Raw Result 6/11/2007
Submitted by Donny Anderson on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 12:21 AM EST
Everything changes tonight as the first ever Tri-Brand Draft takes place. In addition, tonight is also "Mr. McMahon Appreciation Night". What will the chairman have in store for us tonight? Find out as the USA Network presents Monday Night Raw, Live from the Wachovia Center in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
We start with Vince in the back saying that tonight is historic, and that his mind is not affected by the loss of the ECW title. He's playing the mentally challenged angle quite well. He says that we'll see numerous people who have crossed paths with him, and that tonight is one of the most important nights of his career.
The show starts, and JR and King, along with Michael Cole and JBL, and Tazz and Joey Styles announce that tonight will have interpromotional matches, and the winners will win a draft pick for their brand.
The first match is announced, and John Cena's music hits to a nice pop. The Champ is representing Raw tonight. As Cena stands in the ring, Edge's music hits, and the World Heavyweight Champion comes out to represent Smackdown.
John Cena vs. Edge
The match starts with the two sizing each other up with a collar-elbow tie up. Edge tries a cheap shot, but Cena counters. After hitting some blows, Cena hits a fisherman suplex and gets a two count. Cena throws Edge into the corner, but Edge dodges a splash. Edge is now capalizing by throwing some shots. Cena falls and Edge gets a two count. Cena begins to fight back, but Edge maintains an advantage, and sends Cena to the outside. Cena struggles up to the apron and hits a sunset flip for a two count. Cena goes to attack, but Edge hits a massive clothesline. Edge now works on Cena in the corner. Cena tries to fight back, but Edge hits a heel kick to the face, and gets a two count. Edge argues with the ref, and Cena goes for the FU. Edge fights out and gets a rollup for a two count. Edge locks in a chin lock, but Cena tries to power out. Cena hits a drop toe hold, and goes for the STFU, but Edge wriggles out. Edge hits another hard shot to Cena, and again gets a two count. Edge begins working on Cena with rights, but Cena kicks him in the gut, and then hits a blockbuster. Both men struggle up, and Cena hits two shoulder blocks, and a back suplex. Cena goes for the five knuckle shuffle, but Edge jumps up and tries for the spear. Cena dodges, and Edge goes to the outside. Cena follows, and goes for the FU from the steps to the announce table. Edge fights out, and pushes Cena into the table. Edge then quickly gets back in the ring for the win by count-out.
Your Winner: Edge
Smackdown wins the first draft pick, thanks to Edge, and Khali is drafted to the Friday night show. Khali comes out and stares at Edge, who has a look of regret and fear on his face.
Match Rating: B+ (A solid match, but much too short. These two should have put on a 30 minute match easily, especially with it being Champion vs. Champion. Still, both men put on a good showing, and Edge even looked a bit stronger than Cena. Personally I'd rather have had this match last longer, but it was a nice way to kick off the show)
We hear that Jesse "The Body" Ventura will speak next for Mr. McMahon Appreciation Night as we go to a commercial.
We come back from commercial to a video package of Vince's rise to the top of the wrestling world. After the video, another video is shown with Jesse Ventura, who says that "Mister" is a title he only uses with few people (such as the people that trained him in the military), and Vince isn't one of them. He will call him "McMahon". He says that Vince has been remarkable, just like dictators. He calls Vince a dictator, and says that all dictators will fall.
Coach is in the back and rehashes the same "Vengeance is the night of Champions" angle, but adds on that there will be an Open WWE Championship match at Vengeance. We then see Carlito and CM Punk walking in the back, and their match is next.
After a break, we come back for the next match of the night, between Raw and ECW. CM Punk comes out to a huge pop, followed by Carlito, and this match is underway.
