On Monday, May 21, 2007 at 11:40 PM EST WWE RAW
May 21, 2007
Moline, IL
Commentators: Jim Ross & Jerry “The King” Lawler
Reported By: Hunter Golden of WrestleView.com
A video package aired putting over the Lashley-McMahon stuff from last night. Lashley’s music hit and he came out to the ring SMILING. God dammit, someone tell him to stop doing that when he’s supposed to be pissed. Lashley took the mic and challenged Vince McMahon to a match for the ECW World Championship.
Vince’s music hit and he came out to the ramp with Shane and Umaga. Vince asked Lashley if he wanted a match tonight. Vince said the answer was no. He said Lashley had his obligatory return match and he didn’t get the job done. Vince said he’d defend his title at the One Night Stand pay per view. He said he would defend his belt in a street fight. He said he would be defending the belt against the Blue Meanie. Lashley asked him why he wasn’t defending against him.
The crowd chanted ‘you suck’ at Vince while he tried to respond. Vince told him to face facts, that there was no chance in hell of that happening. Shane interrupted and said he should realize who he was talking to. He said no one defeats his father in a street fight, in fact, he was inVINCEable. He put over all the people he had beaten in no rules matches; Triple H, Ken Shamrock, himself and even his sister Stephanie. He said if it was a street fight he wanted, it was a street fight he got and he was on. Vince didn’t look like he was too excited about it all.
Vince said the match was on, but there would be a stipulation. Vince said Lashley would have to beat every one of his opponents and he would have to run the gauntlet. Vince put his belt around his waist and stared down Lashley.
JR and King put over the demolition job Randy Orton did on Shawn Michaels last night at Judgment Day.
****Commercial****
Ric Flair v. Carlito
Carlito jumped at Flair but got caught with a ton of Flair chops. Flair hit a snap mare and planted a mean foot into Carlito’s neck. Carlito shot up rather quickly and back dropped Flair to the mat before putting a plethora of boots to the Nature Boys’ face. Carlito choked out Flair on the mat before going to the arm he was working on last night.
Carlito wrenched in the hammer lock deep on Flair before oozing over Flair’s body and slapping on a cross arm breaker. The hold almost earned him a few near falls before Flair inched into the ropes to break the hold. Carlito went to drag Flair to the middle of the ring before Flair kicked him back. The two exchanged some strikes before Flair avoided the springboard back elbow. The two tussled around until they ended up spilling over the top rope and hit the floor. The referee counted away while the two brawled on the floor. The ref reached the count of ten and this one’s over.
Winner: DOUBLE COUNT OUT
After the match, Carlito hit two back crackers on the outside before taking a nice big bite of the apple and spitting it all over Flair’s face.
It looks like Candice Michelle v. Melina is next!
****Commercial****
Melina v. Candice Michelle
Melina jumped Candice and really did a pearl harbor job on her early in the match. She choked Candice out in between the ropes before finally getting some fire. She hit a nasty looking back breaker and connected with a super stiff kick to Melina’s face. Melina tried to keep her distance but Candice was all over her like a pit-bull, yanking her hard off the ropes.
The end of the match came when Candice connected with a hard Irish whip to the corner. Melina managed to get a foot up but got dumped on her head with a northern lights suplex out of nowhere for the pin fall.
Winner: Candice Michelle via pin fall
The Great Khali was with his translator in the back complaining about his loss last night.
****Commercial****
Chris Masters v. Bobby Lashley
Masters came down to the ring and immediately went to work on Lashley’s arm, whipping him arm-first into the buckles and looking for a half nelson. Lashley fought back but was cut off by the brawny Masters with a forearm before he went to lock in the master lock on Lashley.
Masters clamped on the hold and Lashley fought hard to break the hold. Lashley barely made it to the ropes to break the hold. The two exchanged punches off the ropes before Lashley hit a clothesline and a big back body drop to get back into the thick of things. Lashley hit a scoop power slam for a two count before bullying Masters into the corner for some shoulder thrusts.
Masters fought Lashley off and whipped him, but Lashley came ripping off the buckles unphazed and nailed Masters with a spear. Great short match.
Winner: Bobby Lashley via pin fall
We will be getting an update on Shawn Michaels later tonight.
