In Ring Segment 1:
Batista says that since no one is there to be in charge, and that he’s only going to do one thing and that’s to make a match where he wrestles C.M. Punk for the WWE Championship tonight on Raw! He also notes that Kane is not going to wreck things this time.
Jbl interrupts.
He says that no one is in charge, and he doesn’t care what happened at the Bash. JBL says that he defeated Cena last night and that he is going to have the next title shot, not Batista.
Batista laughs him off, and asks JBL to come down to ringside.
JBL says, it’s not funny, and that he doesn’t answer to Batista. He says that he’s in charge, and no matter what, He’s going to be getting the world title back from Punk at Summerslam. He stumbles through his lines, to make it sound like he’s on live.
JBL says that Batista better find Kane to get a title shot.
CM Punk Interupts
CM Punk says that since they are in the jungle, he’s king and that he doesn’t have to listen to JBL at all. He then talks about how Kane, and says that he will put the title on the line tonight!
Batista says they are on tonight!
In Ring Segment 2:
Lance Cade comes out and calls out Shawn Michaels. He says that if Michaels comes out, he is going to have words with him. HBK doesn’t show up.
Lance Cade defeated Paul London
Paul London wins a rather easy match up. I thought London might have a chance, as he had a few hits in early on, but he ended up just getting squashed in the match up. I also noted that London had sneakers on, not wrestling boots. London is fast, and he was a highlight of this match, but I don’t know if the WWE has any major plans for him. I would expect London to be on the fast track to getting his release. I’m sure the WWE will wish him the best on his future endeavors.
He will probably end up in TNA and land in the X-Division, with a new name and gimmick. Lance Cade takes out London with little problem. He won with a combination powerbomb and rock bottom. It wasn’t that impressive, and the crowd was dead.
In Ring Segment 3:
Cade gets on the mic and calls out HBK again. When he doesn’t show up, he calls out Y2J with an introduce of: “The Man Who Ended Shawn Michaels Career” (I thought that was Stone Cold’s line in 1998?) Y2J comes down the aisle and into the ring.
Y2J shows a clip from The Great American Bash and says that everything that happened that happened was the fans fault. He claims that HBK only wrestled hurt because the fans inspired him, and that the fans are all to blame. Y2J says he doesn’t have to please the fans, and that he doesn’t have to try very hard. He said the fans were never behind him when he returned to the WWE, and that they all booed him and that he is not the old Y2J. He claims that the fans never grew up, and that HBK never grew up either. Y2J claims he’s proud of what happened to Shawn Michaels last night, and that now that he has beaten Michaels, he’s now saved.
Beth “The Glamazon” Pheonix defeated Kelly Kelly
Kelly Kelly comes out pointing her fingers at the crowd like she was Trish Stratus or Mickie James. This was a hilarious match to me, because there was no way Kelly Kelly could have won this match, in my mind.
Kelly tries to put on some good moves, with some quick forearms and then focusing on the legs of Phoenix. The Glamazon was too much though, and she basically manhandled Kelly through this ridiculous example of a women’s wrestling match. Beth Phoenix tries to isolate Kelly’s arm, with rest holds and when Kelly gets out of it, struggles to finish her off. Kelly is really trying to improve, and her move set is improving, however, some of the spots are a little too exaggerated for my tastes. Kelly really puts on a show in this one, but she’s no match for Phoenix’s strength. Beth drops her on her face in an impressive ending.
I admit it, Kelly did do a great job trying to get to the Glamazon, and I was impressed with how this match up went. It wasn’t just a squash, and although it was somewhat short, it was quite impressive. Maybe they can keep this style of wrestling up, and the women’s division on Raw will be more than just a joke for wrestling fans.
In Ring Segment 4:
Jim Duggan is in the ring and he talks about putting up his boot and just retiring. He says thank you to the crowd and is ready to go home. Jerry “The King” Lawler interrupts him. He says that there is no age limit in the WWE. (I think there is, but that’s just me) He says that Duggan has the charisma to get crowds across the world to yell U.S.A something that Obama and Mccain wish they could do. He then thanks Lawler for the pep talk.
