The Raw Report (04/02/07): Wrestlemania Fallout
Submitted by Chad Matthews on Monday, April 2, 2007 at 9:40 PM EST





The Raw Report (04/02/07)

The opened with WWE Champion John Cena making his way to the ring to a mixed reaction. Cena grabbed a mic and, speaking over a wild crowd that prevented him from talking for a long period, pronounced that the “Champ is here.” HBK came out at that point, flashed the DX sign, and made his way to the ring to join his Wrestlemania 23 main-event opponent. Michaels, sporting a bandage on his forehead, grabbed a mic and said that, indeed, the champ was here. He said it was like living a bad dream for him to be out here with Cena. He said that this was usually the time, the day after Mania, where he comes out and talks about how awesome a match he had at Mania. HBK said that their match wasn’t about egos (brother!), mind games, or who got cheered/booed…it was about winning and losing. Cena won, HBK lost…and Michaels doesn’t like it. He said he was sick and tired of having to come out, look guys in eye, shake their hand, and lie to himself by calling the other guy the better man. That, according to Michaels, ends tonight. He said that Cena may have won last night, but he is not the better man. Cena said that if HBK wanted to get angry, then that’s fine…but if he wants to challenge his manhood, then his answer to that challenge is “any time, any place.” HBK said he wasn’t currently busy. At that point, Coach made his presence felt on the entrance ramp. He said that HBK vs. Cena II would not take place tonight. Rather, they would be defending the World Tag titles. Coach called the other brands and arranged for them to face 9 other teams in a 20-man, over-the-top rope battle royal, w/ the tag titles on the line. (CMV1 note- well, that was a nice segment to open the post-Mania Raw. It’s nice to see that the Cena-Michaels feud is not yet over. I hope that gets the chance to headline Backlash)


Match 1: 10-Team Battle Royal- World Tag Champions HBK and John Cena vs. King Booker and Finlay (w/ Sharmell) vs. RVD and Sabu vs. Kenny and Chris Masters vs. Cryme Tyme vs. Highlanders vs. Burke and Striker vs. Deuce and Domino vs. Eugene and Hacksaw Jim Duggan
-The match began during a commercial break. Back to live action, Kenny Dykstra and Chris Masters were eliminated when Kenny got thrown over the top rope and to the floor. Masters was upset that he wasn’t able to participate anymore. Cryme Tyme were eliminated soon after by Deuce and Domino. Eugene and Hacksaw, meanwhile, waged war with Finlay and King Book. The Highlanders were scattered about the ring, as well. Elijah Burke connected with a nice dropkick that sent Eugene out of the ring. Burke went on to help save Booker from near elimination by HBK. Book and Finlay proceeded to double team Robbie. Deuce took out Rory with a nice leg scissor. Matt Striker and his partner, Burke, tried to eliminate HBK, but Michaels escaped the predicament and regained control of the New Breed members. Unfortunately, Deuce and Domino singled Michaels out and took him down with a leg lariat. Cena came to his partner’s aid and eliminated them. Finlay tossed Matt Striker, while Booker tossed RVD. So, it came down to HBK/Cena and Finlay/Booker. The SD roster members dominated, as the crowd chanted for Cena. The champ tried to fight back, but the double team proved to be too much for him. Cena nearly got eliminated by Finlay, but hung on for dear life. Finlay Booker then held Cena so that Finlay could give him a clothesline, but the Irishman missed and hit Booker. The finish came when Cena tossed Finlay over the top rope. Finlay landed on the apron, but HBK gave him the super kick to knock him off. HBK and Cena retained at an estimated 6:18. (CMV1 rating- * ¼) (CMV1 note- well, we missed the beginning, but what we saw was fairly entertaining)


