On Monday, July 16, 2007 at 11:41 PM EST WWE RAW
July 16, 2007
Corpus Christi, TX
Commentators: Jim Ross & Jerry “The King” Lawler
Reported By: Hunter Golden of WrestleView.com
The opening pyro hit as JR and King welcomed us to Raw.
Triple H’s “King of Kings” music hit and the crowd absolutely exploded. After a brief wait, it wasn’t the King of Kings, but the REAL king of kings, King Booker with Queen Sharmell in tow. Booker walked down the ramp saying how Triple H proclaiming himself the King of kings was blasphemy and the only king on Raw was him.
Booker said he wouldn’t stand ideally by and let someone rape his king hood. He said Triple H’s foolish reign as king of kings was over. Booker put himself over some more and man oh man is he getting some heat.
He said all that aside, there was one small matter he needed to address. Booker set his sights on Jerry Lawler. Booker said he respected Lawler but demanded he remove King from his name. Lawler grabbed a mic and said he was a fan of King Booker but he had been a king for over thirty years and didn’t see any reason why they couldn’t co-exist as Kings. Booker said Lawler didn’t understand the ‘true value of monarchy’ that kingdoms couldn’t be split down the middle. He asked Lawler to just do this and go about his business.
Lawler said if it really meant that much to Booker, he’d drop the king moniker from his name. Booker was ‘delighted’ and asked Lawler for one more favor, to kiss his ring. God I love our king. Lawler got up and said “I’m not going to kiss your ring”.
Booker came around the announce table and said he wasn’t asking Lawler to kiss the ring, he was ordering him to kiss his ring. Lawler responded by ‘telling’ him, no. King hauled off and plastered King and the two flailed around the ring and ~LAWLER PUNCHES!! The officials stepped between the two and broke up the scuffle. Booker said he’d get Lawler’s punk-a$$ as they dragged him away up the ramp.
We had a Cena-Lashley ‘predictions’ segment with Ric Flair. He picked Cena.
****Commercial****
A clip aired of Umaga murdering Santino Marella last week on Raw.
#1 Contender’s Match for the IC Championship
Fatal Four Way Elimination Match
Jeff Hardy v. Shelton Benjamin v. Santino Marella v. William Regal
The four all went at it with Shelton and Jeff careening over the top rope while Regal and Santino Marella grappled on the mat. Marella grabbed a cross arm breaker but Regal was able to take him through the ropes and to the floor. Shelton and Jeff climbed in the ring and the two duked it out in the corner before the two collided, both attempting a cross body.
Regal dropped an elbow on Hardy and Shelton and tried to cover each of them. Marella caught Regal by surprise with an inside suplex before tossing Regal to the outside.
Shelton caught Marella from behind and hit a suplex for a two count. Shelton landed some punches before Marella hit some kicks and muy thai knees to Shelton’s face. Santino hit a flying forearm before Shelton caught a roll up but had it reversed. It looked like Marella might have had the match but he absolutely ate a knee to the face from Regal. Three seconds later, Santino is buh bye.
Santino Marella has been Eliminated
Hardy and Regal went at it for a little while until Shelton snagged him in an electric chair drop for a two count from Regal.
****Commercial****
We came back to Regal and Shelton working over Jeff Hardy. Both went for the cover before they got into a philosophical disagreement over who should make the cover. Regal went to make happy and instead decided to kill Shelton with an exploder. Regal still showed his lustful hate for Jeff Hardy and kicked him in the face before bitter Benji came back with some punches.
Regal and Benji’s heads clacked together in a criss cross before Hardy took advantage hitting Shelton with a mule kick and connecting with the catapult double drop kick to Regal. Hardy connected with the twist of fate shortly thereafter to eliminate Regal.
William Regal has been Eliminated
Benjamin came hurtling off the top rope with a high cross body block and managed a two count. Hardy came hurtling off the top rope with whisper to the wind before cleaning out both Haas and Benjamin on the outside. Hardy tossed Shelton back into the ring before looking for the Swanton bomb but Shelton rolled out of the way. Shelton went for a cover but again, Hardy kicked out.
Shelton looked for a power bomb but Hardy countered with a roll up for the win.
