On Monday, June 2, 2008 at 11:52 PM EST WWE RAW
June 2, 2008
Bakersfield, CA
Commentators: Jim Ross & Jerry “The King” Lawler
Reported By: Hunter Golden of WrestleView.com
WWE Champion Triple H came out to the ring and started talking about how the Age of Orton was over. He put over how Orton was in the hospital with a broken collar bone and he was still WWE Champion. He said he didn’t know who was next and frankly, he didn’t care. The John Cena’s music hit and he came to the ring.
Cena came out and said everyone wasn’t wondering about the future as Triple H said. He said the Future was Now. He said he didn’t hate Triple H at all. Heck, they agreed on a lot of things. Except the WWE Championship. Cena said Triple H had conquered them all. Except for him.
With the next WWE Draft coming up, they might never get the opportunity again, so he had a question for the fans. Are they ready?
Triple H said a big star in the wrestling world looked at him dead in the eye and said ‘if you want some, come get some’. That was before Jeff Hardy’s music hit.
Hardy interjected himself by saying that three guys won matches last night, and he was also one of them. Hardy said as far as he was concerned, he AND Cena were in line for the title. Triple H said he didn’t care which one he beat. He said he was pretty much done here. Jeff said that was fine. He just wanted to make sure he got his. He challenged Cena to a shot at a shot tonight.
Vince McMahon came out on the Titan Tron and said he knew what everyone wanted. Vince said Jeff’s idea wasn’t bad, but he had a better one. What if Triple H defended the WWE Championship at Night of Champions and what if we had a match, first time ever, between Jeff and Cena. By gawd, he stole Jeff’s idea. Funnnnnyy? Not so much.
****Commercial****
Mr. Kennedy v. Paul Burchill (w/ Katie Lee)
Burchill got on the mic and said unfortunately he needed to help Katie win her first women’s division match tonight. Instead, he found a replacement.
Mr. Kennedy v. Umaga
Umaga shoulder blocked Kennedy to the mat and began unloading n him with right hands to the noggin’. Umaga missed a splash and Kennedy went right for the taped ribs of the Samoan bulldozer.
The fun didn’t last long, however, as Umaga caught Kennedy in a brutal Samoan Drop. Umaga slapped on the neck vice before getting punched in the ribs some more. Umaga went to chuck Kennedy to the outside, but Kennedy landed on the apron instead. Umaga quickly hit him with a throat thrust. Umaga went to the apron to hit a big splash and completely whiffed, crashing ribs-first into the ring table.
Kennedy crawled back into the ring and counted along with the referee as Umaga flailed around on the floor. Umaga was unable to answer the count.
Winner: Mr. Kennedy via count out
After the match, Burchill attacked Kennedy from behind and left him in a heap inside the ring.
The million dollars cash is in the house..
****Commercial****
Vince McMahon came out and it’s time to give away a million dollars in cash. Vince introduced “Million Dollars” and Million Dollars came out to it’s own theme music and sat next to McMahon. Vince had the guards load a million dollars in cash into a clear case on the stage.
Vince said he might give away a ton of money, he might not. He said by the end of next week, he’d have given it all away. He said we could all get in on the action and register on WWE.com.
Vince said he wants to do this to attract more people to watch what we watch. He wants as many people to tune in as possible. Vince smashed the people that looked down their noses at Wrestling. Vince said he wasn’t allowing any snobs to bring the WWE down. He fired the crowd up some more and said next week would be all about the money.
****Commercial****
Carlito & Santino Marella v. Cody Rhodes & Hardcore Holly
Rowdy Roddy Piper is the special time keeper for the match.
Santino gained a quick advantage on Cody Rhodes with some right hands but quickly was upended with a cross body block. Santino fought back with a body slam before tagging in Carlito. Rhodes launched some punches to try and stay in this thing, but quickly got power bombed by Carlito.
Marella tagged in and missed an elbow drop before Hardcore Holly tagged in and laid out the Italian with some right hands and a back body drop. Holly booted Marella in the fun bag before eating a boot himself in the face. Piper grabbed Marella’s foot and tripped him up.
Holly went for the Alabama Slam, but Marella rolled through thanks to a Carlito boot and got the three count.
Winners: Carlito & Santino Marella via pin fall
Piper was uber frustrated after the match.
****Commercial****
Santino Marella was in the back with Carlito talking about being a winner. He talked about what he’d do to Cousin Sal this Friday on Smackdown.
Holly got a little angry with Cody Rhodes in the back and ended up storming off. Ted Dibiase, JR walked in and said he’d be picking his partner in a few weeks and Rhodes and Holly had better be ready.