Ted Dibiase and Cody Rhodes interrupt.
The young champions come out to ring side. Dibiase on the mic and makes fun of Lawler’s personal life and says that Duggan and Lawler should hang up the boots immediately.
Cody Rhodes then states that Lawler slapped Andy Kaufman before he was born!
Lawler then slaps the taste out of Rhode’s mouth!
Ted Dibiase says that they have a match and that they should clear the ring. They said they aren’t finished just yet, but they have a match.
JBL comes to ringside.
John Cena and Cryme Tyme defeated JBL, Cody Rhodes, and Ted Dibiase
We saw this match last week, and it was just the same exact match. Maybe this match occurred at house shows too, because the two teams seemed a lot more comfortable with each other in the ring. The heels really isolated Cryme Tyme punishing JTG for a good portion of the match.
Cena gets a hot tag and cleans house, and the crowd goes wild, despite my objections. Cena picks up both the tag champions, and gives a double F-U to both of them! This was really cool in my book, Cena showed one of the most impressive finishers on the tag champions that I’ve seen in recent memory. Wow! Picked up both Tag Champs and dropped them with an FU! John Cena might not be my favorite, but the close of this match was definitely the best thing I’ve seen in a LONG time.
It should also be noted that JBL ran off like a coward through the crowd and left the tag champions to fend for themselves.
Backstage Segment 1:
Cade and Y2J run into Kane, in the back. Kane stares them down, and walks by.
Editor’s note** WWE shows clips from their benefit for Autism. I just want to say that it’s really cool that they teamed up to fight Autism. Those kids are so rad (meaning kids with Autism) and it’s unfortunate that there is no cure for it. It’s nice that the WWE gives back to such great causes.
Paul Burchill & Katie Lea defeated Mickie James and Kofi Kingston
This match was set up last week and it was no surprise that this was booked for tonight. Mickie James started the match with what appeared to be some stiff shots to Lea, and I wasn’t sure if that was part of the whole thing or not. Mickie James even hit Paul with a stiff shot, and backed down long enough for Kingston to get in a cross body off the top rope with some serious hang time. This guy has some big hops! Reminds me of K Qwik.
The match took some obvious turns with Paul working over Kingston’s leg, to ground the high flyer. The match was really down hill from the time that Kofi Kingston came in, as Paul finished off the Intercontinental Champion with what seemed to be relative ease. This was definitely a different match then the one we saw last week where Paul defeated Kofi. This will probably set up an IC Title match for later on.
This match was hilarious to me. It made no sense to bury Kingston after last week’s win, and it made even less sense to have Mickie James and Katie Lea just standby while the two guys furthered their storyline. But I guess that’s just how the WWE goes these days. The match ended with Burchill’s neck breaker, and the one two three.
Backstage Segment 2:
Batista looks Kane and then runs into Jamie Noble. Noble mouths off to Batista and Noble gets choked into a box and Batista tells him to keep a look out for Kane. Noble embarrassed again in front of the ladies.
Ouch.
Backstage Segment 3:
CM Punk is interviewed and he says that he would rather be an ex-champion that has self respect then a champion that barely hangs onto the title on technicalities.
JBL interrupts.
JBL says that at Summerslam, he fully intends on becoming the World Heavyweight champion. He says that Punk will always be a transitional champion.
Punk says that JBL has lost to him a few weeks back, and then walks away.
In Ring Segment 5:
Santino comes out and talks about how he only wanted to challenge men, not women. He then reissues the challenge!
Out Comes D-LO BROWN!
D-Lo Brown defeated Santino
D-Lo brown came out and he hasn’t lost a step. He’s still in great shape and dare I say, he’s more physical and rougher. He really took it to Santino and worked a little stiffer than usual. D-Lo dropped the lowdown on Santino, and wow, Santino looked like he was in genuine pain. D-Lo really hit Santino hard and The Lowdown was incredible! This was a squash match, but it was awesome. Welcome back D-Lo!