Winner and #1 Contender for the IC Championship: Jeff Hardy via pin fall
Another Cena-Lashley segment and this time we’re with Edge. He picks Cena.
****Commercial****
A replay of last week’s Orton-Rhodes showdown aired. Todd Grisham was in the back with Randy Orton and apparently Orton is going to fight Cody tonight. Orton said he had a lot of guts but he was going to end Cody’s career before it even started. Orton put over all the guys he completely put out of commission. Orton said he wanted Cody to bring his dad to the ring tonight and witness first hand what would happen to him this Sunday.
Santino is in the back with Maria talking about not handling losing well. Santino said he felt like a fraud and that he didn’t belong here. But then, he spent time with her and she made him feel like he belonged. Santino asked her to spend the night with him. He said he’d ‘make a her’ pancakes. This sympathy sex Santino thing is kind of funny.
Batista is shooting his mouth off about Cena and Lashley. Batista picks Lashley.
****Commercial****
Snitsky is in the back. He likes winning matches but likes hurting people more. He said their pain was his pleasure. Yellow teeth.
Snitsky v. Val Venis
Val grabbed an arm bar but got tossed to the corner quickly. Snitsky ate a boot to the face but caught the swooping Venis coming out of the corner and tossed him hard into the corner before hitting him in the small of the back with a shoulder block. Snitsky tossed Venis off the ropes and hit a forearm to the kidneys before looking for a shoulder block but Val fought him off.
Snitsky ended the comeback with a lariat before a brutal pump handle slam for the win.
Winner: Snitsky via pin fall
Snitsky kept his foot on top of Val after the match before picking him up and hitting another pump handle slam. Wow, the crowd could care less.
Todd Grisham is interviewing Cody Rhodes. Todd welcome Cody and asked him why he accepted Cody’s challenge. Cody said unlike Randy, he was proud of his father and he’d never disrespect him. He said there was no RKO that could put him out and no way to concuss his following. He said tonight was his first night out there and he planned on making a big impression.
****Commercial****
King came out and explained the Texas Bull Rope match to the fans. Smart idea.
Randy Orton v. Cody Rhodes (w/ Dusty Rhodes)
Rhodes and Orton circled it up while Orton looked at Cody like he was a piece of poo. Orton jaw jacked at Dusty a little bit before Cody grabbed a go-behind and ate a back elbow. Cody hit a punch and leap fogged out of a corner but just got murdered with a clothesline.
Orton went after Cody’s chest with some clubbing blows across Cody’s chest. Orton seemed to be enjoying himself as he dumped Cody to the outside. Cody showed some spunk but missed a high cross body block. Orton gathered Cody and did a little Garvin stomping action. Orton jaw jacked at Dusty but paid for it with some punches planted in his grill. As Cody pressed the action, Orton mauled him with a power slam followed with a few stomps to Cody’s body.
Orton maintained total control, killing Cody with a vertical suplex before dropping a knee across his face. God Randy looks like his Dad tonight. Orton grabbed a rear chin lock and Cody looked like he was going to pop. The crowd rallied him and he planted some elbows to the gut but got completely cut off again. Orton hit some mounted punches on the mat before laughing at the crowd for supporting Cody.
Cody hit a flurry of moves before going for a missile drop kick for a two count. The crowd is slowly but VERY surely getting into this. Cody stayed on the offensive before Randy turned him inside out (almost literally) with an inverted back breaker. Orton made sure Dusty was watching while he looked for the RKO. Orton absolutely murdered Cody with it and got an easy pin fall.
Winner: Randy Orton via pin fall
Dusty tended to Cody after the match while Orton looked for the knock out kick. Dusty is too wise for that though and man did the crowd immediately start going bonkers as Rhodes went ballistic in the middle of the ring egging Orton on to come get him. Orton backed off.
Stone Cold is chiming in on the WWE Championship match on Sunday. He rambled for a little while before picking Cena to win.
****Commercial****
Mickie James (w/Candice Michelle) v. Melina (w/ Beth Phoenix)
Mickie jumped Melina right off the bat and almost scored the win with a victory roll. The two locked it up and Melina immediately grabbed am arm bar. Mickie flipped out of the move and scuffled around with Melina before making her eat a double drop kick in the face.