****Commercial****
WWE Intercontinental Championship
Chris Jericho v. JBL
JBL grabbed a quick first headlock before Jericho came back and used an arm wringer to leverage JBL to the mat. JBL connected with a STIFF right hand before beating Jericho down in the corner. He kept up the pressure with a neck breaker before dropping a series of elbow drops.
JBL went for a cover but only got a two count. JBL slapped on the full nelson and waved Jericho all around in an attempt to get him to pass out. Jericho fought out of the hold and looked for something off the ropes but was instead caught with a shoulder block and put back down to the mat.
JBL perched Jericho on the ropes and hammered away at him before Jericho fought back and began to beat him back a bit. Jericho hit a tornado DDT off the top rope and both men were laid out on the mat.
The two exchanged blows before Jericho began hitting shoulder blocks and clotheslines. He went for the Walls of Jericho, but JBL tossed him off. JBL bull charged him but Jericho tripped him up into the second rope and hit a running knee. Jericho came at JBL HARD with some punches and a few kicks before going for a cross body block.
JBL caught Jericho in mid air and hit his fall away slam on Jericho to give himself an ‘in’ back into the match. JBL loaded up the clothesline from hell, but whiffed and was drop kicked to the floor. Jericho went for a baseball slide drop kick, but JBL side stepped him and Jericho crashed to the floor.
JBL grabbed a chair and scared off the referee who called for the DQ.
Winner: Chris Jericho via DQ
Jericho got hold of the weapon after the match but didn’t seem too eager to beat his face in with the chair. Jericho, frustrated again, tossed the chair aside and walked to the back.
****Commercial****
The money is still on the stage.
Beth Phoenix & Katie Lea v. Melina & Mickie James
Katie Lea and Mickie started things off and needless to say, Katie didn’t get the best welcome. Mickie wrapped her up and went to tag Melina, but Melina is completely focused on Beth in some sort of catatonic state.
Beth tagged in and her and Mickie went at it before Melina just went BERSERK on Beth. A Diva match is actually getting some heat. Katie and Mickie separated the two before Beth ABSOLUTELY DESTROYED MELINA with a lariat. Beth tossed her into the ring apron before tossing her carcass into the ring.
Katie Lea tagged in and hit a scoop slam and went for an elbow but no one was home. Mickie tagged in and cleaned house. Mickie hit a thesz press off the top on Katie Lea before whipping her to the ropes only to eat a kick to the back. Mickie went for the implant DDT but Katie tossed her off and Beth caught her in mid air with a lariat before scooting back under the ropes to allow Katie Lea to get the cover and the win.
Winners: Katie Lea & Beth Phoenix via pin fall
Paul Burchill came out to congratulate his sister on the victory, but got jumped and summarily chased off by Kennedy.
****Commercial****
Cryme Tyme came out and the security around the money jumped to attention.
Lance Cade v. Trevor Murdoch
Trevor got on the mic and said he got beat down by Lance Cade last week and sang us a song before the match. So expressive.
Murdoch came at Cade and chased him to the outside but punched the ring post and that didn’t work out to well. Cade back dropped him to the floor and tossed him back into the ring only to wrap his head around the ring post with a knee.
Cade smashed away on Murdoch’s head before claming on a neck vice trying to get a submission. Cade hit another knee to the head but Murdoch fought him back and hit an inverted atomic drop followed by a big boot for a two count.
Murdoch began hitting a series of cross faces before booting Cade in the face. Cade’s nose is bleeding now and Murdoch went for the flying axe handle before Cade hit a sit down power bomb for the win.
Winner: Lance Cade via pin fall
Jeff Hardy’s warming up in the back for his match with John Cena.
****Commercial****
JR and King recapped Edge’s victory over the Undertaker to win the World Heavyweight Championship and end the career of the dead man.
John Cena stopped in to check in on Mickie James. He said he wanted to apologize for all the attention she’s been getting and the gossip of everyone /*. Cena said she left something behind last night too and handed her her underwear. Mickie walked off while Cena took what looked like a shot.
WWE Champion Triple H sat down to watch the Jeff Hardy-John Cena match coming up next!
****Commercial****
#1 Contender’s Match
John Cena v. Jeff Hardy
The two locked horns and Cena grabbed a side headlock. Hardy couldn’t toss him off and rode the hold for a little while until Cena took him off his feet. A fan tried to jump in the ring and Cena and Hardy chuckled a bit before getting back to business.
Hardy grabbed a head lock of his own before he took Cena down to the mat. Cena struggled before tossing Hardy off the ropes and nailing him with a hip toss and a few elbows before going to the trusty rear chin lock of doom.
