� On Monday, June 27, 2005 at 11:34 PM EST WWE Raw
June 27, 2005
Anaheim, CA
Commentators: Jim Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler
Reported by: Hunter Golden of WrestleView.com
The opening pyro hit and here we go!
JR, the Coach, and King welcomed us to the Arrowhead Pond.
Kurt Angle’s music hit the arena and he made his way down to the ring. He grabbed the mic and said that at Wrestlemania 21 he made Shawn Michaels tap out. Last night at Vengeance, he said, Shawn got lucky. He said that tied the series one to one. He said that every single one of them would love to see the two face each other one on one later tonight. Angle said it wouldn’t happen though. He said he made HBK tap at Wrestlemania and that counts twice. He said that he was there for another man, Batista, the World Heavyweight Champion. He said last week he didn’t get a chance to defeat Batista because Triple H stuck his big nose in his business and cost him the match. He said that he had beaten everyone in this business that there was to beat and that there wasn’t a person alive that could say otherwise. Just as he said that, Ric Flair’s music hit the arena.
Flair made his way down to the ring, pointing at Angle and did a little strut in the ring. Angle asked Flair what the hell he was doing out there. Flair said he wanted to shake his hand. He said he wanted to re-enforce every word Angle said. He said in his book, he said if Angle stays healthy, he can be the greatest of all time. He put him over as an Olympic gold medallist and that he wants his son to be like Angle and not like him. He said he wants his son to be as good as Angle. Ric Flair said he was a mark for Kurt Angle. He said he got so good, so fast, so quick it was incredible. Flair said that he didn’t think Angle wasn’t the man yet. He said Triple H was. Angle said he wasn’t going to talk folks into getting Triple H another title match. Flair said he wasn’t out there to do that. He said Triple H and Batista categorized themselves as great last night.
Angle said Flair was looking at great and the best in the business. He told him to go to the back, drink his insure, take a nap, and get out of the ring before he gets hurt. Flair asked him if he ever crashed in an airplane, because that’s what getting hurt is. Flair said if he put a hold on him he couldn’t get out of, he’d bite his finger off. He said he’d pull his testicles off. Flair said he’d hurt Angle if he screwed with him. Angle said he proved he was the dirtiest player in the game. Flair said he loves that. Angle said he tried to be nice, and if he’s not careful, he’ll go back and ask Bischoff for a match against Flair later tonight. Flair said Vince McMahon was drooling thinking about that. Angle cut him off and made the match. The two then woo’d off against each other. Flair strutted and jumped out of the ring whoo-ing all the way down the aisle and the segment was over.
JR put the final two draft picks over and we’ll find out about them later tonight.
Coach put over the Diva contest and King put over Eric Bischoff’s comments regarding John Cena after last night’s show.
****Commercial****
JR welcomed us back and thanked the fans for helping make Vengeance so memorable and put over the WWE.com web site.
Footage was shown of Jericho and Christian arguing over last night’s match.
The two were arguing and Bischoff came in and said he had a solution for their problem. He said there would be a six-man tag match tomorrow night on Raw. He said tomorrow night it would be Tyson Tomko, Christian, and Jericho v. John Cena and two mystery partners. Christian and Jericho argued to end the segment. JR put over that Cena didn’t have any friends on Raw.
Edge w/ Lita & Snitsky v. Smackdown Lottery Pick and Kane
Edge and Snitsky came out first and then came Kane. His partner and the second lottery pick is.
The match began pre-maturely as Kane smashed Edge with a steel chair before chasing Lita and Edge through the arena, leaving Snitsky in the ring. Eric Bischoff’s music hit and he came out. He said it was scheduled to be a tag team match, but since it didn’t work out it would be Snitsky v. the draft pick.
Winner: No CONTEST
The draft pick was...THE BIG SHOW
The Big Show v. Gene Snitsky
The two stared each other down in the ring. Snitsky hauled off with a right, which was returned. The two exchanged rights before Show threw Snitsky into the ropes. Snitsky caught him with a kick but failed to connect with his punches. Show through Snitsky from corner to corner, landing chops and punches on each exchange. Show put the big long boot to Snitsky’s face. He pulled him out of the corner and landed a big head butt to Snitsky’s head. He hit a snap suplex. Snitsky reeled into the corner where he got nailed with another big punch before Show knocked him to the mat with a clothesline. Show Irish whipped Snitsky to the opposite corner but was met with a boot.
