1/29 WWE Raw: Mallory’s Ongoing Coverage of the Show
By Mallory Mahling
Welcome to tonight's ongoing real time coverage of Raw. You may need to hit "refresh" from time to time to see the latest update. * * *
Jim Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler welcomed viewers to the show.
Are you ready??? Shawn Michaels was ready, and he headed out with purpose in his step. He’d been the second to last man standing last night at the Royal Rumble. He had found a loop hole in something he’d said last week--no “mortal man” would keep him from winning the Rumble. Since The Undertaker is not mortal, technically, what he’d said was true.
It seems ‘Taker will get his choice of which championship he wants for his match at WrestleMania. Therefore, Michaels still saw an opportunity to face Cena at ‘Mania. Cena came out and was about to address that situation, when Edge wandered out to put his two cents in. Edge wanted a shot at Cena at ‘Mania. “You suck,” the crowd told him. “I’ve never been beaten at WrestleMania,” bragged Edge.
Randy Orton’s music hit and he came out to say that he wanted a title shot at WrestleMania, too. The two bickering tag partners argued about which of them was more deserving.
Cena told them to quit their bitchin’ and get down to the ring.
“Whoa,” said Mister McMahon from the TitanTron. Since it was Mister McMahon’s Fan Appreciation Night, he was going to be the one to make the matches tonight, and it would be Edge & Orton vs. Michaels & Cena.
(Commercial break)
Yo, yo, yo. Tyme for Cryme. Apparently Chad and JTG actually have a match tonight.
(1) Cryme Tyme vs. Haas & Benjamin. J.R. said Cryme Tyme was undefeated. (It’s not like they’ve spent that much time in the ring.) Chad got a cheap shot from Benjamin (which the ref managed to miss). Half Boston crab by Benjamin on Chad, but Chad avoiding tapping out and tagged in JTG. Benjamin (with a little help from Haas and a DDT), pinned Chad for the win.
Melina was getting advice from Mister McMahon. Hmmmm…
Jonathan Coachman walked in on them, and said he’d made all the arrangements for tonight. It would be bigger than the Rumble and nearly as big as WrestleMania. McMahon said that what he’s planned would rank him as a great humanitarian and put him in the rarified company of Mother Theresa.
(Commercial break)
Melina said she was going to take McMahon’s advice. She had turned this match into a number one contender’s match for the Women’s Title.
(2) Melina vs. Maria. I don’t know what Melina was expecting, but it probably wasn’t the Maria that came out to the ring. She was on fire and even got a near fall. But a submission hold by Melina had Maria tapping quickly. Melina moves on in her quest for the Women’s Title.
(Commercial break)
Shawn Michaels was walking backstage when he was approached by Todd Grisham. HBK wasn’t too thrilled to see Grish and threatened to superkick him again. Michaels said he’d be walking out tonight as one half of the tag champs; however, John Cena was no Triple H.
In the wardrobe area, Super Crazy set up a “crazy” discussion between Mickie and Melina. Crazy stood behind Mickie and slapped Melina, which resulted in a catfight.
Edge seemed to be setting up something with Murdoch and Cade.
(Commercial break)
(3) Val Venis vs. Umaga. Umaga was in a foul mood, thanks to the way his match with Cena ended last night and took it out on Venis. Nice to see you, Val. Thanks for coming.
As Umaga and his “handler” headed up the ramp, Mister McMahon, Coach, and a bunch of rent-a-cops headed to the ring. Mister McMahon was wearing a cowboy hat. Some people just aren’t hat people.
(Commercial break)
McMahon acknowledged that he looked stupid in the hat. He managed to insult the Texans in the crowd who do look good in cowboy hats. McMahon said it messed up his hair, and he proceeded to stomp his hat flat.
He said tonight he wanted to give back to the “little people.” Uh oh. Does he mean a midget match, by any chance.
“You suck,” the crowd chanted at him.
He said “thank you” to them—thanks for making him a billionaire.
