The Raw Report (12/04/06): DX and The Hardys vs. Rated-RKO and MNM
Submitted by Chad Matthews on Monday, December 4, 2006 at 11:09 PM EST





(CMV1 note- I’m sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but my motivation to do this is waning. After 3 below average PPVs, I’m beginning to get a little frustrated with the product. Now, I hear that Paul Heyman is on his way out, leaving me little hope for the already downward spiraling ECW brand. I paid 40 bucks to see that shit PPV last night…I’ve spent 120 in the last month on three PPVs that I thought were not worth the price tag. I simply ask you to bear with me, and if I get too down on the product, let me know so I can either get over it or resign my position)



The Raw Report (12/04/06)

The show opened with WWE Champion John Cena coming to the ring and delivering a message: sometimes you aren’t the strongest in the fight or the biggest in the fight, but since he accepted Umaga’s challenge last week, people have been calling him crazy. He said that he accepted the challenge of a man who has destroyed everything in his path. When he accepted that challenge, Umaga said something under his breath. Cena proceeded to mock Umaga’s lack of talk and bad mouth Armando for talking too much. He asked if Umaga was a man or a puppet. Cena said he was ready to fight right now, and if Umaga is truly the Samoan Bulldozer, then he will accept the challenge to fight right now. At that point, Melina showed up w/ a microphone. Cena said that Umaga looked a lot different tonight. Melina gave a sarcastic laugh, and reminded Cena that he would be facing K-Fed on the New Year’s episode of Raw. She said that Nitro was training K-Fed for the big match. Cena said that the K-Fed was the reason to practice safe sex. Melina said that Nitro was teaching Federline how to take all the stress in his life and use it to beat Cena. Cena mocked her statements and insinuated that it was Melina who taught Britney Spears how to prance around the night clubs w/ no panties and act like a slut. The champ’s comments prompted a slap by Melina. Cena hoisted her up in FU position in retaliation, but Chris Masters showed up before Cena could deliver his finisher. Cena quickly dispersed of Masters. The Coach then showed up and said that he sent Masters out to teach him a lesson. Cena laughed and said that Coach sucked as bad at getting revenge as he did at running Raw. Coach alerted Cena to the fact that he’d face Umaga at New Year’s Revolution. Tonight, though, Coach was putting Cena in the Masterlock Challenge. Cena asked Coach if he could hear the sound of a million people not giving a crap about his un-entertaining television. He said that we were in the same town that the WWE fired Eric Bischoff…and that at least Bischoff was controversial and entertaining. Cena insinuated that Coach’s most entertaining trait was his ability to sing “I’m Too Sexy” in the mirror of the bathroom when no one was watching. Unfortunately for Coach, Cena got some footage of him doing just that in the bathroom backstage. Coach decided to spice things up a bit, and put Cena’s title on the line in the Masterlock challenge. Cena didn’t seem to thrilled about that…(CMV1 note- effective opening segment that gave the night some direction. Obviously, it still isn’t that entertaining to have Cena put his title on the line in a pretty stale segment)

Backstage, World Tag Champs Rated-RKO welcomed Kenny to their dressing room. Kenny suggested that he join them as a new member of Rated-RKO. He said he has the brightest future of anyone on Raw. Edge and Orton asked what made him worthy of being in their group. Edge said that if Kenny wants to join them, he will need to prove himself.


Match 1: The Highlanders vs. Cade and Murdoch
-(CMV1 note- Lillian Garcia said that Roddy Piper was recovering from surgery and that the WWE had dedicated this match to the one and only…Rowdy Roddy Piper). Rory tried to get a “Hot Rod” chant going as the opening bell sounded. Cade and Murdoch did a Pearl Harbor job on the Highlanders, but Robby came back with a missile dropkick from the top rope on Murdoch. The Highlanders proceeded to clear the ring. They threw Murdoch back in the ring. Cade distracted the ref and gave Rory a cheap shot. The cowboys went on to connect with an inverted atomic drop-clothesline combination. A double back elbow followed for Cade and Murdoch. Murdoch slammed Rory and went to the second rope. He came flying off with a double axe handle, but Rory got his boot up and clocked him in the jaw. Robby got the tag and eventually got the pin with a roll-up. The Highlanders won at 3:35. (CMV1 rating- ½ *) (CMV1 note- standard stuff from these two teams…too short to amount to anything)

Don’t forget about K-Fed vs. Cena on New Year’s…


Match 2: Maria vs. Victoria
-(CMV1 note- Victoria brought a checklist to the ring with her, w/ the names of the face Divas on it…Candice has already been checked). Victoria defeated Maria. (CMV1 rating- ¼ *). Mickie tried to tend to Maria after the match, but Victoria gave her the Widow’s Peak and eyed the title belt. (CMV1 note- effective way of hyping the women’s title feud)

The WWE recently sent Cryme Tyme to do some PR work at a retirement home. They scared the poor old people with their versions of some of the traditional Christmas Carols. They took some of their jewelry and tried to take one of the old ladies…

