The Raw Report (03/19/07): Wrestlemania Reversal
Submitted by Chad Matthews on Monday, March 19, 2007 at 8:27 PM EST





The Raw Report (03/19/07)

The show opened with HBK coming to the ring for his match against JBL. JBL made his classic long horned-limo entrance for the first time in about 10 months, but wasn’t wearing his wrestling gear. He said that he flew from NYC in his 8K suit b/c he was told he had a match. The crowd was all over him. JBL said that nobody tells him what to do and that if he comes out of retirement, it’ll be on his own terms. He said that a match b/t himself and HBK was a dream match, but it wasn’t going to happen. JBL went on to question HBK’s ego, citing how he had yet to turn on Cena. Thus, JBL said that Cena was going to kick HBK’s ass at Mania. He then hyped HBK’s ability to play mind games with the best of them, and said that the reason he hadn’t “taken the shot” on Cena yet is because he knew that he can’t beat the champ. He said that HBK hasn’t tried because he’s scared that the fans won’t cheer him anymore and/or that it’ll conflict with his newfound decency, religion, etc. HBK took the mic and said that he came to Indiana to fight, but if JBL wanted to do a verbal joust, then that was fine. Michaels said that perhaps not playing mind games was the best mind game of all. He said that he can and will beat Cena at Mania 23. HBK continued by saying that, like JBL, no one tells him what to do…and no one is going to tell him when to deliver Sweet Chin Music. He then blasted JBL with a superkick out of nowhere! (CMV1 note- very good opening segment that breathed some extra life into the HBK-Cena feud. JBL getting back in the ring every now and then would be great, and it’d be nice to see it happen against HBK. That would be one hell of a feud)


JR and King showed the “Tale of the tape” for the Battle of the Billionaires…


Backstage, Randy Orton verbally berated Edge for playing games with him and leaving him high and dry last week. Edge defended himself, but Orton dropped a bomb shell on him. Tonight, Edge has to defend his MITB spot in a battle royal. Edge was quite pissed off…


Chris Masters geared up for the Masterlock Challenge against Bobby Lashley. JR and King hyped that the hold had not been broken in the two years since Masters debuted. The ECW Champ made his way to the ring. A small “Bobby” chant broke out, as Masters struggled to apply his hold. Masters slapped him in the back of the head, so Lashley got up and slapped Chris in the face. Once the hold was applied, Masters brought Lashley to his knees. Lashley fought back to his feet, but became very sluggish. The ECW Champ eventually did break the hold, though…and that’s it for the Masterlock challenge…


Don’t forget Ashley is in Playboy…


Backstage, Vince McMahon, Coach, and a large group of security guards waited for Lashley. McMahon had Lashley escorted out of the building. Vince and Coach then said hello to Maria. Eugene walked up and accidentally spilled fluid on Vince. McMahon put him in a match against Umaga…Ron Simmons showed up for a “Damn!”


JR and King offered their condolences for and presented a tribute for Hall of Famer, former wrestler, and former manager of some of the all-time greats, Arnold Skaaland…