Post Match Segment:
Beth Phoenix comes out and attacks Santino. Santino then grabs Beth and says no more punching, they then exchange reversals, and eventually….they kiss each other! They look confused, but the sexual tension is insane. Looks like we have a new “power” couple in the WWE. More on this development, I’m sure, later.
In Ring Segment 6:
Kane interrupts the beginning of the World Title Match. The match didn’t even fully get underway, and Kane tore up Batista, who looked visibly shaken. Batista then tells Punk to get out of his face, and we get a commercial! WTF?
*John Cena and Vince McMahon have a Gillette commercial? Once again, I have to hit the WTF button on this one. Cena doesn’t even look like he can grow facial hair, and I’ve never seen McMahon with even a five o’clock shadow. Plus, wasn’t McMahon hurt? I guess the filmed this before the “accident” that occurred.
World Heavyweight Champions Match: CM Punk defeated Batista via Disqualification
CM Punk and Batista had an interesting match, and I don’t think that it’s fair that even the commentators are calling CM Punk a transitional champion. That just makes it seem that even they don’t think Punk is legitimate. They should be defending Punk, not questioning his title reign.
This match was slow and featured a lot of rest holds. Most likely due to last nights performance, and the guys being a little tired. I mean, Batista is getting old, and he doesn’t want to stay too much longer in the wwe. At least that’s what he said when this website called him a Wuss.
The match was kind of boring for a Title match, and Punk really did take control and took his time to wear down Batista. But it seemed like he was out matched by Batista at times. Batista really turned on the afterburners at the end of the match and had him close to victory; but then….
JBL runs in and causes the DQ finish. JBL takes care of Punk, then the clothesline from Hell on Batista. John Cena runs down for the save, and accidentally hits Batista with a stray right hand, and the two start brawling. A billion referees come down and we see the end of this match up.
WWE Raw 7/21/2008 Quick Results:
Lance Cade def. Paul London
Beth Phoenix def. Kelly Kelly
John Cena & Cryme Tyme def. JBL & World Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase
Paul & Katie Lea Burchill def. Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston & WWE Women’s Champion Mickie James
D-Lo Brown def. Santino Marella
World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk vs. Batista (no-contest)
This week’s Raw went into some uncharted waters for me. I didn’t expect some of the twists that they are putting in. I don’t want to see a four way title match at Summerslam, but I think they are pushing for multiple contenders. The whole melee at the end really is helping turn Batista; unless they are turning Cena. I vote for a Cena turn, but I doubt they are going to go that way.
Santino and Beth Phoenix? I don’t know about all that, but man…I’d like to wrestle her one day…although it’ll never happen.
Cade is being used on tv? Y2J done with HBK? I think there is more to this feud still waiting to happen, and I know we’re going to see a cage match or something where Y2J is going to get severely injured. There’s no way HBK is going to let Y2J be on top forever.
The Divas put on a good show for once, and I’m surprised that they did it that way. I don’t like the mixed tag team stuff, but Kelly Kelly showed some major improvement. I wish they didn’t dress her up like Torrie Wilson or steal Trish Stratus’s mannerisms, but other than that, she put on a good show against the Glamazon.
CM Punk keeps getting called a transitional champion, and I hate that. I also hate that the commentators are pushing the same notion.
What I still believe to be true is that CM Punk is defending the title on Raw, he’s wrestling singles matches on Raw, and he’s wrestling way more than usual. More than any other champion we’ve seen in recent history. I don’t see Triple H wrestling all the time for the belt or wrestling hard singles matches. Oh, and if you think wrestling Chavo on Smackdown is the same as wrestling Batista on Raw, you’re sadly mistaken.
Kane? What’s wrong with Kane? I don’t know, and honestly? I don’t care. Fire that guy already. Fire him, or make him important and not so vocal. Put the mask back on and have him be a real monster, not what he is now.
Overall an ok Raw, and a good way to start off the week in wrestling. I liked it for what it was, and am looking forward to seeing what else is going on in the world of wrestling.
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