Carlito vs. CM Punk
We start with a collar eblow tie up. Punk gets the upper hand with a nice kick to the head, and some knees. Punk then gets Carlito into the corner and goes for the knee lift, but Carlito catches him. Punk fights out, knocks Carlito down, and goes for a move off the middle rope. Carlito catches Punk in midair with a dropkick. Carlito now works on the ribs of CM Punk, and gets a near fall. Carlito then locks in a body scissors. Punk manages to grab Carlito's legs and locks in a Boston Crab, which Carlito breaks by getting to the ropes. Punk gets the upper hand, and hits a flying clothesline from the top, but only gets a two count. Punk then hits a standing clothesline for another two count. CM Punk hits some knees, then gets the running knee lift in the corner, but Carlito counters the bulldog with a Backstabber. CM Punk rolls to the outside, but Carlito gets him back for a near fall. Carlito goes for another Backstabber, but Punk reverses it into a GTS for the win.
ECW gets a draft pick now, and it's Boogeyman, much to Punk's enjoyment. Boogeyman comes outand does his dance, while CM Punk looks happy and disturbed at the same time.
Your Winner: CM Punk
Match Rating: B (A good match from two very talented performers. CM Punk looked right at home performing on Raw, and this match was a treat to watch. So far, the two draft picks haven't really shaken things up a bit, but I will be interested to see how they play out, as well as what the rest of the night has in store.)
Snoop Dogg is shown on a video saying thanks to Vince for making wrestling a spectacle. He also does a shout out to Cena and Stone Cold. He also mentions Vince getting his face shoved in Big Show's Backside. Snoop says to keep it raw as we go to break.
After the break we get a quick recap of the drafts so far, and then we get another video package of Vince, this one showing Vince's evil side, especially his love for firing people, his win of the Royal Rumble, and the Montreal Screwjob.
After video, Mick Foley's music hits, and the hardcore legend comes out to the stage with a mic. A "Foley" chant breaks out. Mick says that Coach's words do little for him, except his mention of an open WWE championship match, and that Foley himself is a 3 time champ. Since he's been rehired, Mick says that he's a member of Raw and that he'll be a part of the open WWE championship match at Vengeance. Speaking of Vengeance, Mick takes some time to mention Vince McMahon. He says Vince has effected everyone watching, everyone in attendance, and everyone in the back. He says Vince has the power to save the world, but has only followed through in a limited capacity. He is a super patriot, but is also an egomaniac. He poses the question of Vince having any real friends. He asks those of us watching and those in attendance if Vince has any real friends. He reads off a list of people who were approached for McMahon appreciation night including Hogan, HHH, HBK, Bischoff, the Rock, Trish, and others, with mixed reactions for some and huge pops for others. He says that all of them declined, and that they don't appreciate Vince, and asks if any of us should appreciate Vince. He says "Have a Nice Day." and we go to a break.
After the break Balls Mahoney comes down to the ring, and is followed by Umaga.
Balls Mahoney vs. Umaga
Balls is quickly taken off his feet with a kick to the face. Umaga picks him up, and hits the Samoan spike for the win, and Raw's first draft pick in the form of King Booker.
Your Winner: Umaga
Match Rating: C- (to be honest, the only thing keeping this from being lower was the fact that King Booker has come to Raw. So it was a squash match with a nice present at the end.)
King Booker's music hits, and he comes out to the stage with Queen Sharmell and poses while surveying his new Raw Kingdom as we cut to a break.
We come back with a video of Steve-O thanking Vince for all the entertainment. He then recites a little poem he wrote, and says that Vince is the man.
Back in the arena, Lashley's music hits to a rather large pop. Tonight, though, the ECW champ has to take on the Rabid Wolverine, Chris Benoit.
