The Raw Report (09/25/06): John Cena vs. Lita; DX wrestles a Gauntlet Match
Submitted by Chad Matthews on Monday, September 25, 2006 at 11:05 PM EST





The Raw Report (09/25/06)

Right before Raw came on, the advertiser recommended we not miss the first ten-minutes…

The show opened with JR and King welcoming us to the show, while the lights in the arena weren’t working quite right. They mentioned that DX would face three teams, none of which were announce yet, in a gauntlet match tonight on Raw. The “lights-out” lasted for quite awhile…


Match 1: Candice Michelle vs. Lita
-(CMV1 note- this was the first match of the Women’s championship tournament). As Lita made her way to the ring, the lights were still off in the arena. A spotlight was placed on the middle of the ring, but it didn’t provide for much light. Lita cut a pre-match promo to try and waste time. She introduced a special guest referee to skew things in her favor…Edge. Edge checked Michelle very thoroughly before the match began. He gave Lita an even further groping. Soon after the bell sounded, Edge speared Candice. Lita defeated Candice. (CMV1 rating- n/a). After the match, Cena attacked Edge and scared him out of the ring. (CMV1 note- I can’t ever recall watching a Raw when the power went off)

As we got back from a commercial break, John Cena was in a much more well lit-up ring, essentially calling Edge a cop out for not facing him last week or wanting to fight him this week. He said Edge was the reason the power went out, prompting Edge to come back out and mock Cena for probably thinking he made the power come back on. Cena asked him for a match tonight, but Edge denied it. The Rated-R Superstar said he made his rematch on his terms and instead of wrestling tonight he was going to celebrate with his successful girlfriend. Cena said Edge wasn’t going to be celebrating a special g/f, as Lita had what he liked to call a “not so good” defense…meaning she let a lot of balls into her end zone. The insults continued until Lita told him to screw her. Cena said he didn’t have ten bucks. Ha! Lita said she was a human-being with feelings, and that just because Cena and everyone else wants her, it doesn’t give anyone the right to make jokes about her. She called Cena the joke and said that Edge was the better wrestler…she said she was a better wrestler. Cena said he’d just figured out that she wore the pants in her and Edge’s relationship. He said she had herpes and couldn’t outwrestle him if he had an arm tied behind his back. Thus, tonight, Lita would wrestle Cena with one-arm tied behind his back. (CMV1 note- a fun promo segment, but the end result being Lita vs. Cena doesn’t exactly excite me. It’s been done before and I’ve never personally enjoyed it)

JR and King introduced the WWE’s recent trip to Mexico…


Match 2: Intercontinental Champion Johnny Nitro (w/ Melina) vs. Kane
-(CMV1 note- title was on the line). Kane interrupted Nitro’s entrance and tossed Johnny out of the ring. With his coat still on, Nitro got pounded and side walked slammed, as Kane got his offense going early. Melina tried to get involved, allowing Nitro to hit a chop block on Kane. Meanwhile, JR let us know that Umaga was banned from ringside. Kane came back and tossed Johnny out of the ring. Nitro immediately got up and tried a high risk off the top rope, but Kane caught him with a big boot. The Big Red Machine tried to capitalize, but Umaga came into the ring and smacked him on the back with a chair. The assault continued until Umaga decided to use the ring steps and the announce table in a vicious combination. He didn’t end up using the announce table, but he did clock Kane over the head with the ring steps. Kane defeated Nitro via DQ at 1:23. (CMV1 rating- ¼ *). (CMV1 note- the big men’s feud continues and it’s still got me fairly entertained. I’d have liked to have seen Nitro work with Kane for a bit longer, though, as it would’ve been a good test for the youngster)

Backstage, HBK was reading an article on Triple H. HBK called it riveting, but wondered why there was no DX merchandise in the magazine. Trips plugged it on wweshop.com. Maria showed up, said hi, and asked them about the gauntlet match. Trips said it was obvious that Vince still had a problem with DX…but just like the McMahons, Big Show, and Edge had all learned recently, the three teams would learn that if they had a problem w/ DX, HBK and Trips had two words for them. Maria didn’t get that, so Trips tried to show her a visual aide. HBK intervened and they left. Eugene showed up and Maria whispered to him what DX had told her. Eugene fainted…

WWE 24/7’s moment in wrestling history was Andre the Giant vs. Gorilla Monsoon faced each other a boxing match back in 1977.

