RAW Results (7/16): #1 Contender Named, Cena/Lashley Face Off

Event: WWE Monday Night RAW
Airdate: Monday, July 16th, 2007 (USA Network)
Location: The American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas

– From the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Tx.

– Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler welcome us to Raw

– Graphic is shown to promote a John Cena-Bobby Lashley confrontation later

– Triple H’s music hits and the crowd go nuts, but instead of Triple H entering the arena, King Booker and Queen Sharmell do. King Booker cuts a promo on HHH saying that Triple H calls himself the “King of Kings”, Booker says H does not deserve or have the right to call himself a King, Booker says Triple H no longer has the right to call himself a king. Booker then moves on to Jerry Lawler, he asks Jerry “Out of respect” to drop the word King from his title, Lawler says he’s been a King for over 30 years and he doesn’t see why they both can’t co-exist as “Kings”, Booker says that a kingdom cannot be split down the middle and cannot be ruled by 2 kings, Jerry says if it means that much to Booker then even though he can’t control what the fans or J.R. calls him he will stop referring to himself as “King”. Booker thanks Jerry and says that there is just one thing left to do, he then asks Jerry to kiss his royal ring, Jerry refuses and Booker says he’s not asking Jerry, he’s telling him, Jerry responds with “and I’m telling you, I’m not kissing your ring”. Booker then hits Jerry with the microphone, Jerry goes down but manages to get back up and hit Booker a few times before they are broken up by referees.

– To promote the Cena vs. Lashley match, 16 time former World Champion Ric Flair is asked who he thinks will win at the bash, he goes with John Cena.

(1) Fatal-4-Way Elimination Match to be #1 Contender for the Intercontinental Championship at the Great American Bash
Jeff Hardy vs. Shelton Benjamin w/ Charlie Haas vs. Santino Marella vs. William Regal
Hardy gets a huge pop, Regal eliminates Santino, Regal and Shelton team up and work over Hardy, they soon start fighting each other, Regal and Shelton bump heads, Hardy fires back up, hits a Twist of Fate on Regal to eliminate him, down to Hardy and Benjamin, Hardy hits the Whisper in the Wind, takes out Haas, goes for the Swanton on Benjamin but misses, Benjamin gets a 2-count, Hardy counters Benjamin into a roll-up for the victory, it will be Jeff Hardy vs. Umaga at the Bash!

– World Heavyweight Champion Edge is asked who he thinks will win the Cena vs. Lashley match at the Bash, Edge also chooses “the other champ” John Cena.

– Backstage Todd Grisham is interviewing Randy Orton about challenging Cody Rhodes tonight, Randy says he will end his career before it’s even begun, he says if he can take out Shawn Michaels just imagine what he can do to Cody, he tells Cody to bring Dusty to the ring with him so he can see first hand what will happen to him this Sunday

– Also backstage Santino is upset about loosing again, Maria is trying to console him, he asks Maria to spend the night with him, she accepts

– Batista is asked who he feels will win the WWE Championship match at the Bash, The Animal goes with Bobby Lashley

(2) Snitsky vs. Val Venis
Snitsky defeats Val and then attacks him after the match

– Backstage Todd Grisham is talking to Cody Rhodes, he says he understands what respect means, he says Randy will not take out Dusty at the Bash, he then says he plans on making a good impression in his 1st Raw match, Cody and Dusty then hug before leaving.

– In the ring, Jerry Lawler goes over the rules to a Bull Rope match, Lawler puts over Dusty as being “the best” in these matches

(3) Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes w/ Dusty Rhodes
Cody starts off well but Randy soon shuts him down, Randy stares at Dusty every time Cody is down, Dusty tries to cheer Cody on, Cody looks tiny next to Orton, crowd is pretty flat, like they are unsure how to react. Cody fires back, hitting Orton with jabs, Cody connects with a missile dropkick, Orton gets an inverted backbreaker in, hits the RKO and gets the pin. Dusty gets in the ring to check on his son, Orton sets up to kick Cody in the head but Dream stops him and gets in his face, Orton backs off out the ring and up the ramp.

– Former 6-time WWE Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin is asked who he feels will win at the Great American Bash, Austin says they are very evenly matches but due to John Cena’s experience in big match situations, he is going to give the nod to the Champ.