Coach returned and announced a second tag team battle royal w/ 9 new teams…


Match 2: 10-team Battle Royal- World Tag Champs Cena and HBK vs. The Hardys vs. WWE Tag Team Champions London and Kendrick vs. Val Venis and Viscera vs. Chavo Guerrero and Gregory Helms vs. Tommy Dreamer and Sandman vs. Kevin Thorne and Marcus Cor Von vs. Johnny Nitro and Miz vs. William Regal and Dave Taylor vs. Murdoch and Cade
-Everybody seemed to gang up on Viscera to start the match. Venis and Viscera were eliminated when Venis got tossed. Johnny Nitro was teaming with the Miz in an interpromotional duo. Kevin Thorne attacked HBK. Regal and Taylor were eliminated when Dreamer tossed Regal. Cena nearly got ousted by Chavo and Helms, but managed to stay in the ring. Dreamer got eliminated by Murdoch and Cade. We then got a dreaded mid-match commercial break, but I guess that was to be expected. Back from the break, Jeff Hardy and John Cena were fighting off separate elimination attempts. Nitro and Miz nearly had Cena tossed over the top, but HBK hit Nitro with Sweet Chin Music and sent him tumbling to elimination. Michaels then eliminated Cena, meaning that the tag titles were up for grabs. Cena couldn’t believe it. Michaels walked away with a cocky smile on his face and motioned that there was only one gold. Meanwhile, London hit a double boot on Helms. Kendrick proceeded to eliminate Chavo, but in doing so eliminated himself. The Hardys and Cade/Murdoch were the final two teams. Jeff and Matt took control and tried for some tandem offense. However, Cade and Murdoch gained momentum and hit an inverted atomic drop and big boot combo. They proceeded to try and eliminate Jeff, but Matt made the save. Matt cleaned house and hit the Side Effect on Murdoch. He then connected with the Twist of Fate on Cade. From opposite sides of the ring, the Hardys each scored with leg drops off the second rope. Murdoch nearly got eliminated, but hung on for dear life. Cade nearly got eliminated, too, but also held on. The finish came when Matt eliminated Cade, then set up Jeff for Poetry in Motion to finish off Murdoch. The Hardys became World Tag Champs at 12:18. (CMV1 rating- **). (CMV1 note- an entertaining battle royal that had more drama and excitement than the first one. Interesting that they made the Hardys the tag champs, but the tag division, or what little of it there is, is in good hands with those guys as champions)


JR and King briefly discussed Mania 23 and thanked Saliva for the use of their song as the official song of Mania…


Timbaland was in the house tonight…


Backstage, Todd Grisham interviewed HBK about his earlier actions. HBK said he wanted a shot at the WWE title and wanted Cena really clear on that matter. Randy Orton showed up and said that Cena knows he can beat HBK, but he can’t beat Orton. HBK said that neither Cena nor Orton were better than him. Orton said we’d have to wait and see…


JR and King introduced the Wrestlemania recap video…(CMV1 note- man, I miss the Mania atmosphere already, folks)…


Backstage, Vince McMahon, from behind the camera, shouted at Coach to take him out to the ring. They came across Maria and Candice on their way to the ring. The girls tried to tell him that he looked fine, but when he came across Eugene, he got laughed at. Ron Simmons showed up and gave us his weekly, “Damn!” Viscera and Venis had a nice laugh, too…


This week on ECW, it’ll be the Originals vs. The New Breed in an 8-man Extreme Rules tag match…