Hardy tossed Cena off and he’s got some hip tosses for Cena and then uncorked a snap suplex for a quick near fall before going right back to the side headlock.
Cena tossed Hardy off the hold and tripped him up looking for the STFU but couldn’t hit it and fled to the outside. Hardy wasted no time in going right at him, drop kicking him through the ropes and launching himself over the top rope, crashing into the former champion on the outside.
****Commercial****
We came back just in time for a Hardy near fall. He gathered Cena and pushed him to the corner only to eat two big right hands and find himself on the bad end of a John Cena suplex for a two count.
Cena charged Jeff in the corner and whiffed badly and ate a mule kick for a two count. Cena hit a kick to the gut and connected with a snap mare for a two count. Hardy reversed and Irish whip and hit an inverted suplex before signaling for something big. He went to the top rope and missed a Swanton bomb but Cena was too wasted to capitalize.
Cena ducked under a clothesline and went into his victory sequence and the crowd’s amped. Cena hit the five knuckle shuffle and prepared to hit the FU. Hardy fought out of the hold and hit a forearm and now he’s in victory sequence. Hardy hit a vicious catapult drop kick in the corner for a two count, but Cena’s the one kicking out now.
Hardy connected with whisper in the wind and got a 2 and like nine million tenths count on the cover attempt and the crowd is INTO it. Cena caught Hardy in the FU out of a twist of fate counter, but Hardy wiggled out again and drop kicked Cena to the mat. He went for a cross body block but Cena caught him and rolled through into a UNREAL FU for the three count and the win.
Winner: John Cena via pin fall
Cena’s celebration didn’t last long as Triple H’s music came to the stage looking like he approved. The two stared each other down on the ramp and Cena pointed to the belt. RAW THOUGHTSShow Thoughts-- A step in the right direction tonight for sure, but this show, and the last couple of shows for that matter, have just smacked of killing time for the Draft as was the case last year around this time.
The GOOD thing about this time of year though, is that we generally get some good stuff from the mid card and right now, we’ve got a LOT of fun things going on away from belts and all of that hullabaloo.
First off I want to give a tip of the cap to the Diva tag tonight, which was probably the most entertaining Diva tag I’ve seen in what seems like forever. Melina’s talent is really beginning to shine through now. The problem with the Divas is that people tend to look and expect execution from these girls and while it’s totally reasonable to do so, I think it causes people to over look wrestlers like Melina. She’s a total throwback to something out of the 70s in the sense that she’s very old school in the way she works. Her wrestling is what it is, but it’s the constant cheating, taunting and other heel-ish stuff that’s made her IMO, the most unique act on the diva roster.
That seems to have translated well in her baby face work thus far. They’ve kept the fire about her character and used her anger and feisty attitude there, but using it in a way that’s helping her garner sympathy and support from the crowd. Her emotion alone really just made the segment tonight, so to one of the WWE’s more underappreciated talents, I give a tip of the cap.
And who’d have thought a feud with a mid carder and a relatively new talent would be working this well so far. The Kennedy-Burchill program has been a lot of fun so far and will give Burchill some exposure while helping Kennedy find a good starting point for what I’m sure will be an elongated push once it’s over. So kudos there, too.
The Cade-Murdoch match, while it seemed a bit too much, too soon, was still a fun and at times, brutal match. Both these guys are well past tagging together, so it’s good to see the WWE giving these two a shot to go it alone. I fully expect both to move on Draft Day, although it’ll likely be in different directions.
While I think the Triple H-Cena match sort of lacks some momentum, I think it’ll produce a high quality match at Night of the Champions. Right now, it seems to me that the WWE’s got plans for other characters over the remainder of the summer and they just seem to be going with the biggest money match they’ve got (and it’s a big one) before going back to the rest of the card and focusing on that. I’m deeply intrigued to see where Cena ends up if he doesn’t win.
Speaking of him, what a match with Jeff Hardy tonight. Cena trying to keep things plodding and grounded, Hardy trying to keep it moving. Simple for sure, but really well executed on both guys’ part. Easily the best in ring performance of the night.
All in all though, despite a lot to be ‘cool’ with, I can’t shake the feeling of meaninglessness and I don’t mean that in a ‘these guys don’t know what they’re doing’ way, but more of a ‘let’s get this crap out of the way so we can get to the fun stuff’.
And I’ll make the call right now, Jericho gets a title shot soon.
Overall Grade: B-
Quick Results
Kennedy def. Umaga
Carlito & Santino Marella def. Cody Rhodes & Hardcore Holly
Chris Jericho def. JBL
Katie Lea & Beth Phoenix def. Mickie James & Melina
Lance Cade def. Trevor Murdoch
John Cena def. Jeff Hardy
Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?