(4) Melina w/ Beth Phoenix vs. Mickie James
Women’s Champion Candice Michelle comes to ringside to be in Mickie’s corner, Mickie takes early control, Beth distracts her to allow Melina (ring-entrance panty slip pics at the link at the bottom of this post) to take the advantage, Mickie hits a hurricanrana and a heal kick, Beth tries to grab Mickie’s leg so she takes Beth out, this allows Melina to hit her DDT-Leg Drop move for the victory

– A graphic is shown stating that Edge will make a major announcement regarding the World Heavyweight Championship this Friday on SmackDown

– Funny segment backstage between Jim Duggan and William Regal, they are talking about Duggan’s 2×4, Regal wants to hold Duggan’s “wood”, Duggan refuses, Regal gets angry and yells “Do you want me to get down on my knees? All I want is to feel your huge wood in my hands!”, Ron Simmons enters and yes, you guessed it, yells “Damn!” at Regal!

– Former 3-time WWE Champion Mick Foley is asked who he feels will win the WWE Title match at the bash, Foley says he can’t see Cena holding the title much longer so he’s going with Bobby Lashley.

– Promo for ECW tomorrow night, CM Punk will face Marcus Cor Von and Johnny Nitro will hold a press conference that will “change the face of ECW”

(5) Carlito vs. The Sandman
nice pop for Sandman, back and forth action until William Regal attacks Sandman for the attack with the cane last week, Regal and Carlito are beating down Sandman until Jim Duggan makes the save

– Former WWE Champion JBL is asked his opinion on the WWE Title match at the Bash, he says he knows both men very well having lost the WWE Title to John Cena and the US Title to Bobby Lashley, JBL goes with John Cena.

(6) Mr. Kennedy vs. Super Crazy
Kennedy is dominant to begin, nearly pinning Crazy multiple times, fans get behind Crazy, Crazy fires up hitting Kennedy with moonsaults, Kennedy hits a reverse-suplex from the top turnbuckle for the victory

– J.R. and King run down the Great American Bash card

– Up next; the John Cena-Bobby Lashley confrontation

The Face-Off – John Cena and Bobby Lashley

There are two little debating stands in the ring. Coach has his own podium up by the stage. Did you know Coach is now a tweener? Whodda thought it, huh? And he’s the GM apparently. And we still don’t know who killed Vince? Anyway, he introduces Lashley who gets a mild pop. John Cena’s reaction is about a thousand times louder. See, that signs says “I love Cena!” What is the purpose of the red carpet in these things? Seriously? Why? Lashley stands around looking stupid and literally throws his toys out of the pram because Cena is getting cheered… into the building?

Coach will asks the questions, they should direct the answers to their opponent. Coach beats around the bush before showing footage of Lashley spearing Cena two weeks ago. Lashley smiles at that. He’s never faced anyone who has the skills Lashley does. Does he feel like his reign will end this Sunday. I’d mark if Cena said ‘yes’ but alas Cena mocks Coach’s question for being unbelievably stupid. He thinks about it for a while. ‘Yes!’ HAHAHAHAHA! He mock-cries about getting speared. It’s hard to talk about. It hurts. He promised himself he wouldn’t cry. God bless America. Cena is the f*cking man. That was the worst question in history. He gets no points, and may someone have mercy on his soul. Cena turns his attention to Lashley and puts him over but he’s stood toe-to-toe with the best, but he’s never backed down. At The Bash, he will get Cena’s best.

Coach asks what message Lashley was trying to send by spearing Cena. This should be good. Lashley doesn’t want to answer questions but if you want someone to hype the match, let the hype man do it. He invites Cena to talk because you know, he can’t talk himself for shit. Lashley is ready to fight. Coach wants to know what they are doing. He runs the show. Maybe he’s not such a tweener after all. Lashley is going to do something he should have done a long time ago. He walks towards the top of the stage to get Coach. Cena tells Lashley his aggression will be his downfall. He shouldn’ be concerned with Coach, he should be concerned about the greatest oppurtunity in his life. Cena punks Lashley out so he starts to walk back down but officials block his path. Lashley walks away leaving Cena on his own.

Cena puts Lashley over again, running through his accolades. It’s been said that Lashley is invinceable. But at The Bash, he will put that to the test. Because THE CHAMP IS HERE! Lashley comes back down and Cena comes to meet him. They go face-to-face on the ramp and Lashley pie-faces Cena who retaliates with a right hand. They are held apart as we go off the air!