The Raw Report (04/16/07): John Cena vs. Rated-RKO (handicap match)
Submitted by Chad Matthews on Monday, April 16, 2007 at 9:24 PM EST





The Raw Report (04/16/07)

The show opened with the Coach coming to the ramp with mic in hand. He said that last week he announced a main-event for Backlash, but that it was overruled. Thus, Coach will have his Backlash main-event tonight, as Cena will face Rated-RKO tonight. He then introduced Vince McMahon, who was still wearing that classic hat, but had some noticeable hair growing in. Vince went to the ring and shrugged off the Italian chant he was receiving. He addressed the idea that Milan was the fashion capital of the world, and scoffed at that notion. Vince then introduced the Intercontinental Champion, Umaga (w/ Armando). The Samoan Bulldozer headed to the ring. Vince showed footage of what Umaga did to Bobby Lashley last week and the events that led up to it. VKM went on to prophesize that he, Shane, and Umaga would defeat Lashley for the ECW title at Backlash. Neither Shane nor Lashley could make it tonight, by the way, but Umaga is ready for action. Vince issued an open challenge for anyone in the back to face Umaga. There were no takers, so McMahon upped the ante and put the IC title on the line. There were still no takers. The crowd disapproved, so Vince opened the challenge to the fans in attendance. They panned the audience and eventually found a guy. The guy’s name was Santino Morella. The crowd chanted like they would for the Italian soccer/futbol team. Vince made sure that the man understood that he can’t sue Vince if he gets hurt. The crowd was reacting strongly to the guy. (CMV1 note- the McMahon act is so tired right now. It’s just gotten to the point where it’s too much of what used to be a good thing, because he’s still one of the best talkers in the game…it’s just a shame b/c the act is so overplayed that it is no longer entertaining).


Match 1: IC Champ Umaga vs. Santino Morella
-(CMV1 note- IC title was on the line). The crowd chanted for Santino as the match got underway. The guy had a tattoo of a lion on his back. Vince kept jacking his jaws, but finally shut up so that the match could get going. Santino and Umaga played cat and mouse in the early parts of the match. The Italian scored a near fall with a roll-up, as the crowd continued to react strongly. Vince changed the match to a No-DQ bout to ensure Umaga would win. Estrada explained the gimmick to Santino and slapped him. Santino struck back with a slap of his own, but Umaga took control as the match got underway again. Umaga scored with a leg drop. Estrada came back into the ring and slapped Santino again. Umaga followed with a running headbutt. The crowd chanted for “Bobby.” Umaga went to the second rope and connected with a Vader Bomb. He followed with a body slam and went to the top rope. Lashley came to the ring, though, and threw Umaga off the top. The ECW chant followed with a hard clothesline, but McMahon brought a chair into the ring. Vince tried to hit Lashley, but Bobby took it from him and blasted Umaga to “Ole” chants. Lashley followed with a Spear, placed Santino on top of Umaga, and insisted the ref make the count. Santino is the new IC champ at 4:28. Lashley and Santino celebrated to a half-confused/half-strong crowd reaction. (CMV1 rating- ¼ *) (CMV1 note- interesting angle for sure, and I’m not quite ready to write it off. It’s not a great idea to put the IC title on a relative unknown, but it’s not as if Umaga was doing anything with it anyway. Santino better be good, or be a very short-term act, because there are many more deserving guys)


Back from a commercial break, Jerry Lawler interviewed Lashley and Santino. Lashley said he wasn’t supposed to be here tonight, but he came anyway. At Backlash, he’s supposed to lose the ECW title, but he’ll retain. Santino thanked Bobby and Italy for making him IC champion.


Backstage, Ric Flair asked Carlito if he were ready for action. Carlito questioned whether or not they should team, but Flair helped him get his head back in the game.


Next Monday on Raw, HBK vs. Cena in a Wrestlemania rematch…


Match 2: Carlito (w/ Torrie) and Ric Flair vs. Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin
-Carlito and SB started it off, with Carlito taking down Shelton with a shoulder tackle and a quick series of hip tosses. Charlie tried to get involved, but got a hip toss, too. Shelton went for the Stinger Splash, but CCC moved and scored with a dropkick. Charlie got one two, and both members of the TWGTT found themselves on the outside. Flair and Charlie tagged in for their teams. Ric scored with a series of knife-edge chops and a back elbow smash. He followed with a chop block, but Shelton got involved and helped Haas take control. Shelton tagged in and connected with a back drop before applying a chinlock and tagging Haas. Charlie kicked Flair in the back, as the crowd chanted something in a Italian. Haas scored with a knee drop. Shelton tagged back in and maintained control. Haas got the tag, but Flair fought back out of the heel corner. Carlito got the tag and beat the hell out of Shelton. CCC followed with a quick flurry of offense capped off by the springboard back elbow. Flair and Haas got involved, but it was only Flair who got reprimanded. Haas proceeded to strike CCC in the back, allowing Shelton to hit the T-Bone suplex for the win. TWGTT defeated Flair/Carlito at 4:15. After the match, Carlito was pissed off and pushed Flair away when the Naitch tried to console him. (CMV1 rating- *). (CMV1 note- solid action while it lasted. Here’s hoping that we’ll eventually see TWGTT vs. The Hardys)