The Hardy Boyz are on their way to the ring and they’re next!
****Commercial****
The Hardy Boyz v. Kenny Dykstra & Johnny Nitro
Nitro distracted Matt just long enough for Kenny to take the initiative and mug half of the tag champs. Kenny slapped on a sling shot and Nitro decked Matt back before shooting over the top rope and hitting an elbow drop, a pretty nifty double team. Nitro slapped on a front face lock which Matt fought out of. The two exchanged some moves before Matt hit a clothesline and tagged in brother Jeff.
Jeff moved fast and decked both Nitro and Kenny before planting Nitro with a double drop kick to his face and going for a cover. Jeff looked for the Swanton bomb, but Kenny distracted him long enough to enable Nitro to get up on the top rope. Jeff pushed him off and came sailing over his head and hit a roll up for a three count.
Winners: The Hardy Boyz via pin fall
After the match, The World’s Greatest Tag Team, who had been ‘scouting’ ringside, came running into the ring and the heels began a beat down on the Hardy’s. Cade & Murdoch came running down to the ring to make the save. I love this program.
The Great Khali is on his way and as JR said ‘walking with a purpose’.
****Commercial****
Khali came down to the ring with his translator and let us all know how he felt. He’s tender, really. Khali said he had his foot under the rope last night and he got screwed. Khali said not only did the ref screw Khali, but the people screwed him as well. Freakin’ Khali. What a guy.
Khali and his translator became John Madden but way cooler for a little while and pointed out the foot under the ropes. Khali told us to screw off in Indian some more and then pointed out that he never really never got knocked off his feet. He said Cena had to cheat and use chairs to knock him to the mat. Khali said that Cena was nothing but a coward. He said he should be champion right now.
Khali said he could defeat Cena anywhere and anytime he wanted to. He said he could beat him in the ring, outside the ring, in the audience, on the ramp.. Cena’s music hit and out he comes.
Cena said he wasn’t going to complain about anything at all, unlike Khali, who he called an eight foot cry baby. He said last night two things happened for sure. He said Khali’s foot was under the rope and secondly, he made Khali tap out. Cena said he was out here tonight because he was called a coward. He said up until Judgment Day, he was afraid of him. Cena said Judgment Day wasn’t about winning and losing, it was about his surviving. He said not only did he survive, but he ‘got him’ and he knew he could ‘get him’ again.
Cena said he was telling Khali that HE could beat Khali anywhere anytime. Cena said “You want a rematch, hell I want a rematch” and jumped Khali. Khali easily gained the upper hand and dumped Cena to the mat with a double handed choke slam like a sack-o-trash. Khali completely cold-cocked the champ and stood over his body.
****Commercial****
Bobby Lashley v. Viscera
The two large men locked it up before Viscera tossed him away like a fly. Viscera backed Lashley into the corner and went with a swinging right and missed. Lashley fought back with an arm wringer and some clubbing blows to the back of Big Visc’s head. Visc eventually used the weight to yank Lashley back and cold cock him with a lariat.
Lashley leap frogged over Viscera and used the momentum to slam the big man for a fun near fall. Viscera fought back in short order, hitting a clothesline and then standing on the former ECW Champ. Lashley fought back with some punches but got caught in a sidewalk slam for a two count.
The big man used his bulk to back Lashley into the corner again and hit some chops to Lashley’s chest before choking him out on the ropes. Lashley fought back again before the big man hit a FLYING WHEEL KICK!? Viscera went for a cover but we only got a two count.
Viscera backed up Lashley into the corner again and bounced off Lashley’s practically dead body in the corner. He lined up his foe and made a big charge but missed completely. Lashley flew off the ropes and hit a big spear out of nowhere to win the match.
Winner: Bobby Lashley via pin fall
Timberland’s “Lay it on Me” music video is premiering next!
****Commercial****
The Divas came out to the ring and showed us the new Timberland video.
An update on HBK is next!
****Commercial****
JR and King put over HBK suffering a serious concussion last night before Randy Orton came out to the ring. He said he regretted that HBK’s wife had to endure what happened last night. He replayed a video of what he did last night.