Backstage, Todd Grisham, Super Crazy, and Jim Duggan were laughing at the preceding skit, but Shelton Benjamin didn’t think it was so funny to reinforce stereotypes. He said that Cryme Tyme was setting back race-relations 20 years. Crazy just kept saying, “Si.” Shelton challenged him to a match…Crazy accepted…


Match 3: Shelton Benjamin vs. Super Crazy
-(CMV1 note- Shelton cut a pre-match promo about being disappointed with all the stereotypes being thrown around). Shelton used a knee lift to gain early control. He continued to build momentum with a hard right hand and a choke hold, but Crazy caught him by surprise with a flying body press off the second rope and a head scissor. Shelton came back with a pressing kick and a stalling back body drop. He taunted the former member of the Mexicools and set him up for the Stinger splash. Shelton missed, though, allowing Crazy to go for a moonsault off the top rope. Crazy missed and Shelton got the win with the T-Bone suplex. Benjamin defeated Crazy at 1:46. After the match, Charlie Haas came to the ring and celebrated with Shelton. Benjamin looked surprised…(CMV1 rating- ½ *) (CMV1 note- fun while it lasted, but the big news was that we may be in for a World’s Greatest Tag Team reunion!!! Yes!).


Masterlock Challenge for the WWE Championship…JR and King hyped that the Masterlock has never been broken, not even by John Cena. Masters was all smiles before the challenge began. Cena sat down in the chair after a bit of stalling and preparation. The crowd chanted “Cena.” After initially sitting down, Cena got back up as Masters was attempting to apply the hold. The crowd again chanted “Cena.” Cena sat back down and Masters locked on the hold. The Masterpiece picked Cena up and tossed him around like a rag doll. Cena tried to elbow his way out of the submission, but began to fade away. Masters got pumped up as he thought he was going to win the title, but Cena got a second wind and used the crowd chanting his name as motivation to back Masters into the corner. Cena eventually ran into the referee. Masters tried to take Cena down with clubbing blows and reapply the hold, but the champ countered and put the Masterlock on Chris. Masters tapped out, but Cena didn’t have long to celebrate, as Umaga came to the ring and started a brawl. Cena and Umaga brawled in the ring until a swarm of security came out. Armando got a cheap shot in, allowing Umaga to break free and knock Cena out of the ring. Umaga attacked Cena all around the ringside area, but the champ came back and dove off the announce table into a pile that included Umaga and a bunch of security guys. They brawled back into the ring, but again were separated by security. They again broke free and continued their brawl. Armando urged Umaga to leave and finally got him to go the back. Cena was still being restrained, as the segment ended…(CMV1 note- decent segment, but nothing that really makes me get excited to see them wrestle. The booking was simple and effective, though…a recurring theme tonight)

Backstage, Viscera approached Torrie Wilson about her relationship w/ Carlito. Viscera said she should drop Carlito and get with him. CCC came into the picture and told Viscera he needed to eat more apples and healthy food. Carlito spit the apple in his face. Ron Simmons showed up and gave us a “Damn!”

Further backstage, Todd Grisham interviewed DX. He asked how Ric Flair was doing. HBK said you can’t hold down Ric Flair and that the Nature Boy was back. He clapped for Rated-RKO and said that they knew that Flair had been their idle growing up in this business and they knew he’d become their close friend in the last 5 years. He said that they did to Flair what they could never do to them, but not even that compared to what they would suffer at the hands of Degeneration X. Trips just stood in the background and looked pissed. (CMV1 note- good promo from HBK…it’d be nice if Trips cut a promo at some point about he and Ric putting their differences aside in the last year)

WWE 24/7’s moment in wrestling history was the one-night, 4-man tournament b/t Angle, Austin, Jericho, and the Rock to determine the first-ever Undisputed Champion, merging the WCW and WWE championships.


Match 4: Carlito (w/ Torrie) vs. Viscera
-Viscera thwarted Carlito’s early offense by throwing him across the ring and backing him into the corner for a series of slaps to the chest. He threw CCC to the other side of the ring and choked him in the opposite corner. Carlito got in his left-handed shots, but Viscera came back with a clothesline. CCC came right back with body blows, but Viscera surprised him with a spinning wheel kick. He then walked on Carlito’s back with all 500 pounds of his weight. Viscera then swatted Carlito’s attempt at a springboard cross body block and tried to follow with a jumping elbow drop. However, Carlito moved out of the way and came back with a series of blows to Big Viscera’s knee. Viscera came back with a Black Hole Slam and tried to splatter Carlito with a jumping body drop. Torrie grabbed his foot, though. Carlito used a missile dropkick from the top rope to regain the advantage. The finish came when CCC used a springboard rolling Senton and Lionsault (consecutively) to pick up the win. Carlito won at 3:20. (CMV1 rating- ½ *) (CMV1 note-)

