Raw Results 9/8/08 and Review

This time around, instead of reviewing each and every segment, I’ll talk about the wrestling, and sprinkle in commentary here and there about segments that I feel are importrant or interesting, so unlike my other reviews which are more like a results and wrap ups, explaining every single segment, this will be more wrestling oriented, as I usually do these reviews in the early mornings and get tired of having to explain each instance. There are already plenty of websites and podcasts that do recaps word for word or event for event, this site wasn’t and isn’t about that.

Jericho is looking good as champion, and I’m glad he finally got the title. Jericho gets booed out of the building, but that’s expected. Adamle presents a great argument midway and we’re going to get Batista and Jericho tonight, and next week we’re going to get C.M. Punk in a steel cage match!

Jericho’s body is pretty banged up, and he’s got bruises that don’t seem to correlate with make up, from what I can tell, but I’m no doctor. The overall tone of the opening was good but it took 20 minutes or so to develop.

Beth Phoenix defeated Mickie James (WWE Women’s Title Match)

Mickie James has gone a long way from being a clone of Trish Stratus and has really come into her own. She didn’t seem to even look nervous, considering that there are hardcore pornographic images of her younger days surfacing on the net. This match is actually worth watching, although not the greatest. If you watch closely there are some missed spots, but they seem to push things through well, and I have to tip my hat to the women’s division for this match up. Back and forth match happened, we had a lot of usual spots, and then the Glamazon drops Mickie James on her head and rolls her up, strong style, for the win. It should be noted that Candice Michelle is on the outside, and she is looking a lot like Victoria these days.

William Regal defeated Jamie Noble

Once again, Jamie Noble stays employed by getting involved with a diva. This is his third match with Regal, and the highlight of this match up was not Noble’s attempt to win, but rather how ferocious William Regal turned out to be. He hasn’t been this heavy hitting since his WCW television title reign. He really turned it up a notch and Noble was nearly knocked out with a knee from Regal right to the temple. Regal isn’t just a mat technician any longer, he’s really trying to be much more, and he proved it by turning Noble’s offense against him completely. Post match, he steals Nobles girl. Very odd storyline, but I guess to the winner goes the spoils, right?

Charlie Haas (dressed and acting like JBL) defeated JBL

I thought that JBL might find a little humor in the way Charlie Haas came out to the ring, but it only fueled the fire. I’m not sure why the WWE is trying to bury Charlie Haas, but they seem to be trying to push him right out the door. Or, consider this for moment: The WWE is taking a page out of TNA’s playbook by having Haas imitate other superstars. Well, not like Jay Lethal and Macho, but similar? No, that’s too far fetched. This match never started, JBL walked out and never came back, Haas gets his first win in a long time.

Rey Mysterio & Evan Bourne defeated Miz & Morrison

Mysterio and Bourne put on a cruiserweight clinic. If you’re a fan of the old WCW cruiserweight division, you’re going to love this match. A lot of near misses, a lot of high flying maneuvers, and an overall greatness that we haven’t seen on Raw or the WWE in a long time. I really enjoyed this match up, and I’m sure you did too, if you saw it. I’m surprised that Mysterio and Bourne were allowed to do so much high flying stuff, and I’m also surprised that the former tag champions bumped like real professionals! This match is going to be hard to top, the four men in this match up really put on a show, and I hope that the WWE allows more of these types of matches to happen. The win came when Mysterio and Bourne hit their finishers back to back on the former champs!

It was announced afterwards that Kane and Mysterio will meet next week, at least in a promo, and we might see the return of Kane’s mask.

Priceless & Manu defeated Cryme Tyme & Kofi Kingston

I was very interested to see Manu in the ring, and boy was I pleasantly surprised. He’s fast, he’s big, and he’s much better than Umaga in my opinion. The tag champs really took it to Cryme Tyme and Kingston, forcing a win with a great helping hand from Manu, who dealt a crushing slam with ease. I thought this match was great, seriously great. For a six man tag, these guys fit a lot into a very short amount of time. Manu was the spotlighted guy in this one though, and I enjoyed it a lot.

Santino defeated Snitsky

Santino squashes Snitsky, in this throwaway match. This was boring, and unfair. But oh well, I like how it continues Santino’s claim to being the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all times. I wonder what The Honky Tonk Man thinks about all this? Probably not a whole lot.

Chris Jericho vs. Batista (no contest)

Jericho was definitely not at 100% and Batista took full advantage of that. This match was 90% Batista beating the crap out of Jericho, with no mercy at all.

Midway through this match up, Adamle came out and announced that Jericho would have a tag team partner in a Handicap match, and then introduced JBL!

JBL & Chris Jericho vs. Batista

When JBL joined this match, Batista’s dominance ended. JBL, being fresh, started to put the boots to Batista and things were looking better for Jericho, who claimed to be too hurt to wrestle at 100% JBL hit the clothesline from Hell out of nowhere, and Jericho rushed in for the pin, once again defeating Batista by seemingly accident, and this will probably get a Batista vs. Jericho match up down the line for the world title.

Raw Results 9/8/08

Women's Champion Beth Phoenix def. Mickie James to retain
William Regal def. Jamie Noble
CHL" (Charlie Haas imitating JBL) def. JBL by count-out
Rey Mysterio & Evan Bourne def. The Miz & John Morrison
World Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase and Manu def. Cryme Tyme & Kofi Kingston
Intercontinental Champion Santino Marella def. Snitsky
World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho & JBL def. Batista in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match

Raw went well. There was enough wrestling for the jaded wrestling fan, and there was enough random storylines to fixate upon if you're a big critic. The Evan Bourne and Mysterio tag match was definitely a highlight for me, and I hope that the WWE continues to follow through with those two and other high flyers.

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