Orton said we should ask ourselves ‘could that have possibly been the last match in the career of Shawn Michaels?” He said an injury is a target and he took advantage of that injury. He said HBK didn’t listen to the Doctor’s opinion and he just did what every pro would have done and that was beat Shawn Michaels. He said he beat Michaels, not because he suffered a concussion, but because he was the Legend Killer, Randy Orton.
Vince was with Umaga in the back. He said it was Umaga’s turn to beat the hell out of Bobby Lashley. He said he wanted him to devour Lashley. Umaga stared off intensely.
Lashley-Umaga is next!
****Commercial****
Lashley v. Umaga
Umaga opened the match with a kick to the gut before whipping Lashley to the buckles. Lashley came fighting out of the corner with some punches before Umaga plowed him over with a big right hand. Umaga hit a running splash and covered Lashley for a two count.
The Samoan kept up the pressure, laying the boots to Lashley’s back before picking him up and dumping him back down to the mat with another big right hand. Lashley fought back a bit but Umaga completely over powered him again and tossed him into the corner like yesterday’s junk. Umaga choked Lashley in the corner for a little bit before connecting with a few rights to the face. Lashley got a foot up on a whip follow up counter but as soon as he came bounding out, he was caught mid stride by Umaga and found himself trapped in a bear hug in the middle of the ring.
Lashley sold the fading part well while Umaga screamed at the crowd in Samoan. Eventually the former champion used the crowd to rally his way to his feet and was able to use some elbows to break the hold. Lashley went for a hay maker, but Umaga ducked under and dropped the former champ to the mat with a hard Samoan drop for a two count.
Umaga hit some punches to the forehead of the sitting upright on the mat Lashley. Umaga got a little greedy and mounted the second rope, looking for a head butt. Lashley barely managed to roll out of the way, but it still looked like Umaga caught a piece of it. The official counted the two on the mat before both rose to their feet at seven.
Lashley fought back with some punches before Umaga hit a boot to the gut. Umaga looked for a splash in the corner but Lashley avoided and connected with a few more punches. Lashley hit a running shoulder block and sent the Samoan Bulldozer careening through the ropes and out to the floor. Lashley mounted the top rope but got clothes lined in mid air and clattered into the announce table.
Umaga tossed the time keeper over the table and grabbed his chair before crushing Lashley with a mean looking chair shot to the former champions’ head.
Winner: Lashley via DQ
Lashley looked down and out on the ring and the cameras quickly zipped to the back and here comes Shane O’Mac dressed for war with the ECW World Champion Dad by his side.
****Commercial****
Over the break, Umaga hit Lashley with a spike because he can.
Lashley v. Shane McMahon
Smelling the blood, Shane O’ Mac is ready for war and came trotting down to the ring.
While Lashley rose to his feet, Shane jumped him and hit a bunch of shots to the guts. Shane continued to hit forearms to the face and was able to work over the neck of Lashley on the bottom rope, leaving him in a heap on the mat.
Shane lined Lashley up on the post and hit a baseball slide drop kick before heading to the end of the ring and ripping back on Lashley’s body with a bow and arrow, using the ring post as leverage. Umaga had his first Umaga moment and grabbed a chair and almost hit Lashley but Shane and Vince had to call him off. Pretty hilarious stuff. This is going on while JR is screaming ‘someone get some freaking control of that man!”. I love Umaga.
Umaga was going so nuts that Vince shooed him off to the back because it’s obvious Umaga can’t handle himself. Shane continued to work over Lashley and almost got the roll up. Shane kicked out just in time to come off the ropes and get mauled with a Lashley spine buster.
Lashley assumed control and spiked Shane’s head off the top buckle. Lashley went for a slam but Shane caught a Tornado DDT for a near fall.
Shane dropped some elbows across Lashley’s back before grabbing a Boston crab. Lashley powered out of the move only for Shane to pounce again and hit some clubbing blows to Lashley’s back. Shane came off the top rope with an elbow and got a two count on the cover attempt. The back was worked over a little bit more before Shane went into the ultimate heel hold, the camel clutch, in order to work over Lashley’s back some more.
Lashley powered up to his feet and drove Shane into the corner, breaking the hold. The former Army Sgt. Came back at Shane with some punches, but Shane cut his feet out from under him and hit some more elbows to the back. Shane came bounding off the top rope looking for an elbow but Lashley sprung to his feet and speared Shane out of mid air for the win.
