, Murdoch tossed it off without the ref seeing it. Matt asked Cade and Murdoch if Jeff’s foot was on the rope, and Murdoch hit him in the gut and they both took out the Hardys with Title belt shots.
WINNER: Cade & Murdoch in 13:00. Very good tag match, and we got the payoff to the sportsmanship angle with the long awaited turn back for Cade and Murdoch. They finally built up a team to be credible enough to pick up this win, and it wasn’t a “clean” victory, so it didn’t hurt the Hardys at all.
-Coach asked Vince backstage if he could get him anything. Vince said he can’t shake it, and it’s coming. Coach wondered what it was. Vince said he’s got an ominous feeling that the black cloud is rolling in, and he can’t get rid of it. He doesn’t know what it is. He said next week he’s going to feel so much better, because it’s the draft. He said next week, in edition to the draft, and then he told Coach to tell everyone what next week is all about. He stared up at the ceiling as Coach left the room.
[Commercial Break]
-Coach came out to the stage. He said next week will be a very special night on Raw, as it will be a 3 hour spectacular where superstars from Raw, ECW, and Smackdown will converge for the WWE Draft. He said in addition to that, next week will be Mr. McMahon appreciation night. Coach just smiled and walked to the back. Ok.
-Khali walked out with his translator.
[Commercial Break]
6—THE GREAT KHALI vs. UMAGA vs. JOHN CENA—WWE Title Match
Cena ran at Khali but got dropped with a clothesline. Khali took Cena to the corner as Umaga went to the outside. Khali landed a big boot shot to John Cena. Khali threw Cena into the ring steps on the outside. Umaga came over and picked up the steel steps and threw them at Cena, who moved. They hit Khali in the hands, but he held his head. Umaga ran at Cena in the corner, but Cena kicked him in the face. Cena ran out after Umaga but got rocked with a clothesline. Cena tried a sunset flip on Umaga, but he fought it and went for a butt slam on Cena, ut he got out of the way. Cena tried to pick up Umaga, but fell backwards for an Umaga near fall. Umaga went for a slam from the second rope, but Cena got his knees up. Cena went up top, but Umaga caught him in mid air and gave him a slam. Khali came back in the ring and stared down Umaga. They got face to chest and Khali raised his arms. Umaga did the same and Khali threw a punch. The exchanged blows, and then Umaga went for a move off the ropes but Khali hit him with a back kick. Cena came back in and tried to get Khali up for the FU but took an elbow to the face. Khali gave John Cena a body slam and hit him with a leg drop. Khali went for the pin, but Cena got his foot on the rope. Umaga tried to get back in, but Khali knocked him to the outside again. Cena got to his feet but took a chop to the head. Khali picked him up and went for the double chokeslam, but Umaga came in and got Khali caught in the ropes. Khali broke free and tried to give Umaga the chokeslam, but Umaga hit him with the spike. Cena then shoulder blocked Umaga out, got Khali up for the FU and got the pin.
WINNER: Cena in 9:00. As good as that match could be. That really wasn’t bad at all, and they played it up really well with Umaga and Khali taking each other out at different times and then Cena overcoming the odds and being opportunistic here. Pretty good match to end the show.