He had a special gift for a volunteer from the audience. He selected a bimbette with cleavage from the crowd (can you say “plant”?) and presented her with a blown up cover of “Muscle & Fitness” magazine with himself on the cover. (From a distance, it looked like a picture of Lex Luger.)
McMahon went on yammering, then Donald Trump appeared on the Trump-a-Tron. Trump mocked McMahon for giving away that cheesy photo of himself. The Donald said fans want value for their money, not cheesy pictures. Trump said he’d arranged for money to fall from the ceiling. It began to fall and while McMahon insisted it was Monopoly money, it was actually real money. McMahon was furious that his formerly good friend had embarrassed him on his own show.
“Donald Trump hasn’t heard the last of this,” snarled McMahon, then he stomped up the ramp in a huff.
(Commercial break)
J.R. and the King said McMahon didn’t like being trumped by Trump. Coach, with a fistful of the cash, chased after McMahon, and gave him the cash, including $10 of his own money. McMahon snatched it out of his hand, got into his limo, and left. (4) Carlito (w/Torrie & Chloe) & Super Crazy vs. Chris Masters & Kenny Dykstra. Impressive tandem suicide dives by Carlito and Crazy onto Masters and Dykstra on the outside. Each team worked well together; looks like they’ve found a couple of good combinations. Backcracker by Carlito on Masters, followed by a pin and a three count.
Grish had found someone else to interview. This time it was Randy Orton, who said winning the tag titles with Edge was one of the greatest moments of his life. Every time Grish asked a tough question about his relationship with Edge, Orton would give him a non-answer.
(Commercial break)
(5) Intercontinental Championship Match: Jeff Hardy vs. Great Khali. Jeff looked like he was reconsidering the match as Khali lumbered out. When the ref held up the IC belt, Khali grabbed it and it looked about the size of a band aid as he held it in his massive hands. Khali pretty much dominated the match. Jeff’s Whisper in the Wind missed by a mile, but Khali sold it like Hardy had cracked his skull. Jeff got tossed out of the ring, and Khali won by count out, which meant belt did not change hands.
Sneak peek at Candice Michelle’s Super Bowl commercial for GoDaddy.com. She teased a wardrobe failure—not likely to happen, thanks to Janet Jackson’s previous Super Bowl antics.
(Commercial break)
Vladimir Koslov, sambo champ and mixed martial artist, was in the audience and when someone stuck a mic in his face, he talked about only eeen Amereeca money fall from ceeling in double-double-eee. Let’s see him put that sambo stuff up against a real practitioner of MMA.
Cena was chatting with Ric Flair backstage. Flair warned Cena that HBK was focused on one thing and then said the words “super kick.” Words to the wise?
(Commercial break)
Tomorrow night, Mister McMahon will make his first ever appearance on ECW. Slumming?
(6) World Tag Team Championship: Randy Orton & Edge vs. John Cena & Shawn Michaels. Cena’s ribs were taped up thanks to Umaga. Good action, with no one holding back. Mid-match Orton bounced Edge off the guardrail, which only added to the tension between the two.
(Commercial break)
Back from commercial and Cena was ready for the five knuckle shuffle, but Orton punched him in his sore ribs. Edge tried hard to pin Cena, then Orton gave it a shot. HBK desperately wanted to tag in. Once he was the legal man, he tuned up for the chin music, but was dropped kicked by Orton, who was not the legal man. What a surprise—Orton breaking the rules. Michaels blocked the RKO and tagged Cena in. A fresh Cena pinned Orton and there were new Tag Champs.
Michaels and Cena were about to have words when the unmistakable bell began to toll. It was The Undertaker, who looked right in the eyes of John Cena. Does that mean ‘Taker has made his decision? Does he have the WWE Championship on his mind for WrestleMania?
Pretty good show, all things considered. After the intensity of the matches last night, the matches tonight were equally intense. And any show that ends with the mysterious Undertaker gets bonus points.
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