Winner: Lashley via pin fall
Lashley stared down McMahon from the ring as we went off the air. RAW THOUGHTSShow Thoughts-- I gotta be honest, I really enjoyed tonight’s Raw and thought it was a very solid follow up to last night’s pay per view.
The Flair-Carlito match was a nice continuation of what they did last night, building a little bit off the arm injury and doing a good job of getting Carlito’s arrogance over. He is the heel after all, so it’s nice to see him acting like a turd again.
Candice Michelle has the move set to be an exciting women’s wrestler, she just needs to put it all together and learn some psychology. No one’s improved their game in the WWE more in the past year than she has, and tonight was a well done women’s match, even though it was pretty short. Melina controlled the action with some heely stuff and the match centered around Candice’s comebacks and allowed her to show off some of the flash she’s learned. Decent stuff.
Yes, right now, I’m loving the Great Khali. The translator has made him more human and for some reason, seem a hell of a lot less awkward both in the ring and especially in front of the camera. Cena’s intensity tonight was pretty good. I know people will probably ask about last night’s match and I’ll tell ya, Khali has gone from a guy who was a train wreck of a worker a year ago, to a guy who can be carried to a decent match. Cena’s selling of Khali’s offense made the match and yes, the tap out was fine, especially seeing how they’re playing it out with the ‘feet under the ropes’ angle tonight. Really, this feud has been about as good as it possibly could be. Khali is REALLY trying to put on a good show out there and Cena has just been ‘on’ since the year started.
I’ll make the call right now that Randy Orton will be the guy to take the title off Cena. They brought back the ‘Legend Killer’ gimmick which I really think was sorely missed. It gives Orton that world-beater type persona that I enjoy a good deal. He was put over strong against HBK last night, but really what’s going over what is pretty meaningless. Orton is a jerk off set. Orton’s also got a massive upside. Considering recent circumstances, you’d figure he’d be on the outside looking in. But wouldn’t you know it, luck looks to be on Orton’s side and he looks like the only real option left for Cena on Raw. Slice it any way you want, I figure WWE is looking at this in an interesting way. They might as well push Orton, put the belt on him and take it month by month to see if he can live up to his potential. If he can’t, they take the strap off him and essentially squash him off the roster. His personality ain’t worth it honestly, but there’s no denying his talent. I figure they go all out to see what might be there and if nothing’s doing, they won’t waste their time with him anymore. I know I say it all the time, but Orton’s REALLY at a critical point in his career right now and the next month or two will really tell the tale.
Hats off to the WWE for really making a conscious effort to put over the tag division again. This Cade/Murdoch-Hardys program is really breathing life into a division that has long needed it.
While they didn’t make the best move by booking the match so short last night, WWE did a great job with Lashley-McMahon tonight. All four matches, even the one with Viscera, were pretty freaking fun matches. Umaga was awesome as the out of control enforcer and even Lashley, despite STILL SMILING on his way out to the ramp, looked much more ‘business like’ later in the evening. Lashley’s starting to show some bright spots, and WWE’s got the right idea pushing his athleticism in his matches. This is headed in the right direction for sure.
The diva thing was kept thankfully short. All things considered, while this Raw wasn’t spectacular by any means, it was really solid and a pretty fun show. They did a great job filling what they needed to considering the number of roster spots open at the top of the card in the WWE these days. Considering the fact that The Undertaker, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Rey Mysterio, Kennedy and King Booker are all nursing injuries at the moment, WWE TV has no business being as good as it has been.
Overall Grade: B
Quick Results
Ric Flair v. Carlito went to a Double count out
Candice Michelle def. Melina
Lashley def. Chris Masters
The Hardy Boyz def. Johnny Nitro & Kenny Dykstra
Lashley def. Viscera
Lashley def. Umaga
Lashley def. Shane McMahon
Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?