Backstage, Coach caught up with Shelton Benjamin. He wanted to talk about how Shelton had said he’d being overlooked because he was black. Shelton re-iterated the point, but Coach said he’d never capitalized on the opportunities given to him. Coach said VKM’s hero was MLK. SB actually did pretty good job acting the part of the angry black man, but then Jeff Hardy showed up and mocked the two black men w/ stereotypical rhetoric. Coach made Shelton vs. Hardy for tonight. Hardy and Benjamin left, but Edge and Lita showed up to annoy Coach. Thus, Coach decided to spice up the Lita vs. Cena match by making it no holds barred, but keeping Edge out of the match by not allowing him to touch the WWE Champion. Furthermore, if Edge does touch Cena, then he loses his rematch clause.

John Cena will be on SD this Friday…


Match 3: Ric Flair vs. Mikey (w/ the Spirit Squad)
-(CMV1 note- don’t forget that Flair beat Johnny w/ a roll-up last week). Mikey grabbed a headlock to start the match, but Flair came back with a hip toss. Mikey used a thumb to the eye to regain control. He proceeded to wail away on Flair in the corner, as his buddies cheered him on. Flair came back with knife edge chops, but Mikey drilled him with a dropkick to keep Flair’s extended offense from getting going. After some simplistic offense, Mikey nailed Flair w/ an elbow drop from the second rope. Mike then slapped the Nature Boy across the face until Flair came back with punches and chops. The two traded blows eventually, with Mikey regaining control with a back elbow smash. He tried to follow with a double axe handle from the second rope, but Flair again came back with knife edge chops. Flair followed with a running knee drop and a chop block to wear him down for the Figure Four. Nicky tried to get involved, but ended up getting thrown onto his fellow Squad members on the outside. The finish came when Flair pinned Mikey w/ a roll-up at 3:38. (CMV1 rating- ¾ *) (CMV1 note- not all that exciting, but decent enough basic action).


Match 4: Degeneration X in a Three Team Gauntlet Match
-During the DX entrance, HBK introduced the highlights of Unforgiven’s HIAC match, where Vince had his head shoved into Big Show’s back side and Shane got his throat crushed. The first team that they had to face was the Highlanders. The Scots tried to make friends w/ DX before the match. Trips showed Robby to his corner, while HBK drilled Rory with Sweet Chin Music. HBK got the pin and Trips hit the Pedigree on Robby. Viscera and Charlie Haas were the second team. Haas and Trips started it off against each other, Haas hitting a knee lift to score first strike points. Charlie hammered away, but Trips came back with a clothesline. HBK got the tag after a quick double team, but Haas used shoulder thrusts to get the heels back in control. Shawn answered quickly with knife edge chops. Haas caught HBK with a thumb to the eye and tagged Viscera, who came in and hit a black hole slam. Viscera taunted the crowd and Trips before returning his attention to HBK with a hard right hand. The crowd got behind the Heartbreak Kid, as we got a dreaded mid-match commercial break. Back from the break, Haas had HBK in a surfboard stretch. During the break, Viscera and Haas had hit a drop toehold and leg drop combo. HBK tried to fight back, but Haas threw him down by the hair. Haas used his tag team background to keep the faces reeling. HBK eventually reversed a second double team attempt from Haas and Viscera and got the hot tag to HHH. Trips came in and went wild on the heels. DX hit a double clothesline on Viscera. Triple H and HBK then pinned Haas after Viscera got drilled w/ SCM and fell on top of his partner. Cade and Murdoch were the final team. They attacked immediately upon hitting the ring. DX got the better of the brawl. HBK and Cade started off the official last part of the gauntlet, w/ Lance getting the better of the exchange thanks to a high knee from Murdoch. A brawl eventually broke out on the outside, w/ HBK getting thrown head-first into the ring post. Cade and Murdoch proceeded to toss HHH into the steel steps. Back in the ring, Trips clocked Cade with a steel chair after the heels to use a chair on HBK. The ref called for the DQ at 10:22. (CMV1 rating- * ½) (CMV1 note- reasonably entertaining, but didn’t really further anything. It was more of just a ploy to coast thru the week)

Toby Keith was in the crowd tonight…

Another vignette aired for Cryme Tyme, this time with the new tag team robbing a white kid who just got money from an ATM. That was how they trained for intensity…