JR and King recapped the announcement for the Backlash main-event…


Backstage, Maria interviewed John Cena. Cena got booed pretty loudly. He smiled about it and asked if Maria had a question. She wanted to know his thoughts on his handicap match. Cena said that there were a lot of players around here, but only one champ. HBK stepped into the picture and said that, before Mania, he had Cena’s back. Michaels no longer has Cena’s back…but rather he’d leave Cena on his back next week in their Mania rematch….


A feature on “The Condemned” was shown, specifically hyping Vinnie Jones’s character as a bad ass…


Backstage, Johnny Nitro approached Women’s champ Melina and told her how good she looked…

A video package hyping the Great Khali was shown…as if anyone really cared (and judging by the complete lack of crowd reaction he gets, I don’t think anyone does), he’ll be in action next week…(CMV1 note- the fact that they’d hype that is an insult to our intelligence)…


Match 3: Eugene vs. Johnny Nitro
-Nitro scored first strike points before the bell even sounded. The former IC champ beat the hell out of the now bald Eugene. Eugene tried to make a match out of it, but Nitro finished him off with Ravishing Rick Rude’s old finisher, the Rude Awakening (pretty much a neckbreaker in reverse Stunner-style). Nitro destroyed Eugene at 1:20. (CMV1 rating- ¼ *) (CMV1 note- nice to see Nitro get the convincing win. They ought to repackage Eugene).


In the WWE Diva Fashion Contest, an Italian announcer brought out Torrie, Maria, Mickie, Candice, Victoria, and Melina. The crowd chanted “Ole” as she did her usual entrance. In Italian, the announcer talked about something. In other words, the fans would decide the winner. The winner was Torrie Wilson and the crowd responded strongly to this contest. Melina pitched a fit, but Mickie took care of her pretty quickly. (CMV1 note- that was crap…Victoria looked the best of them all and Maria easily got the best reaction)


Match 4: World Tag Champ Jeff Hardy (w/ Matt Hardy) vs. Lance Cade (w/ Trevor Murdoch)
-Cade backed Jeff into the corner to start the match. A clean break followed. The crowd chanted for Hardy. Cade caught him with a boot to the gut and a clubbing blow across the back. He followed with a body slam and taunted the crowd. Hardy came back with a Whisper in the Wind and rolling somersault leg drop. He went to the top rope for the Swanton, but Cade rolled out of the ring. Cade eventually tossed Hardy out of the ring after some confusion. Murdoch tried to get involved on the outside, but Matt and the ref prevented the interference. Jeff countered a back drop and went for a roll-up, but Cade caught him with a big boot. Cade continued to build momentum with a series of stomps in the corner. Lance went for an elbow drop, but Hardy moved and later connected with a reverse mule kick. Cade came right back with a hard back elbow smash. The crowd continued to support Hardy. Jeff eventually came back with a jawbreaker, a diving forearm, a clothesline, and a running One and Only. He went to the top rope, but Murdoch interfered. Hardy still went for the Swanton, but Cade got his knees up. The finish came when Cade defeated Hardy via a running clothesline at 5:54. (CMV1 rating- *) (CMV1 note- decent match…simple booking 101 to this feud…I’m a fan of that. The Hardys and Cade/Murdoch should be able to have a solid match)


Don’t forget about “The Condemned”…


Match 5: Chris Masters vs. Super Crazy
-(CMV1 note- Masters cut a pre-match promo about the great Italian sculptors not being able to create a Masterpiece like him). JR mentioned that Crazy debuted a few months ago, but it was a lot longer than that. Masters dominated in the early going. Crazy came back with a dropkick off the second rope and a somersault plancha over the top rope. He went for a top rope moonsault, but Masters dodged it. The Masterpiece stomped him repeatedly in the gut and whipped him hard into the corner. Crazy tried for a crucifix pinning combo, but Masters countered in a back drop. Masters went to work on Crazy’s back. The two received dueling chants. Masters connected with a back drop and went back to work on the injured back. Crazy tried to fight back with a series of shots to the Masterpiece’s inner thighs. He followed with a low dropkick and a standing moonsault. The finish came when Crazy went for a wheelbarrow bulldog, only to have it countered into a modified release German suplex. Masters defeated Crazy at 5:10. (CMV1 rating- *) (CMV1 note- it had it’s moments, but Masters overused a pretty ordinary rest hold)