Match 1: Last Chance Battle Royal- Ric Flair vs. Viscera vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Kenny Dykstra vs. Charlie Haas vs. Super Crazy vs. Val Venis vs. Carlito vs. Edge
-(CMV1 note- winner gets the last spot in MITB). Edge stayed out of the way, as everyone else went after Viscera. Viscera tried to fight his way out of the predicament, but they dumped him out. Edge focused on Venis, Crazy and Carlito hooked it up, Haas and Nitro struggled, and Flair wandered around. The Rated-R Superstar then appeared to injure his knee. He rolled out of the ring and was checked out by officials. Nitro, meanwhile, nearly got eliminated. Flair helped out Carlito, who was struggling against Haas. Venis tried to eliminate Kenny. Crazy then tried an Eddie Guerrero-type head scissor-arm drag combination on TWGTT, but Haas and Benjamin caught him and tossed him over the top rope. We then got a dreaded mid-match commercial break, but that was to be expected. Back from the break, we found out that Venis and Haas had been eliminated by Nitro and Carlito, respectively. Meanwhile, Edge was still down on the outside. Shelton backdropped Flair and Nitro decked Kenny with a clothesline. Carlito ended up on the apron, but avoided elimination. He climbed to the top rope, where Shelton leaped in a single bound to meet him. Flair aided his buddy and tossed Shelton off the top to the outside. The final four were CCC, Flair, Nitro, and Edge after Flair tossed out Kenny. Carlito went on to eliminate Nitro, leaving just him and the Nature Boy. CCC nearly had Flair eliminated, but Naitch came back with a long series of chops. Carlito came back with a springboard back elbow and clotheslined him over the top. Flair landed on the apron, though, and used a thumb to the eye to regain control. However, Carlito used a head scissor to try and eliminate Flair. Unfortunately for Carlito…it didn’t work. Flair back dropped him over the top and won. Well, at least he thought he won until Edge showed up and tossed him over the top. Edge retained his spot in MITB at 11:07. (CMV1 rating- **) (CMV1 note- entertaining while it lasted, but nothing special)


Vince McMahon came out and had his security take the barber shop to the ringside area…


Match 2: Intercontinental Champion Umaga (w/ Armando) vs. Eugene
-(CMV1 note- God, I hate the Eugene character). Umaga knocked Eugene off the apron and slammed him into the steel steps. He splashed him with a modified Banzai drop and followed with a running rear splash. After the Samoan Spike, the match was over. Umaga defeated Eugene at 1:45. After the match, they strapped Eugene into the barber’s chair. Vince taunted Eugene as if he were Donald Trump. Umaga choked Eugene and Vince hacked off his hair. (CMV1 rating- Ľ *). (CMV1 note- not much to it…Mania needs to hurry up and get here because this feud is on fumes)


Candice Michelle said that she was reading Melina’s blog and noticed that the Women’s Champ had been bashing Playboy cover girls. Melina came out and bashed Candice for her lack of talent at doing anything other than taking her clothes off. She said that none of the Playboy models have any in-ring talent. Candice insinuated that Melina was a whore and challenged her to a non-title bra-and-panties match…


Match 3: Bra and Panties match- Candice vs. Melina
-The match got underway during a commercial break. Back from the break, Melina was in full control. She put Candice’s head b/t her legs and rolled her over. Candice blocked her attempt at stripping her pants off, though. The former Playboy cover girl used her hangmen’s head scissor to aid her in taking off Melina’s skirt. Melina came back and took off Candice’s top. She used a head scissor to set-up an attempt to rip Candice’s shorts off. They ended up rolling around in 69 position. Melina got the win soon after following a bulldog. Melina defeated Candice at 5:25. After the match, Ashley came to the ring and ripped Melina’s top off. (CMV1 rating- ˝ *) (CMV1 note- good, quick TV angle for the ladies. Candice is the one they should try and build the revamped division around if it’s not going to be Mickie or Victoria. Ashley is not the least bit over. She came out to zero reaction).


The Great Khali came to the ring after the ladies scuffle. Melina took advantage and beat up Ashley, leaving her prone for a Khali attack. Khali grabbed her by the throat, but the King came to her rescue. Lawler ended up getting chokeslammed. (CMV1 note- speaking of not being over, Khali got zero reaction, as well)