Match 5: Jeff Hardy vs. Shelton Benjamin
-A lock-up to start, w/ Shelton grabbing a quick headlock. He followed with a shoulder block and the two returned to their corners. Shelton grabbed another headlock and again hit a shoulder tackle. Hardy hit two armdrag takedowns to take control and followed with a running One and Only. Shelton then tried to flip Hardy over the top rope, but Jeff landed on the apron. Benjamin prevented any high risk offense, though, and knocked Hardy to the guardrail. Back in the ring, Shelton slammed Hardy to the mat and choked him with his boot tip. He locked in a rear chin lock, but Hardy hit his unique jawbreaker to regain some momentum. Hardy continued his roll with typical comeback moves and the Whisper in the Wind. He went to the top rope, but Shelton leaped up in a single bound to meet him and tried to suplex him off. Hardy knocked him back to the mat and hit the Swanton Bomb. He got the cover, but Shelton got his foot on the rope. Hardy tried to keep the momentum going with the Twist of Fate, but Shelton held onto the top rope during the attempt. The finish came when Hardy defeated Shelton w/ an inside cradle at 4:40. (CMV1 rating- * ½) (CMV1 note- Fun, rapid paced match-up, but the near falls and sequences were predictable. The match was also way too short!)

John Cena’s co-star in “The Marine” thinks he’s a great kisser…


Match 6: Randy Orton and Chris Masters vs. Super Crazy and Carlito
-Carlito and Masters renewed their old rivalry to start the match. CCC scored his offense first w/ a few chops. Masters retaliated, but Carlito scored with a dropkick. Crazy tagged in and hit a double axe handle from the second rope on Masters’s arm. He followed with a missile dropkick off the top rope. Crazy tried to mount Masters for punches in the corner, but Masters scored a near fall with a powerbomb. Orton came in and synched in a rear choke hold. The crowd chanted against Orton, fueling a short Crazy comeback that led to Carlito tagging in and catching the also-tagged Masters with a springboard back elbow, a knee lift, and a clothesline. CCC hit a one-armed flapjack on Orton, which Crazy eventually followed with a top rope moonsault. However, Crazy’s moonsault missed and the heels were given new life. Carlito ended what little life they had left when he pinned Masters following the Back Cracker. Carlito and Crazy beat Orton and Masters at 4:24. (CMV1 rating- * ½) (CMV1 note- entertaining action, but once again way too short). After the match, Orton hit the RKO on Carlito.

Prior to the main-event, Coach introduced former Raw GM Eric Bischoff. Bischoff and Coach shook hands. Eric took the mic and thanked Coach for giving him the time to be on Raw tonight. He said that before VKM fired him, he signed a book deal w/ the WWE. The book, called “Controversy Creates Cash,” Bischoff tells the truth about a lot of things that will likely piss of Mr. McMahon. He said there would’ve been no DX w/o the NWO and that Raw would not be where it was today w/o him and Nitro. Coach’s music cut off the Bischoff tirade…

A promo aired for the Raw Family Reunion, a three-hour Raw in two weeks…


Match 7: Lita (w/ Edge) vs. WWE Champion John Cena
-(CMV1 note- recall that Edge can’t interfere and that Cena has an arm tied behind his back). Lita scored a low blow and slapped the champ in the face. He blocked her offensive attempts that followed and pinned her with the FU. Cena beat Lita in 52-seconds. (CMV1 rating- n/a). After the match, Regal, Finlay, and World Champion King Booker attacked Cena and beat the hell out of him. They pounded on Cena’s arms and ribs. Booker cut a brief promo about Cena coming to the SD Kingdom and disrupting the King’s show. He wanted Cena to kiss his foot, but the champ tried to fight his way out of it. The assault continued until Cena finally kissed Booker’s boot. (CMV1 note- well, you know that Raw has nothing going on when the main-event of the show comes across as little more than a plug for the main-event of this week’s SD). After Book and his Court left, Edge announced that he'd invoke his rematch clause next week on Raw in a Steel Cage Match.




All in all…Well, I really didn’t think much of Raw tonight. It seems they are in total coasting mode with no PPV to build toward in the immediate future. The only surprise of the night was the brief appearance by Eric Bischoff and his small tease of a potential NWO vs. DX feud that’s been rumored around the net for months. The wrestling on tonight’s show was lacking in quality…The promos were average…and the main-event just simply wasn’t the kind of thing I enjoy watching…to top it off, the main-event segment dragged quite a bit…Thus, I’m giving tonight’s Raw a disappointing 4.5/10 and calling it a night…On the bright side, next week's show should be good...





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