Mickie looked for a fling ace handle before Melina stopped her in mid air with a drop kick. Melina hit an Irish whip and then draped Mickie across the corner on the second rope and hit double knees to the gut. The former champion grabbed Mickie by the hair and used it as leverage in a neck vice. Mickie made Melina eat some forearms before taking her down by the hair a few times.
Melina reversed a whip attempt but found herself on the business end of a James neck breaker. Melina regained the advantage again on a whip but it didn’t last long as she was flung to the other side of the ring with a huricanranna. James dispatched the interfering Phoenix only to get decked from behind by Melina. Melina loaded up the guillotine leg drop and connected. Three seconds later this one is over.
Winner: Melina via pin fall
****Commercial****
Regal is in the back talking about wanting Hacksaw’s wood in his hands. Ron Simmons comes out and does what needs to be done.
Mick Foley’s talking about Cena-Lashley as well I guess. He’s picking Lashley.
****Commercial****
Carlito v. The Sandman
Sandman hit a kick that was pretty terrible before grabbing an arm bar (!?). Carlito broke the hold in the ropes only to get tossed over Sandman’s head. Carlito took Sandman down and stomped away at Sandman on the mat before hammering away at the beer swilling crazy man in the corner.
Carlito hit a snap mare before slapping on a neck vice. The crowd rallied Sandman who fought back with some elbows before hitting a scoop slam. Sandman mounted the top rope before William Regal ran into the ring and began putting the boots to Sandman.
Winner: The Sandman via DQ
As the heels beat down on Sandman, Hacksaw Jim Duggan’s music hit and he came charging down to the ring. Hacksaw and Sandman are standing triumphant in the ring with wood in their hands.
JBL was making a comment on Bobby Lashley and John Cena’s match at the Bash. He’s picking Cena.
****Commercial****
Mr. Kennedy v. Super Crazy
The two locked horns before Kennedy backed Crazy into the corner. Crazy grabbed a headlock but Kennedy reversed the hold. The two exchanged some shoulder blocks before Crazy pummeled Kennedy in the corner. Kennedy eventually exploded up with a forearm on Super Crazy before mugging him out in the corner, returning the favor.
Kennedy hit a kick to the face before going for a two count. Kennedy connected with some forearms to the face before whipping Crazy to the opposite corner. Kennedy hit some more punches before carrying Crazy to the center of the ring and cinching in an abdominal stretch.
Kennedy hit a roll up for a two count before Crazy looked for a pop up retaliatory move. Crazy ducked under the clothesline before connecting with some lariats and a pair of big splashes in the corner. Crazy hit his springboard moonsault before he went for the home run off the top rope. Kennedy cut him off though, knocking the insane luchadore to the floor.
Kennedy gathered Super Crazy and hit a reverse suplex off the top turnbuckle for the win.
Winner: Mr. Kennedy via pin fall
King and JR ran down the Bash card. Here it is:
WWE Championship
John Cena v. Bobby Lashley
World Heavyweight Championship
Edge v. Kane
ECW World Championship
Johnny Nitro v. CM Punk
Women’s Championship
Candice Michelle v. Melina
WWE Intercontinental Championship
Umaga v. Jeff Hardy
Texas Bull Rope Match
Dusty Rhodes v. Randy Orton
Batista v. The Great Khali
John Cena and Bobby Lashley are on their way to the ring.
****Commercial****
Lashley and WWE Champion John Cena came out to the ring to exchange words.
Coach asked Cena about how he felt about the spear he received from Lashley and whether or not he’d lose the title on Sunday. Cena mocked coach for asking a ridiculous question. He said OF COURSE he’d lose the title because when he got speared, it really hurt. Wow, that’s a pretty big burial job on Bobby Lashley. Cena said that might have been the worst question anyone has ever asked him.
He turned to Lashley and he said he heard all this athletic muckity muck about how he was better than him. Cena said he stood toe to toe with everyone in the WWE. He said at the Bash, he’d get his best and that was a promise.