More celebrities gave their thoughts on the Vince-Trump angle…


Match 4: Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy
-(CMV1 note- Todd Grisham joined the commentary booth). They locked up to start, with Orton backing Jeff into the corner. He went for a hard right hand, but Jeff countered into an arm drag. Hardy used several more armdrags to wear Orton down. Orton came back with his patented backbreaker. Randy stomped away at every part of Hardy’s body. Orton then applied a Boston Crab. Hardy struggled, but eventually made it to the ropes. Orton continued to work over Hardy’s back, but Jeff came back with a running One and Only. Jeff scored with a pair of clotheslines and a spinning mule kick before connecting with the Whisper in the Wind. Edge came to the ring at that point and brought a ladder out from under the ring. He pushed the ladder in the ring. Orton used the ladder and got disqualified, and then taunted Edge to get into the ring and fight him. Hardy took the opportunity to drop Orton with the Twist of Fate, set up the ladder, and give Randy a leg drop from the top of the ladder. Hardy defeated Orton via DQ at 3:33. (CMV1 rating- *) (CMV1 note- solid stuff while it lasted)


They showed a preview of Steve Austin’s movie, “The Condemned.” (CMV1 note- I think the concept of the movie is pretty cool. A bunch of cons get put on an island to kill each other for the most extreme form of reality TV…that’s interesting)


JR and Todd ran down the Mania 23 card, featuring Lashley (w/ Trump) vs. Umaga (w/ Vince), MITB ladder match, Melina vs. Ashley, Kane vs. Khali, Batista vs. Taker, and HBK vs. Cena…


Backstage, Vince was talking on his cell phone and announced that he would take on Lashley next week. Coach didn’t like the idea, but Vince insisted he was capable of beating and humiliating Lashley…


Match 5: WWE Champion John Cena vs. US Champion Chris Benoit
-(CMV1 note- HBK joined JR and Todd for guest commentary). An extended lock-up that saw Cena back Benoit into one corner, only for Benoit to back Cena into another corner. Benoit took the first measure of control with a series of knife edge chops. To the outside they went, with Benoit throwing Cena’s arm into the announce table. He tried for a German suplex, but Cena reversed it. Cena nearly ended up getting thrown into HBK. Back in the ring, Benoit used a snap suplex to continue to build momentum. He followed with a back suplex and a running elbow drop. HBK talked about how you never know when he might strike. Benoit, meanwhile, continued to dominate until Cena got his boot up and knocked a charging Crippler to the mat. HBK called himself the standard of the industry. Benoit came back and put the Sharpshooter on Cena. HBK asked how bad Cena wanted it. Cena crawled toward the ropes, but Benoit brought him back to the center of the ring. The champ nearly tapped, but fought his way to the ropes. A mid-ring brawl ensued until Benoit reeled off three consecutive German suplexes. The Crippler signaled for the headbutt and went to the top rope. He went for it, but Cena moved out of the way. Cena proceeded to fire up, connecting with the spinning back drop, diving shoulder tackle, and Five Knuckle Shuffle. He went for the FU, but Benoit countered into the Crossface. Cena countered and locked on the STFU. Benoit struggled and eventually tapped out. Cena defeated Benoit via submission at 6:12. After the match, HBK geared up for Sweet Chin Music. Cena recognized it, though. HBK motioned that he was getting into Cena’s head. The champ came back and put HBK in position for the FU. Cena dropped him back to his feet, though, and motioned that it was he who was getting in HBK’s head. JBL came out and announced that the tag champs would face Batista and Taker in a NWO rematch next week on Raw. (CMV1 rating- **) (CMV1 note- really good match for the time that was given to it. The stuff that followed was all very well done)



All in all…This was an up-and-down Raw, with some nice build to the Cena-HBK match, but little else in the way of intrigue. I liked the Candice-Melina one-night angle, as it was effective in allowing both of those ladies to show off their budding mic skills. Edge-Orton continues to be interesting, and there are numerous scenarios that could see one or both of them (if they get creative) win MITB. The wrestling was really quick tonight, but all of it was pretty good while it lasted. Mania just needs to get here, because while HBK-Cena and Edge-Orton are intriguing, pretty much everything else is either running out of gas or was never fueled up to begin with. In terms of a score, I’ll generously give out a 5/10 and call it a night …





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