Bobby Lashley vs. Chris Benoit
The two men size each other up with a staredown, and this match gets underway with a takedown by Lashley, but Benoit manages to get a front facelock on Lashley, but gets a spinebuster for his trouble. Lashley and Benoit have a nice exchange in the ametuer style, and Benoit locks in an armlock with a body scissors, but Lashley fights out. Benoit hits some knees to the mid section, and a chop. Lashley gets Benoit in the corner and starts to beat him down (much to the crowds' distain). Lashley then slams Benoit to the ground, and gets Benoit in a front facelock. Benoit gets the upper hand, and hits a suplex. Lashley tries to fight back with a torture rack backbreaker, but Benoit fights out and goes for the cross face, but Lashley fights out, and hits a torture rack backbreak for a two count. Lashley throws Benoit into the corner, and hits a shoulderblock, but Benoit soon counters an attack and locks in the Cross Face. Lashley uses the ropes to break the hold, and Benoit then goes for the Sharpshooter. Lashley reverses, and tries to power Benoit up, but Benoit reverses into a German Suplex, two, and the trifecta. Benoit locks in the Sharpshooter, but Lashley
powers out. After an exchange, Lashley powers Benoit up and hits the Dominator for the win and ECW's next draft pick...Chris Benoit. The two men stare each other down, and shake hands.
Your Winner: Bobby Lashley
Match Rating: A- (Wow, just wow. Who knew that this match would be so freakin' awesome. Both men should be congratulated on giving one heck of a performance, and Benoit moving to ECW was a nice twist, and pretty much ensures we'll see these two again sometime)
A video is seen of Donald Trump bashing Vince, and recapping Vince getting shaved bald at Wrestlemania. Trump says maybe he'll have his own appreciation night, and wishes Vince luck on his appreciation night for himself.
After a break Ashley shows up on the Titantron. She thanks Vince for creating the Diva Search and giving her the chance to join the WWE. She expresses regret over spilling coffee on Vince last week on Smackdown, and being suspended. She also mentions Vince relationship with the Divas, and talks about the time Vince made Trish bark like a dog back in 2001. Ashley says that Vince likes that, so he'll get that tonight, but from two divas instead. The music of Fabulous Moola and Mae Young hits, and the two old women come out and start walking around on all fours and barking like dogs...just disturbing...that's all I can really say. We go to a commercial with the promise of MVP vs Santino Marella next.
After the break, Jimmy Snuka and Iron Sheik are shown. Superfly says that as he watches today, he sees Vince has changed, and is kind of crazy. Iron Sheik starts saying something. The word racketball is uttered, but it's hard to understand anything Iron Sheik says. This whole segment was hilarious, though.
MVP's music hits, as promised, and he'll take on Santino Marella in another Champion vs. Champion match.
Santino Marella vs MVP
The match starts with Marella attempting a take down, but he gets gutwrenched by MVP. Marella gets a nice throw, and an armdrag. MVP gets the advantage with a nice clothesline for a two count. MVP does some mounted punches, and gets another two count. MVP locks in a neck vice, but Marella fights out. The two men exchange kicks, but MVP gets the advantage, and gets Marella to the ground. After a near fall, MVP locks in a chin lock. Marella tries to fight out, and flips MVP. Marella with a shoulder block off of the 2nd rope. Marella hits a flying forearm for a two count. Marella hits a lariat for the two count. MVP manages to counter an irish whip, and lifts Marella on his shoulders. MVP then drops Marella, but misses a running kick. Marella hits a heel trip, but only gets a two count. MVP gets the upper hand, and after some offense, hits the Reverse Neckbreaker for the win, giving Smackdown the draft pick of Torrie Wilson.
Your Winner: MVP
Match Rating: B- (Okay, Marella did okay, but MVP was the star of this match. I'm not sure of the name of his finisher, so you'll have to forgive me if I got the move wrong. Torrie going to Smackdown doesn't surprise me, or really matter to me. She wasn't doing anything anyway. All in all a pretty good match.)
Torrie Wilson comes out, and MVP is smiling. Cole and JBL are obviously satsfied as well. JR and King then say that Bret Hart will speak next...no freakin' way.
After the break a video is shown of Bret Hart. He says that it's hard to find the words to express his appreciation for Vince. He says he knows there's no good words to show it, but the best way to show appreciation is a right hand in the jaw, or two, or three, or forty or fifty. And that's all he has to say about that.
Back in the arena, the Miz comes out to the ring, only to be joined by Snitsky.