Coach asked Lashley the message he was sending Cena. Lashley said the ‘hype man’ should talk about the match. He said if Cena wanted to talk, he could keep on talking and he could even have his podium. All he wanted to do was fight. Coach cut the two off and said he organized the face off and they’d take it seriously.
Lashley went to go murder Coach. Cena cut him off and told him not to worry about Coach and that his aggression would be his undoing. He said Lashley should be concerned about the greatest opportunity of his life. He said if he kept it up, he’d look like he does right now, and that’s a guy minus a belt. Lashley went to flip out but the officials herded him to the back.
Cena put over Lashley’s accomplishments and he even heard Lashley was invincible. He said he was the guy who decided who was invincible and who wasn’t. Lashley didn’t like that and came down from the ramp and the two had a stare down. Lashley mugged Cena and Cena clocked him with a punch. The two jaw jacked as Lashley looked super aggressive while Cena looked like the confident Champion. Great way to end the show with no one getting the upper hand.RAW THOUGHTSShow Thoughts-- This Raw had a lot of good and a lot of not so great, but nothing really overly offensive. They did an EXCELLENT job of building up Cena-Lashley as being uber important and Lashley looked pretty great again tonight, as he’s becoming more intense rather than being a generic baby face. Cena’s brash and cocky side is adding some depth to a character that needs it. Overall, they did a good job building up the match that needed the hype.
The rest of the show, ring action at least, was just ‘there’. The four way was brutally awful for about the first four-five minutes but somewhat came together in the end. Hardy is sort of a defacto good choice for Umaga to devour on the pay per view.
A tip of the hat to the women, who’re doing more to build a division amongst the top four-five of them than Trish and Lita ever did. Candice improves every day and CARRIES herself like the top face even though she might not actually be all the way there in the ring yet. Perception is reality in wrestling and she understands that which is a major battle already won. Melina might not be the queen of execution, but man oh man does she do great heel-ish stuff in there like yanking hair, flipping out and pretty much cheating anytime the ref blinks. Beth Phoenix is a relatively unseen potential thus far from WWE fans, but mark my words, you’ll like what you see. She’s a good enforcer for Melina. Mickie James is the work horse here and pretty much drags something fun out of every girl on the roster. Jillian Hall is solid, but could use some work still. Overall, this division has turned around WAY faster than I expected it to, especially after losing the two of the biggest female draws in company history. Kudos to them.
Orton-Rhodes lacked something but man can Dusty just turn it on at will. Orton dominated the match a little bit TOO much but for the most part, the right ending happened and they weren’t doing something stupid like jobbing their top heel off to a newcomer. Orton, in terms of character work, was as good tonight as I’ve ever seen him. I swore I almost saw his father in there three or four times. Orton’s got the cocky thing down, but the main role of the heel is to antagonize. That’s what made the original legend killer run so good was the constant instigation on Orton’s part. He lost that for a while and it’s nice to see it back. Hats off to Orton tonight though.
Everything /* was just ‘there’, without much rhyme or reason. Snitsky’s totally heat-less after five-six months of push. Sandman-Carlito was pretty terrible and Carlito’s becoming less watch able by the week. Kennedy-Super Crazy was fun, but nothing overly great either.
King Booker’s promo was f-ing sensational by the way. He was a total heat sponge tonight. I’m smelling King-Triple H at Summerslam.
Overall it was an OK show, nothing sensational, but nothing great either. They hit a home run with Cena-Lashley and did a good job putting an exclamation point on Orton-Rhodes. What needed to be done was done well. The rest of the show was certainly just ‘there’, but fun.
Overall Grade: B-
Quick Results
Jeff Hardy def. Shelton Benjamin, William Regal & Santino Marella
Snitsky def. Val Venia
Randy Orton def. Cody Rhodes
Melina def. Mickie James
Sandman def. Carlito
Kennedy def. Super Crazy
Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?
Biggest Pops
1. John Cena
2. Lashley
3. Dusty Rhodes
4. Jeff Hardy
Most Heat
1. King Booker
2. Randy Orton
3. Mr. Kennedy
4. Melina
Match of the Night: Melina v. Mickie James *1/2
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 (18-7-1, 51 points) (Last Week: WWE Champion)— This has been a pretty great championship reign from John Cena. He channeled Lawler-Kauffman with K-Fed, put on the dream feud everyone wanted with HBK, put on one of the best matches, in my opinion of the decade, with Umaga and splayed the unstoppable Khali. Now Bobby Lashley’s up and IMO, this is his exclamation point before dropping the title at Summerslam. He buried Lashley before shooting him through the roof in one promo. Cheesy for sure, but what’s more sure is the money he’ll make both guys.