Backstage, Armando informed Cena that he could not touch Umaga for the rest of the year (as per the Coach’s orders). Cena grabbed Armando and, as Coach walked in, insinuated that Estrada had been spewing lines about being the one who should really be running Raw. Coach, naturally, overheard and made Cena vs. Armando for next week…

Val Venis was running the Kiss-Cam and said that a lucky couple would get to come in the ring and make out. He tried to get two girls at ringside to come in the ring, but they wouldn’t do it. They finally agreed after Venis twisted their arm, so to speak. After Venis got them in the ring, they pop kissed. Venis then goaded them into making out and rolling around in the ring. At that point, Eugene came running to the ring. He grabbed the mic and said he wanted a kiss. The girls wouldn’t kiss him, despite him reminding them how special he was. He tried to force one of them to kiss him, but Venis pulled him away. Eugene then attacked Venis and screamed that he was special. He gave Val a DDT. (CMV1 note- drop the Eugene gimmick for Christ’s sake, and let this guy be Mr. Wrestling Nick Dinsmore. Oh, that’s right…we can’t have a character that just wrestles...that wouldn’t be sports entertainment enough)


Match 5: The Hardys and Degeneration X vs. World Tag Champs Rated-RKO and MNM
-All parties brawled in the ring as the bell tolled. The faces cleared the ring of the heels and went after them on the outside. HHH slammed Randy’s face on the announce table repeatedly. Back in the ring, HHH continued his roll and gave Orton repeated shots with his boot. He then choked the Legend Killer in the corner. HBK put his feet up, and HHH rammed Orton’s face into them. HBK then tagged in and hit a swinging neck breaker. A knife edge chop followed for Michaels, who then tagged HHH back into the match. Trips beat the hell out of Orton and taunted Edge. Orton managed to scamper away and tag Mercury, but Joey got a clothesline for his trouble. Matt tagged Trips and caught Mercury with a back elbow smash, a body slam, and a leg drop. Jeff tagged in and hit a slingshot dropkick over the top rope. He followed with a low dropkick to the back of the head and made a unique cover. Nitro tried to get involved, but the Hardys caught him and Mercury in the corner with Poetry in Motion. The crowd chanted “Edge Sucks” and “Randy Sucks” to HBK’s delight. We then got a dreaded mid-match commercial break, but I guess that was to be expected. Back from the break, Jeff had Nitro mounted in the corner for several punches. After 10 of them, Jeff tried to follow with a swinging double boot, but Nitro got his feet up. Mercury tagged in and took control of Jeff. Orton tagged in and continued to build momentum for the heels. Nitro tagged in, as the crowd again chanted “Edge sucks.” MNM proceeded to hit a double rope guillotine and a double gutbuster on Jeff. Nitro went on to hit a spinning leg drop and tag Edge, who hammered away at and taunted Hardy. Edge synched on a rear chinlock. Jeff made it to his feet, but Edge brought him back to the mat with a dropkick. Orton tagged in and dropped his knee on Jeff’s sternum. Rated-RKO then hit a nice side walk slam and reverse DDT combination. Matt made the save to avoid the heels getting the pin, but Orton went right back to stomping away at Jeff. Randy leaped up and connected with a knee drop before locking on a rear chokehold. MNM then tried to hit some tandem offense, but Jeff countered with a Whisper in the Wind. Matt finally got the tag and hit a bulldog and clothesline combo on MNM. DX came in to thwart Rated-RKO’s interference. Matt and Jeff proceeded to hit simultaneous planchas on the MNM members. As Triple H cleaned house in the ring, Kenny hit HBK with a chair on the outside. Meanwhile, the Hardys tried to finish off MNM with a Twist of Fate-Swanton Bomb combination. However, Nitro hopped up and pushed Jeff out of the ring. Edge then connected with a Spear on Matt Hardy to pick up the win. Rated-RKO and MNM defeated DX and the Hardys at 13:55. (CMV1 rating- ** ¾). After the match, the tag champs and their teammates scattered, as DX brought Kenny into the ring and gave him a Sweet Chin Music-Pedigree combination. (CMV1 note- good TV main-event and better than 65% of the entire ECW PPV)



All in all…Tonight needed to be great to bring my spirits back up after last night. Accomplish that it did not. However, it was still an okay episode of Raw. The main-event was good, and the stuff surrounding Cena-Umaga was, as I said earlier, simple but effective booking. The rest of the night, other than the TWGTT mark out moment, was forgettable…but considering that the majority of the show was based around the two top storylines, I didn’t have too big of problem with the show as a whole. I could still do without Eugene’s lame gimmick, Cryme Tyme’s asinine skits, or the misuse of Carlito. I think tonight can best summed up as a show that went thru the motions until the main-event, which was a nice 8-man tag bout. I can dig Kenny’s role of suck-up heel, too. At just 20 years old, it suits him…Okay, as for a rating for the night, I’m going to sit on the fence and give it a 5/10…





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