The bald headed Vince McMahon came to the ring with a hat on. He asked if the crowd thought he was going to come out and eat a piece of humble pie…if they thought it was humorous that he was a bald billionaire…if they enjoy the humiliation of others. Vince said that last night was a travesty, thanks to Stone Cold Steve Austin. He said that had it not been for Austin, Trump would be the one with no hair. The crowd responded with a “You Suck” chant. Vince said that he was wiping the slate clean and changing the record books so that his loss in the Battle of the Billionaires didn’t exist. He had Lillian re-announce the winner of last night’s match as Vincent Kennedy McMahon. Vince turned his attention to Bobby Lashley, announcing that Lashley would defend the ECW title tonight against Umaga. The crowd chanted “We Want Austin!” Vince said he never wanted to see Austin again. He went on to say that his hat was surgically attached to his head and that he’ll have it removed when his hair grows back. Vince continued with his ego trip for a few more moments, saying that he would never be embarrassed again. He said there was no chance in hell that we’d see him bald. Vince tried to leave, but Lashley showed up and headed to the ring to try and remove McMahon’s hat (presumably). Bobby went face-to-face with Vince. McMahon tried to punch him, but Lashley ducked it and yanked Vince’s hat off. Vince scattered to the outside to cover up, but Lashley followed him around, yanking off everything Vince tried to put on his head. VKM even tried to hide under Lillian’s skirt. Bobby ripped her skirt off to expose McMahon’s head, yet again. (CMV1 note- Lashley saved the segment. If they continue to push him against McMahon, he may very well get over, but they’ll have to change gears and really focus more on developing Lashley than building an angle for which he’s just a secondary performer)


Match 3: Carlito and Ric Flair (w/ Torrie) vs. TWGTT
-Shelton and Carlito started things off with a lock-up. Carlito grabbed a headlock and scored with a shoulder tackle, but Shelton took control and backed Carlito into the heel corner. CCC fought out of the corner, but got a pressing kick to the face from Shelton. Haas tagged in and drove Carlito into the corner. He followed with a big boot to the face and a series of hard right hands. Shelton tagged back in and connected with a stalling back suplex. Torrie tried to get the crowd behind Carlito, who went on to hit Shelton with a springboard back elbow. Flair got the tag and cleaned house with knife edge chops galore. Shelton gave him a back drop, though. TWGTT tried to play leap frog, but Carlito made the save. Flair gave Haas a chop block and latched on the Figure Four. Flair and Carlito defeated TWGTT via submission at 4:30. (CMV1 rating- *) (CMV1 note- sufficiently entertaining action, but nothing groundbreaking)


Highlights of the 2007 Hall of Fame ceremony were shown…


Todd Grisham interviewed Timbaland at ringside. Timbaland got a nice reaction and said he came here to here “Woo.” He worked the crowd a little bit and promoted his album. Ashley will be apart of the video for his new single…


Women’s Champion Melina came to the ring and said that she was looking forward to starring in Timbaland’s new video. She said that she proved last night that Ashley was nothing more than just a pretty face. A group of photographers were then given the chance to take pictures of the women’s champ. Mickie James stormed the ring and attacked Melina, eventually giving her a spike DDT. She told the cameramen to take a picture of that…(CMV1 note- nice to see the real women’s title feud continue. Ashley stinks…)


Wrestlemania 23 is playing all week on PPV…


Mick Foley did a quick pre-taped promo for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He hyped a wish coming true next Monday night on Raw…


Match 4: Great Khali vs. Super Crazy
-Khali squashed Crazy…Khali defeated Crazy. (CMV1 rating- ¼ *) (CMV1 note- God, I hate Khali. I have this bad feeling that they might run him in a main-event feud in the future)


Backstage, Vince yelled and screamed at Armando Estrada. He had on a backward cap. Vince added Estrada to the match for the ECW title tonight. It’ll now be a handicap match…


Further backstage, Maria interviewed the Hardys. Jeff said it was nice to be known as 6-time tag champs. Matt said that they’d had a lot of ups and downs in the last few years, but nothing could be more perfect than that moment.