The Miz vs Snitsky
Miz goes on the attack, attempting to get the upper hand, but Snitsky easily powers the Miz into the tree of woe. Snitsky then hits some kicks, and a body slam for a two count. Snitsky hits a massive clothesline, and hits the Big Boot for the win, winning ECW the next draft pick. Snitsky doesn't let up, though, and continues to beat the Miz down. The ref reverses his decision. So the winner is the Miz, and Smackdown gets the next draft pick in the form of Chris Masters.
Your Winner: The Miz
Match Rating: C (Filler, really. I did like the swerve ending, and Masters going to Smackdown seems logical to me.)
Masters comes out and poses on the stage as JBL keeps talking about Smackdown being the "A" Show.
Bobby Heenan is shown talking about how much Vince has done. He touches on Vince's strut, and says that one must have confidence, and that Vince has to have either a bad case of chaffing, or the biggest pair going. He leaves it to us to figure it out, and we go to break with the promise of "Rowdy" Roddy Piper speaking next.
We come back from the break to the introduction of Roddy Piper. Piper gets a huge pop. He comes out with a mic in hand. He says that there's no one better to appreciate Vince than Roddy Piper. He shows us a video of some of Vince's "proudest" moments (mainly new DX and Stone Cold stuff, but other stuff is shown too, like Shane's purchase of WCW and Vince getting shaved). Piper says that on behalf of the wrestling audience around the world, we appreciate Vince for what he really is. As we go to a commercial, it looks like a Divas match is next.
We come back from a commercial a video of Mark Cuban is shown saying that Vince is a winner and Vince built wrestling into a real business. He says it's the American Dream.
Candice Michelle comes out for the next match. She is followed out by Kristal.
Candice Michelle vs Kristal
This match starts with Kristal getting the upper hand with a low kick. She works over Candice's leg, but Candice kicks her in the face to get the upper hand. Candice takes advantage with a clothesline, and backbreak, and an elbow drop for a two count. Kristal tries to get the upper hand, but Candice reverses and hits the Spinning Heel Kick for the 1-2-3. Raw gets the next pick...Bobby Lashley!
Your Winner: Candice Michelle
Match Rating: C+ (Okay, maybe I'm being generous here, but Candice has really shown a lot of improvement in the ring, and Lashley coming to Raw shakes things up quite a bit. Hopefully they'll put the IC title on him at some point. As for the match itself, as I said, Candice has really improved, and I think it showed.)
Lashley's music hits, and he comes out to a rather nice pop. Coach's music hits, and he comes out and says he needs to speak with Lashley. He says that Vince says that now the Lashley is part of Raw and not ECW, he can no longer be ECW Champion. Per Vince's orders, Lashley is now stripped of the ECW World Title. Coach says that he needs to hand the title over. Lashley does so, but grabs the mic. Lashley says that they stripped the title from him, and grabs Coach by the collar. He says he's still a champion, and that he'll prove it on Raw.
Bob Costas is shown telling Vince what he doesn't appreciate, being passed over as an announcer. He says he does appreciate the interview they did on HBO, and that his following interview with Bob Knight was actually less heated. He thanks Vince for that, and we go to commercial.
We come back for a triple threat match. The first contestant is Jeff Hardy. He is followed by Elijah Burke, who is in turn followed by Batista.
Jeff Hardy vs Elijah Burke vs Batista
Burke goes for Batista, but is scared off by the Animal. Jeff Hardy follows Burke to the outside, and attacks. He throws Burke back in the ring, and Batista hits a powerslam. A two count that is interupted by Hardy. Batista overpowers Hardy with some big moves, but Hardy reverses the Batista Bomb. Hardy hits some high impact moves, followed by the Swanton. Burke interupts what may have been a pinfall, and soon takes advantage of both men, sending Batista to the outside. Jeff hits an extreme clothesline of Burke, and then launches himself to the outside onto Batista. Hardy then gets Burke down, but misses the Swanton. Burke tries to take advantage, but is taken down by Batista, who hits the Batista Bomb on Burke for the win. Smackdown's next draft is the Nature Boy Ric Flair.