Snitsky came charging out of the corner, but got caught on the business end of a Big Show choke slam and the 1, 2, 3.
Winner: The Big Show
After the match, Big Show posed for the fans.
JR said the draft had been kind to Raw.
****Commercial****
Maria was in the back and introduced WWE Champion, John Cena.
Maria asked him and couldn’t get the question out. She said she forgot it. Cena said it wasn’t a big deal and no one was watching anyway. He told Maria to saunter off and try to remember the question then come back and ask it. She exited stage left.
Cena said that Eric Bischoff had some problems with him. Cena said he overcame all odds last night at Vengeance. He said he needed to find partners for tonight’s six-man tag team match. He introduced Shawn Michaels as his first partner.
HBK welcomed him to the ‘snake pit’ of Monday Night Raw. He said there were two of them but they were one short. HBK said he was on the ‘405’ with a one way ticket to the Anaheim Pond. Cena said tonight would be full of surprises.
Maria came back and remembered her question which was whether or not Cena had a tag team partner. Cena shook his head and HBK made a wise crack.
The Diva search contestants were shown in the back getting ready as Coach said they’d be introduced to everyone later tonight.
Edge and Lita were shown running through the hallways. Edge stashed Lita in one of the dressing room. While she was in the room getting her things together, Kane sneaked up on her and grabbed her by the throat. Kane said he’d squeeze every last breath out of her and take his time doing it. He said this was just the beginning and it would be fun. He said he’d make her life a living hell. He left Lita gasping for air.
****Commercial****
We came back to hear that the match was made official, that we’d see Kurt Angle v. Ric Flair later tonight.
Chris Masters was in the ring.
Master Lock Challenge
Masters said he was upping the ante for the master lock challenge to $14,000. He challenged anyone in the back to come break the master lock. Tajiri’s music hit the arena and he made his way to the ring.
Masters told him to realize that it was American money and worth way more than Japanese Yen is. Masters asked him if he understood anything he was saying. Tajiri said he did to a laugh from the crowd. Tajiri called him a ‘master jackass”. Masters tweaked and came after Tajiri but got nailed with a kick to the face.
The two brawled around the ring and eventually Masters clamped on the master lock. Tajiri fought back a bit, but he eventually passed out. Masters grabbed the mic and said it didn’t matter if you are American, Japanese, Chinese, or Mexican, no one would break his master lock. Masters said he wasn’t going to ask for anymore respect, he was going to demand it. Masters grabbed Tajiri by the hair and asked him if he’d respect him. Tajiri spat his green mist at him and ran from the ring as Masters rolled around the ring in pain.
The Divas were shown in the back again getting ready for tonight’s Diva search.
****Commercial****
The WWE rewind aired and the footage was of Carlito winning the Intercontinental Championship last Monday Night on Raw.
Carlito’s music hit the arena for Raw’s first edition of the Cabana
Carlito’s Cabana
Carlito said tonight was history in the making that this was the premier edition of Carlito’s cabana on Raw. He said he was only on Raw a week and that he had made a huge impact already. He said his show would replace the Highlight Reel as the best show on Raw. He said he wouldn’t play Fozzy’s music on his show either. He said he also replaced Shelton Benjamin as Intercontinental Champion.
He said all wasn’t well though. He said his guest on the cabana tonight would be the final draft lottery pick from Smackdown. He said the streak of good picks has come to an end. He said he didn’t want to make a big deal about it so he just asked him to come out there.
The final lottery pick is...ROB VAN DAM
Carlito said ‘wow’ sarcastically. He said Erich Bischoff was right about the injured ‘lemon’. He said the last time he saw him was in the middle of the ring at ECW: One Night Stand. He said he was in the ring whining and complaining about the only opportunity he had to speak was only saying the word ‘cool’. He said that was ironic.