“The Condemned” premiered on Friday night…


Edge came out to the top of the ramp sporting a noticeable limp (from the sick bump he took last night). The Rated-R Superstar got a nice mixed reaction and said that a lesser man would not be standing there tonight. He said it took every ounce of his energy to pull himself out of bed this morning. He recounted the events that led to him getting splashed thru a ladder by Jeff Hardy. Edge said he may not be thinking properly, but he thought he recalled HBK getting another title shot earlier tonight…that his former partner, Orton, wanted a shot…and that Cena was still champion. He found all that funny, because he feels that he’s superior to all three of them, having one-upped each of them countless times. He said they could call themselves the “Showstopper,” “The Legend Killer,” and “The Champ,” but he’ll call himself the “best” and, soon, the fans would be forced to call him the next WWE Champion. (CMV1 note- nice interview, leading me to believe they’ll book a fatal four-way at either Backlash or Judgment Day)


Next week on Raw, Mick Foley makes a special announcement and HBK battles Randy Orton in a #1 contender’s match…


Match 5: ECW Champion Bobby Lashley vs. Intercontinental Champion Umaga and Armando
-(CMV1 note- the title was on the line in this handicap match). Umaga attacked Bobby before the ECW Champ could even get in the ring. He then threw him into the ring steps and tossed him into the ring. Estrada just stood around the ring, egging his monster on. Lashley came back with a back elbow and immediately went after Armando. Umaga regained control with a clubbing blow to the back on the neck. Lashley tried to counter a back drop into a sunset flip, but Estrada helped thwart the move and help Umaga maintain momentum with a rear splash. Armando snuck in a quick strike before Umaga caught Lashley with a Samoan Drop. The Samoan Bulldozer then connected with a Banzai Drop. Estrada choked Lashley across the bottom rope. The crowd started a small “Let’s go Lashley” chant. Lashley came back with a DDT, but Umaga no sold it and blasted the ECW Champ with a big boot. Armando crawled out of the ring, allowing the two superstars to trade blows in the center of the ring. Umaga got the best of the situation and connected with a belly-to-belly suplex and a hard kick across the back. He followed with a running splash for a near fall. Lashley tried to fight back, but Umaga caught him with an uppercut. Estrada made a few covers, here and there. Lashley again tried to fight back, but Umaga knocked him back to the mat with a spinning wheel kick. The crowd started another small “Let’s go Bobby” chant. Umaga backed him into the corner and set him up for the running rear splash. However, Lashley got up and went back on the attack. Umaga thwarted his offense once again, though, and gave him a hard clothesline. The Samoan Bulldozer set-up the champ for the running rear splash again. This time, the monster connected. He went for the Samoan Spike, but Lashley countered and finally got some offense going. Lashley connected with a spear, but Estrada made the save before the ref could count to three. Bobby backed Estrada into the corner. Umaga tried to splash Lashley, but the champ moved and sent Umaga into Estrada. Lashley tossed Umaga out of the ring and hit the Dominator (the new name for the running powerslam) on Armando for the win. Lashley retained at 10:22. (CMV1 rating- * ½) (CMV1 note- very one-sided affair that didn’t exactly make this all that exciting. Pretty average TV main-event coming off the biggest show of the year)



All in all…Well, it seemed to me that the WWE knew that both a new episode of 24 and the NCAA championship game would both eat up a portion of their viewership. At least, that better be the reason for what I thought was a very unimaginative effort. The night after Mania used to be a huge event, where something or someone new would happen or show up. However, nothing remotely interesting happened tonight. The Hardys winning the tag titles was nice, as was the continuation of the Cena-HBK feud. But what else was there? Raw, as of right now, is stuck in the gear of a wheel that turned last night at Mania. Now, it’s time to move forward. I can only say that there were three instances of moving forward, and the rest was merely filler or more of the same stuff. As for a rating, I’ll give this show a 4/10 and call it a night…





Become a part of the United Wrestling Front:

United Wrestling Front Forums

Email me for details…



If you have any feedback for me, please email me at magicirish10@hotmail.com









10/7 News: Plans for Two Big WWE Cyber Sunday Matches, Big News on WWE & Jackass, HBK/Orton Plans, No DQ Match on SmackDown?, MORE!!!

• Quick Links -
  [Back to LOP] [News Archives] [Results] [Columns] [Forums]