Your Winner: Batista
Match Rating: B- (Hardy was awesome as usual, and Batista didn't look too bad. Burke kind of occupied the middle ground between Hardy's high-flying and Batista's all power. Flair going to Smackdown is something that I could kind of see coming, but it'll still be interesting to see where they go with it.)
Ric Flair's music hits, and he comes out, while Batista is beside himself with a smile on his face.
Captain Lou Albano is shown, and he talks about how Vince is still a little punk of a kid. Not much, but it is nice to see a legend like Captain Lou.
After a break we get a quick recap of the drafts to occur so far. They also talk about the supplemental draft to occur on Wednesday. Dusty Rhodes is then announced in the arena, and the son of a plumber comes out with a mic. He says one of Vince's favorite sayings is "Perception is reality". He says a reality is that Vince's vision was to create the biggest empire in wrestling history, no matter who he stepped on to get there. He says Vince's legacy is in the building and on the sign that says "Sold Out". He talks about guys who have been fired and been bitter, only to come back a few months later when called. He said you don't have to like Vince, but that we all have to respect Vince McMahon. We go to break, with the promise of a 15-man battle royal for the final two draft picks.
After the break Gene Okerlund is shown talking about all Vince has done for him. He talks about Tuesday Night Titans, which was cancelled. He talks about all the promoters that Vince put out of business. He then says that Vince also fired him, which gave him his job at WCW, so he thanks Vince for that.
We now get the battle royal. First Team Smackdown comes out, followed by Team ECW. Finally, Team Raw emerges from the back.
15-Man Battle Royal for the Final 2 Draft Picks
The likes of Kevin Thorn, Randy Orton, Nitro, Marcus Cor Von, Viscera, Mark Henry, Chavo Guererro, Chris Masters, Tommy Dreamer, Matt Hardy, William Regal, Matt Striker, and Sandman, as well as others, start battling it out. Striker goes out first, at the hands of Matt Hardy. Mark Henry begins to pretty much clean house. Sandman is chucked out by Henry. Viscera takes out Regal, and Henry gorilla presses Chavo out. Viscera takes out Dreamer, as Thorn and Hardy try to fight off Henry. Mark Henry takes out Kevin Thorn, and Orton fails to take down Henry. Viscera and Mark Henry now start going at it like Godzilla and King Kong. Everyone else is down and out on the canvas. Henry goes for the elimination, but Viscera fights out. Now Viscera goes for the elimination, but Henry fights out. Henry hits a massive clothesline, and now tries again for the elimination and succeeds. Viscera is out, now Henry is left to dominate everyone left. ECW only has Cor Von left, and Raw still has Orton, Nitro, and Kenny, and Smackdown still has Mark Henry, and Matt Hardy, as well as Eugene. There may be some more left, but it's pandemonium as we go to commercial, with Henry the only one on his feet.
We come back from a commercial with Henry working on Masters, Hardy going at Nitro and Orton and Cor Von fighting. A "Hardy" chant breaks out. Cor Von is taken out, and all of ECW's guys are out. Nitro is taken out by Randy Orton, who is now the only Raw guy left. Masters goes to take out Hardy, but it's reversed, and Masters is eliminated. Mark Henry is now picking apart Matt Hardy, but Hardy tries to suplex Henry to the outside. The crowd is going nuts for Hardy, and Orton comes over to help eliminate Henry. Matt is hurt, and Orton begins stalking for the RKO. Hardy counters with a side effect. Hardy now goes on the offense, but Orton hits the inverted backbreaker. The crowd keeps chanting "Hardy", and Orton goes for the elimination, but Hardy fights out of it. These two are now battling with everything. Hardy gets the advantage with an axe-handle off of the middle rope. Orton manages to get the upper hand by lifting up Hardy and throwing him to the apron. A European Uppercut finishes it, Orton gets the win and Raw gets the next two draft picks. The first pick is Snitsky. The second goes to MISTERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR KENNEDYYYYYY!!!!!!