Van Dam said that was funny. RVD said when he thought of Carlito he thought of fruit. He said the last time he saw him, Carlito was getting his ‘ass smoked’ by the ECW wrestlers at the pay per view. Van Dam said he’d keep speaking. He said he was the most unique guy in the WWE. He said it’d stay with him no matter where he ever will go. Van Dam said he’d take Raw to the extreme. He said it would be the return of Mr. Monday Night.
Carlito said it would be cute but that the truth was he was still injured and that he liked it that way. Carlito kicked his knee out and then went after RVD’s knee brace. He took the grill next to the beach chair and nailed RVD’s knee off of it. He grabbed his belt and a bite of his apple and spat on RVD to end the segment.
****Commercial****
Kurt Angle v. Ric Flair
Flair woo’d at Angle and strutted around the ring. Angle was trying not to smile. The two locked up and Angle hit a side headlock takedown, but Flair got out of it. The two locked up again and Flair tried to get Angle in a headlock but was unsuccessful and the two stared down again.
Angle whipped Flair off the ropes but Flair held up and strutted some more. Angle came charging in frustrated, and was dumped over the ropes to the outside. Flair followed him out and landed some big chops before tossing Angle back in the ring. Angle talked some smack from the opposite corner before they locked up again.
Flair took him down and held him in a hammer lock but had it reversed. Angle put him in a version of a border city stretch which Flair couldn’t get out of. Flair got smacked a bit but then fish hooked Angle’s mouth. Flair ripped Angle’s nose.
Frustrated, Angle charged again and got thumbs and nails to the eyes, both backing into the corner. Angle reversed some Flair chops and hit some upper cuts of hit own before tossing Flair to the outside. Angle retrieved him and attempted to bang his head off the steps but Flair reversed it and Angle ate the steel. Flair rolled him back in the ring but Angle kept rolling all the way to the other side. Flair followed him and landed some more chops up against the guard rail.
Flair hit some punches but caught a thumb to the eye and a belly to belly overhead throw to the mat. The two laid exhausted Angle on the inside of the ring, and Flair on the outside, as we went to commercial.
****Commercial****
We came back with Angle having Flair balled up in a cross arm-breaker. Over the break, he had whipped Flair into the steel steps.
Flair fought to his feet as Angle backed him into the corner. Angle landed some more right hands before knocking Flair back to the outside. Flair reeled off the guard rails as Angle pursued him. Flair landed some chops and then tossed him back in. He rolled right into an Angle axe handle. Angle attempted a counter but only got a two count. Angle locked in an STF, attempting to get Flair to quite. Flair started biting like crazy on Angle, biting the hell out of his thumb. Angle reeled back in pain but Flair came right after him teeth shining and took another nibble on Angle’s right thumb.
The action spilled to the outside again with Flair hitting even more chops but ending up caught by an Angle back body drop onto the mats. Angle shoved Flair back in the ring and attempted the cover but only got a two count. He pulled Flair to his feet and attempted some more punches but Flair ducked under and hit some chops before taking angle down with a reverse elbow. Flair attempted an elbow drop but Angle moved out of the way but didn’t fool Flair. Flair followed the roll and landed the elbow. Flair then scaled the ropes but Angle quickly met him.
The two exchanged blows but Angle tried to catch him in an angle slam. The two lost their footing and Flair tumbled to the floor. Angle ripped him back in the ring and hit a modified version of the angle slam, but Flair actually kicked out. Angle then snatched up Flair’s ankle in the ankle lock as Flair struggled to move out. Flair turned over and grabbed Angle by the testicles and broke the hold. He kept coming after Angle’s gonads before hitting the Olympic Gold Medallist with a chop block from behind. Flair took Angle by the legs and stomped on Angle’s testicles again and clamed on the figure four. Angle almost tapped but Angle turned it over. Flair reversed it back though, and Angle struggled before Angle got to the ropes.