Biggest Pops
1. Triple H
2. Jeff Hardy
3. John Cena
4. Chris Jericho
Most Heat
1. Umaga
2. JBL
3. Santino Marella
4. Paul Burchill
Match of the Night: John Cena v. Jeff Hardy ***
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: Triple H 12-7, 28pts.(Last Week: WWE Champion) -- Pretty easy night on the job tonight and decent job finally dispatching of Orton last night at One Night Stand. His reign has lacked energy thus far, but hopefully a Cena defense will get the buzz going again.
Intercontinental Champion: Chris Jericho 10-10-1, 21pts. (Last Week: IC Champion)-- Easily the most interesting thing going on the show right now. Seems to be playing a tweener, but could easily end up as a heel. There’s a spot to fill with Orton on the shelf for a bit, and Jericho might be the guy to fill it.
1. John Cena 11-7, 19 points. (Last Week: 4) -- Back to back wins over JBL and Jeff Hardy and losses by everyone /* in front of him vault Cena into the #1 spot this week. He’s a serious threat to Triple H’s title reign, and could darn well walk out of Night of Champions with the title back around his waist.
2. Shawn Michaels 15-3-1, 20pts. (Last Week: 2) -- Took a heck of a beating in the loss last night. His record’s great and he’s high on this list, but he’s clearly on the outside looking still in terms of the title picture.
3. Randy Orton 10-9-2, 20pts. (Last Week: 2) -- Shame he got injured the way he did last night, but thems is the way it goes sometimes. It’ll be interesting to see where he ends up upon his return. Even if it wasn’t planned, the time off will do him some good.
4. Ken Kennedy 9-6, 20pts. (Last Week: 6)-- Seems to be getting his groove back, especially as a baby face. The Regal stuff was fun and now the Burchill stuff is proving to be fun. He’s a ways away from being a serious title contender, but the Burchill program will be the first step towards that, imo.
5. JBL 9-12, 16 points (Last Week: 4)-- Not the best weekend for JBL, who after sniffing .500, takes two tough losses to Jericho and John Cena. He’s the one guy I wish the WWE’d really start pushing at the top of the card again, but there’s still a lot of time left to fill in the blanks. He’d be another guy who I think could more than fill Orton’s shoes for a while as the heel to beat.
6. Jeff Hardy 8-7-1, 16pts. (Last Week: 7)-- Hardy gets suspended, comes back and he looks better than he did when he was suspended. All three matches he’s had have been really enjoyable. The Cena match was a VERY strong performance from him.
7. Umaga 6-10, 11 points (Last Week: 5) -- Looks a little tired and a little beat up. The draft cant’ get here soon enough. He’ll quickly slide into a spot on Smackdown and instantly contend with some fresh stuff, which despite his enormous talent level, is something he could REALLY use right now.
8. Santino Marella 5-3, 5 points (Last Week: 9) -- Marella was ok tonight in the ring, but of course, the Cousin Sal match on Smackdown should be a gas.
9. Carlito 9-6, 13 pts. (Last Week: NR) -- Played a pretty minimal role in his tag victory tonight, but a win’s a win.
10. Hardcore Holly 5-5, 5pts. (Last Week: 9)-- Slides back to the #10 spot with a bleh performance and taking the fall in his team’s loss tonight.
OTHERS :
Cody Rhodes 4-4, 4 points (Last Week: NR)
William Regal, 3-4, 9 points (Last Week: 8)
Paul London 3-4, 3 points(Last Week: NR)
Jerry Lawler 0-1, 0 points (Last Week: NR)
Lance Cade 1-5, 2 points (Last Week: NR)
Brian Kendrick, 3-8, 3 points (Last Week: NR)
Trevor Murdoch 0-8, 0 points (Last Week: NR)
Super Crazy 0-3, 0 points (Last Week: NR)
Paul Birch all 3-0, 6 points (Last Week: 10)
Harry Smith 0-1, 0 points (Last Week: NR)
Jim Duggan 0-1, 0 points (Last Week: NR)
Rory 0-2, 0 points (Last Week: NR)
Charlie Haas 0-1, 0 points (Last Week: NR)
Robbie 0-2, 0 points (Last Week: NR)
Mick Foley 1-0, 1 point (Last Week: NR)
Sgt. Slaughter 0-0. 0 pts. (Last Week: NR)
Val Venis 0-1 0pts. (Last Week: NR)
Snitsky 1-5, 2 points (Last Week: NR)
JTG 1-1, 3 points (Last Week: NR)
Big Shaad 1-1, 1 point (Last Week: NR)
Ted Dibiase, Jr. 0-0, 0 Points (Last Week: NR)