Your Winner: Randy Orton
Match Rating: A- (Hardy and Orton going at it at the end made this match, as well as Viscera taking on Mark Henry. Still, it was missing something to push it into the full blown "A" territory. Regardless, Mr. Kennedy is coming to Raw, which has the most potential in my eyes of any of the other draft picks tonight. I can't wait to see what he does.)
Both new draft picks come out when their respective names are called. Snitsky was more or less met with no reaction, but Mr. Kennedy got probably the biggest pop for any of the draftees.
Vince is in the back with a vacant look on his face. He really is playing this "Uncle Joon" up, isn't he. Looks like we may hear from him next.
After a break, Steve Austin is shown. He says he appreciates driving a beer truck into the arena and drenched Vince with beer. He appreaciates ruining Vince's new convertable with cement. He appreciates attacking Vince in the hospital, as well as driving a zambonie into the arena one time. Then Austin goes on a rant about how he doesn't appreaciate a thing Vince has done for anyone. There's a lot of bleeps, but you can get the idea. It's Stone Cold.
The WWE Championship Open Challenge at Vengeance is announce as Mick Foley vs Randy Orton vs King Booker vs John Cena.
Vince's music hits, and the Chairman comes out looking rather out of it. He goes to the ring, and gets showered with boos. A "You Suck" chant breaks out, and Vince is handed a mic. Vince starts shaking, and thanks the audience. Boos continue, and Vince drops the mic, and begins to sway. He then exits the ring, and begins to walk away, looking like he belongs in an asylum. He walks into the back and the crowd begins to cheer for his exit. Vince is now shown walking in the back, where he is surrounded by performers that were not shown tonight, and Coach tells him he's going the wrong way. Vince turns and starts walking in the other direction, finally passing Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson before exiting the building. He then walks into the parking lot, and seems disturbed by something (the two guys in the background maybe), before walking to a limo and getting in. As he shuts the door, the limo explodes, Mafia style, sending debris everywhere as Raw goes off the air.
Quick Results
Edge def. John Cena via countout
CM Punk def. Carlito via pinfall
Umaga def. Balls Mahoney via pinfall
Bobby Lashley def. Chris Benoit via pinfall
MVP def. Santino Marella via pinfall
The Miz def. Snitsky by Reverse Decision
Candice Michelle def. Kristal via pinfall
Batista def. Elijah Burke and Jeff Hardy via pinfall
Randy Orton won the 15-Man Battle Royal
Quick Draft Results
The Great Khali drafted to Smackdown
The Boogeyman drafted to ECW
King Booker drafted to Raw
Chris Benoit drafted to ECW
Torrie Wilson drafted to Smackdown
Chris Master drafted to Smackdown
Bobby Lashley drafted to Raw
Ric Flair drafted to Smackdown
Snitsky drafted to Raw
Mr. Kennedy drafted to Raw
Overall Rating: B+ (Tonight was actually unpredictable at parts. I never expected Bret Hart to make an appearance, albeit on video. The matches, with the exception of the squashes, were well balanced, and entertaining. The new line-ups for the respective shows changes a lot, especially as ECW is concerned. My only disappointment is that Kane was not involved. I was really hoping he'd go to Raw, but there is the supplementary draft on Wednesday, so I guess there's hope. The Vince stuff was a little over the top. The guest spots were great, but what knocked this show from getting an A is the angle at the end. Honestly, Vince getting blown up in a car is just stupid. I don't know of any other word to describe it. I think the writing staff has been watching too much "The Sopranos" and "The Godfather" Trilogy. All in all, though, a strong Raw, and a worthy show for a 3 Hour Special.)
Match of the Night: 15-Man Battle Royal
Well, that's it for another week. Just to give everyone the heads up, this is not actually Donny this week. I'm actually his brother. He was unable to do the report tonight, so I'll be filling in for him when he can't do it. You can send your comments, questions, or concerns to his usual email at donnyanderson@gmail.com, and he'll relay the messages to me. Have a nice week, and I'll see you all later on.
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