Angle was slumped in the corner and Flair landed some more chops and some punches. Angle punched his way out and Flair missed with a right and got caught in the first of Angle’s three German suplexes. Flair grabbed the ref to distract him still in the hold and kicked Angle in the testicles again. Flair hit a vertical suplex and went for the cover but only got a two count. Flair backed up Angle in to the corner and hit two or three chops before sticking Angle in a shin breaker. As Angle landed though he snatched up Flair’s leg and stuck him in the ankle lock. Flair attempted to get to the ropes but Angle dragged him back and grape-vined the leg. Flair tapped shortly thereafter.
Winner: Kurt Angle via submission
The announcers put over the Diva search, which is NEXT!
****Commercial****
Coach was standing in the ring and announced it was time for the Diva search and welcomed Christy Hemme to help host the first segment.
Coach introduced the finalists for the diva search. The first contestant was Ashley. Leila, Summer, Crystal, Elizabeth, Simona, Cameron, and finally Alexis came to the ring.
Christy said being a Diva was the best job in the world. Coach said you could be on the cover of Playboy, wrestle for the women’s championship at Wrestlemania, or get your but kicked at Vengeance by Victoria. Christy said she should ask Vince McMahon if she could punch coach in the nuts.
Coach went to announce the contest, but then Viscera’s music hit the arena.
Viscera came out and snatched the mic from a squawking Coach. Viscera said everyone was tired of Coach running his mouth. He said that Big Visc and the people wanted to see some hot, sexy action. He said these women couldn’t be bashful and loosen up. They needed to get sexy. He said especially when it comes to him and he swerved his hips. Christy agreed with him and said the audience would believe him a lot more if they answered their questions in their bra and panties. Coach agreed and said he was glad he thought of it.
Ashley introduced herself first and said she was going to show them what she had ‘taking it down before jacking off her clothes.
Leila was up next and she introduced herself. She said she wasn’t told that underwear was a requirement and said she wasn’t wearing anything underneath her dress. She said no one would work harder to please the fans than her.
Summer said it was “summer time’ and stripped down to her knickers.
Crystal said what’s up and said she had some reasons to pick her and took off her shirt and shorts. She flinched a bunch and went back in line.
Elizabeth came out and she said she was a sporty type of girl. He was in a sports bra and stuff. She got booed.
Simona said she was a hot blond Italian girl and liked big bad boys. She peeled her shorts off and showed us her thong.
Cameron was up next and she’s from Florida. She said that blondes couldn’t have more fun than brunettes do and peeled off her shirt and said she was all natural and had brains.
Alexis was last. She said she wasn’t here to play nice. She said if we wanted cute, go buy a puppy, She ripped out a beer and poured it on herself and ran around. She said to beat the woman they’d have to beat the woman.
Viscera said they all looked damn good and asked the people if they wanted to see the ladies dance with him tonight. He danced and the ladies surrounded him. JR and King put over this week’s voting.
Sgt. Slaughter’s music then hit the arena and he came out, mic in hand. He told them that next week the contest would officially begin. He told all the Raw Diva contestants to report for duty next week. He said they needed to show up chins up and chests out. He said next week on the fourth of July, there’d be an obstacle course set up in the ring and it’d be the first ever Sgt. Slaughter “bikini boot camp’. He said next week they would be all his, all his and that was an order.
Christy said next week that’d be great, but this week they just needed to dance. They all danced to end the segment.
JR put over the voting next week yet again and King drooled.
The Six Man Tag Match is Next!
****Commercial****
Todd Grisham was in the back with Batista, who was noticeably banged up.
Grisham asked him how he was feeling. Batista said he had holes in his back, holes in his head, and he felt like he was in a war. He said the two went to war plain and simple. He said Triple H and the cell took something from him he’d never get back. Grisham asked him if it was worth it. Batista said ‘you bet your ass it was worth it’ and that he’d do it all over again. He said he was champ and it didn’t get bigger than that.
Jericho, Christian, and Tomko were in the back. They were wondering who the partner would be. Jericho thought it was Jannetty, but Christian said he was in jail. Christian said he thought it was Nash, but Jericho said he’d tear his quad picking up the phone. Tomko wondered if it was and was interrupted by Christian who said ‘we are close to Hollywood”. They all said ‘nah’ and the segment ended.