Biggest Pops
1. John Cena
2. The Hardy Boyz
3. Bobby Lashley
4. Ric Flair
Most Heat
1. Mr. McMahon
2. The Great Khali
3. Randy Orton
4. Umaga
Match of the night: Lashley v. Umaga **
Power Rankings5 Points= Title Win
4 Points= World Title defense/win
3 Points= Singles PPV Win
2 Points= Tag PPV Win
2 Points= TV Singles Win
1 Point= TV Tag Win
0 Points= Loss
WWE Champion: John Cena (15-5-1, 39 points) (Last Week: WWE Champion)— I know people are sick of Cena, but let’s face it, with the amount of injuries to top guys the WWE has, Cena’s staying at the top of Raw as a draw are more important than ever, really. He needs to be kept strong. I don’t think he’ll make it two-three more months with the belt, but for the immediate time being, he should be right where it is. It would be bad business otherwise.
Intercontinental Champion: Santino Marella 3-0, 9pts. (Last Week: IC Champion) — No Action tonight.
1. The Great Khali, 10-1-1, 10pts. (Last Week: 1 )— Khali’s stuff on the mic with the translator is making him a much better character and to be blunt, I’ve enjoyed the hell out of him since the start of the Cena feud. He’s also proving to be pretty witty, which you wouldn’t think he’d be. A long ways to go, but becoming ’fun’ to watch in a good way, not an awesomely bad way.
2. Jeff Hardy 18-6-1, 35 points (Last Week- 4)— Jeff Hardy is booked incredibly strong. The only two booked to look better this year have been Cena and Khali. This keeps their options with him very open should they decide to give him another single’s run. Finally the tag division has a legit pecking order that makes some as semblance of sense.
3. Randy Orton 4-13-2 , 10 pts. (Last Week: 6) -- Last night was a HUGE win for Orton. I know people will say it was cheapened by HBK’s drooling veggie routine, but let’s be honest, a win over HBK and putting him on the shelf is a huge boost to a guy who not only needs it BADLY, but seems to be on the cusp of a major league push. The win-loss record needs to be better for me to move him up the roster, but he’s back on the right track.
4. Umaga 10-7, 23 Points (Last Week: 3) — I freaking love Umaga. Talk about a guy who really turned me and earned my affection, this guy is just uber talented and can work a control segment as good, if not better, than anyone in the company right now. Here’s a guy I’d really like to see get a major World Title push in the future. The wins aren’t falling in his column, but this Vince-Lashley stuff has done as much for Lashley as it’s done for Umaga.
5. Carlito 6-9-3, 10pts. (Last Week: 5)-- Carlito’s night and day. Literally. The attitude and character are coming back nicely, but he’s been BRUTALLY bad in the ring for about six months now and STILL looks like he just sort of moves from spot to spot like he could give a crap. Flair carried him to a moderately fun TV match, but this kid’s gotta get his act together in the ring.
6. HBK 10-7-1, 19 points (Last Week: 2) — Two words: Drooling Vegtable.
7. Chris Masters, 4-8, 8 pts. (Last Week: 7) —Will someone push this guy? Considering the fact that there’s really not a lot of guys to book on Raw (or Smackdown for that matter) these days, why not take a risk on a guy who’s improved tremendously over the past six months? My one smark-whiney-hippocrite statement of the night.
8. Ric Flair 5-7-3, 9pts. (Last Week: 8) — Here’s another guy who would be great at the top of the card. Seems content to work lower card matches with Carlito though. He carried both tonight’s match and last night’s affair. Should get a back brace for it.
9. Johnny Nitro, (2-8-1, 4pts ) (last week: 9) — There WAS a Nitro sighting this week. He lost. Again.
10. Trevor Murdoch 2-10, 3pts. (Last Week: 10) -- This program with the Hardy’s is intriguing despite the fact he and his partner haven’t won much lately. I’ll keep him here.
OTHERS : Super Crazy 3-5-1, 5 points (Last Week: NR)
Kenny Dykstra 3-8, 6pts. (Last Week: NR)
Eugene 0-6, 0 pts. (Last Week: NR)
Lance Cade 2-9, 3pts. (Last Week: NR)
Shelton Benjamin 1-6-1, 1pt. (Last Week: NR)
Charlie Haas 1-5-1, 1pt. (Last Week: NR)
Viscera 0-2, 0 pts. (Last Week: NR)
Rory 0-4, 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
Robbie 0-5 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
JTG 3-5, 4pts. (Last Week: NR)
Big Shad 2-5, 2pts. (Last Week: NR)
Val Venis 0-1 0pts. (Last Week: NR)