Intercontinental Champion: Umaga 16-9-1, 35 Points (Last Week: IC Champion) — Not in action this week.
1. Randy Orton 9-16-2 , 21 pts. (Last Week: 1) -- While I wasn’t overly crazy about the match with Cody Rhodes tonight, I felt it was a REALLY strong heel performance from Randy who looked like a cooler and slightly calmer version of his father tonight. He REALLY looked like an Orton.
2. Jeff Hardy 23-10-1, 43 points (Last Week- 3) — Hardy continues to sit atop the mid card with Umaga as guys who seem to represent the center of the card. In a way, this is a dream match of sorts in the mid card, at least in WWE-land. They’re easily the cream of the crop in mid card world. Hardy will die millions of deaths on Sunday.
3. Bobby Lashley 3-2, 5pts. (Last Week: 4) — Someone has GOT to tell Bob-O to stop smiling and looking calm. He just needs to be steroids mad all the time. I dig Lashley when he’s angry. I hate him the rest of the time.
4. King Booker 2-3, 3 pts. (Last Week: 5) )-- Wow, did this crowd murder Booker tonight. In terms of a heel-exclusive promo, that’s the most heat I’ve seen a heel get on WWE TV in a while. Great stuff from our Monarch tonight.
5. Carlito 9-11-3, 15pts. (Last Week: 2) )— Carlito has been utterly dull since last September. He’s done nothing of note and his matches have been absolutely awful. Flair couldn’t drag him to something interesting and he killed the heat Sandman built up on the way to the ring. Someone’s really got to take the time to work with this kid because he’s going nowhere fast.
6. Trevor Murdoch 6-10, 11pts. (Last Week: 6)-- Not in action tonight
7. Lance Cade 5-9, 9pts. (Last Week: 7)— See Murdoch.
8. Paul London 2-0, 3pts. (Last Week: 8)-- Not in action tonight.
9. Snitsky 2-0, 4pts. (Last Week: 10) -- Even I was legitimately shocked at how NOT into Snitsky the crowd was. It’s amazing to me how they’ve pushed this guy for the past five months and you could still hear a pin drop when he’s in the ring. Snitsky was a GREAT comedy character in the mid card for a little while but they blew baby kicking, man massaging fun for yellow teeth and cookie cutter heel #4,567,778. Too bad, but a win’s a win I guess.
10. Ken Kennedy 1-2, 2 pts (Last Week: NR)-- Kennedy gets a win tonight and gets on track, sort of. He seems to be floating around right now instead of plotting with King Booker. He’s such a great character but he’s in desperate need of some direction. There’s a pretty obvious lack of upper card faces on Raw right now. Once Michaels and Triple H are back, we should be in good shape. Until then, expect guys like Booker and Kennedy to continue floating.
OTHERS :
Santino Marella 5-4, 13pts. (Last Week: 9)
Shawn Michaels 10-7-1, 19 points (Last Week: INJURED)
Super Crazy 4-7-1, 7 points (Last Week: NR)
Shelton Benjamin 1-10-1, 1pt. (Last Week: NR)
Charlie Haas 1-8-1, 1pt. (Last Week: NR)
Rory 0-5, 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
Robbie 0-6 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
JTG 4-5, 5pts. (Last Week: NR)
Big Shad 3-5, 3pts. (Last Week: NR)
Val Venis 0-3 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
Triple H 2-0, 4pts (Last Week: INJURED)
William Regal 1-1, 2pts (Last Week: NR)
The Sandman 1-2, 2pts. (Last Week: NR)
Daivari 0-1, 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
Mick Foley 0-1-1, 0 pts. (Last Week: NR)
Brian Kendrick 1-0, 1pt. (Last Week: NR)
Cody Rhodes 0-1, 0pts. (Last Week: NR)