JR and King ran down the Backlash card, which includes ECW Champ Lashley vs. Shane, Vince, and Umaga; Taker vs. Bats in a Last Man Standing Match; Hardys vs. Cade and Murdoch; Women’s Champ Melina vs. Mickie James; Cena vs. HBK vs. Orton vs. Edge in a 4-Way match…(CMV1 note- card is looking good)…


Backstage, Orton approached Edge. The Rated-R Superstar tried to suck up, but Orton suggested they put their differences aside and take out Cena. They quickly reminisced about the times they screwed each other out of other opportunities, but seemed to reach an agreement…


Match 6: WWE Champion John Cena vs. Rated-RKO
-The crowd gave Cena a resoundingly negative reaction as he came to the ring. Edge started it off for Rated-RKO. Cena caught him with a fisherman’s suplex and used a side headlock take down to keep Edge grounded. The crowd chanted “Cena Sucks.” Edge backed Cena into the corner and eventually tagged Orton. Randy stomped the champ, but Cena backed him into the corner and later connected with a running one-handed facebuster. The crowd chanted for Orton. Randy tried to shrug off their support. He blasted Cena with a European uppercut, but Cena fought back with a series of hard rights. Orton came back with a big boot. Edge made a blind tag. We then got a dreaded mid-match commercial break, but I guess that was to be expected. Back from the break, Edge was in control. Cena was on the apron, but Edge bumped him off and into the announce table. JR and King noted that Cena had no offense during the break. Orton bounced Cena’s face off the announce table. Randy, now the legal man, carried Cena back into the ring. Edge tagged back in and the crowd chanted his name. Cena tried to make a comeback, but Edge took him right back to the mat. Orton tagged back, as Rated-RKO was oozing with confidence. Randy scored with a textbook dropkick and proceeded to beat the hell out of a Cena with a long series of strong right hands and forearms. He followed with a jumping knee drop, as the crowd chanted his name once again. Edge tagged back in and nonchalantly tried to get back on the offensive. Cena capitalized and hoisted him up for the FU, but Edge countered and regained control. A “Cena Sucks” chant rang out, as Edge placed Cena on the top turnbuckle. Cena fought back and knocked Edge off the second turnbuckle. He then scored with a Fame-ass-er off the top rope and went for the pin, but Orton made the save. HBK came to the ring at that point. Edge brought a chair into the ring. Orton tried to keep Cena grounded, but HBK pulled down the top rope and sent a running Orton tumbling out of the ring. Cena, meanwhile, connected with the Prototype spinning back drop and Five Knuckle Shuffle on Edge. He went for the FU, but Orton blasted him with a dropkick, sending Cena into the ref. Orton and Cena ended up knocking heads. Edge went for the spear on Cena, but the champ dodged it and caused the Rated-R Superstar to spear Orton. HBK came in the ring and went for the superkick on Cena, but the champ dodged that, too, causing HBK to drill Edge with Sweet Chin Music. Cena instinctively covered Edge and got the win. Cena defeated Rated-RKO at 12:37. (CMV1 rating- ** ¾) (CMV1 note- decent, one-sided match up until the exciting finish. It was a perfectly acceptable TV main-event. However, I really don’t like when one guy beats the two top heels on the show, no matter how it happened. Superman booking is something I strongly dislike, so I think it’s time that Cena drops the title at Backlash. Let’s see how he does in the role of the hunter, for we haven’t really seen him in that role very often. Orton, HBK, or Edge would all make good short-term or long-terms champions. I am of the opinion that Cena has had a really strong two years as champ, but I think a little change would be nice, especially if they are going to book him like this)




All in all…This was a better Raw thanks to them ending on a high note with a strong main-event and build-up to the main-event at Backlash. The problem in previous weeks had been decent shows with crappy main-events. Tonight, it was kind of the opposite, as I felt the main-event was good, but the rest of the show left something to be desired. If I were an Italian, I’d feel insulted that I was given THAT show as my first live WWE TV experience. The good? I liked the IC title change. Umaga was doing nothing with the belt. It remains to be seen how that will all play out, but it was interesting and gives the illusion that anything can happen in the WWE. I also liked the booking to the tag title match and Nitro’s convincing victory. However, McMahon started the show out off with a dud of a promo. Raw will improve by a point per week once he leaves TV…if he ever leaves TV. Alright, tonight’s show gets a 4.5/10 from me…





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