****Commercial****
Christian and Tomko made their way to the ring first, followed by Chris Jericho. John Cena came out next and grabbed the mic. He said he had brought some friends with him. He said he brought two new members of the chain gang with him and introduced his first partner, Shawn Michaels. HBK did his routine and grabbed the mic.
Shawn Michaels said without further adieu the mystery partner was, his favorite tag team partner Hulk Hogan.
****Commercial****
Christian, Tyson Tomko, and Chris Jericho v. John Cena, Shawn Michaels, and Hulk Hogan
Cena and Jericho started the match off and Jericho assumed control quickly. Jericho whipped Cena to the opposite corner and attempted the follow up but caught a boot and a clothesline. Cena got a hard hip-lock take down before dragging Jericho to the corner and tagging in Shawn Michaels.
HBK landed some chops before Jericho reversed it and attempted the whip but it got reversed yet again and more chops were landed. HBK then landed a flying forearm and intercepted an incoming Tomko and Christian. Jericho caught HBK coming in and went for a cover but only got a one count. He choked HBK up against the ropes before tagging in Tomko.
Tomko landed a big sidewalk slam before tagging in Christian. Christian connected with a boot and followed it up with a neck breaker. He went for the cover but only got the two. Christian backed him up into the corner and tagged in Jericho after distracting the ref.
Jericho clamped on a rear chin lock as the crowd attempted to rally HBK. Michaels fought out with some elbows and sent Jericho into the ropes but it was reversed and Jericho connected with the high knee. He tagged in Christian and the two landed some punches before Jericho left.
Christian immediately tagged in Tomko who choked the heck out of HBK on the mat. Jericho tagged in and slapped Michaels and landed some chops. Jericho taunted him a bit but got chopped. The two exchanged chops but Jericho connected with his running bulldog. Jericho went for the Lion-sault but HBK avoided it. HBK crawled to the corner and tagged Hogan.
He blocked the Tomko punch and nailed him. Christian and Jericho came in as well and got the same treatment. He forearmed Tomko and went for his own five knuckle shuffle but Christian jumped him. Tomko and Christian pounded him on the ground but Hogan hulked up. He cracked their heads together and pointed at Tomko as HBK nailed Christian with sweet chin music. Hogan hit the three punches, the big boot and the leg drop for the 1, 2, 3 pin fall and the victory.
Winners: John Cena, Hulk Hogan, and Shawn Michaels via pin-fall
The three posed in the middle of the ring after the match. HBK put on Hogan’s bandana and Hogan raised both of their hands in victory. Cena stopped Hogan from leaving the ring to get Hogan to pose. Cena and Hogan listened for the crowd on each side of the ring. They posed for everyone and celebrated in the ring. Cena did an HBK pose and let him get in on the posing. HBK posed with the Hulk as Cena got out of the ring out of respect and bowed down to both of them. Hogan and HBK posed for the crowd and left the ring as the show went off the air. RAW THOUGHTSThe Good-- Tonight’s show had a very old school feel to it for some reason and I liked that. Raw really had that ‘anything can happen’ feel to it, at least from a mark’s perspective. Flair and Angle had a great television match that was a ton of fun. If the WWE want to cram all of these promos and diva segments in and cut down on the wrestling, less is sometimes more. Giving us three good matches instead of five crappy ones is always better and maybe that’s the way they’re headed.
As for the draft picks, brilliant.
Big Show is probably the most predictable pick of the draft of either brand, in my opinion. It is a good pick though. There’s tons of him to do and with all the heels on Raw, the show needed another face. He can feud with Masters, Edge, Christian, Angle, Triple H, etc. He’s the kind of guy you have around who can restart a push much like Flair did for Angle tonight.
Rob Van Dam wasn’t AS obvious but not very shocking either. Raw lacked a high flyer so to me, it seemed apparent that Rey Mysterio or Rob Van Dam would be the obvious choice. I leaned more towards Mysterio than Van Dam, but with all the big guys on Raw, Van Dam is certainly the better fit.
As for who's leaving for Smackdown, my picks are Batista and Shawn Michaels. Smackdown is going to hit it big this week. They have to. Batista makes complete sense and with Big Show being drafted to Raw, they can squeeze him in at the tapings tonight. He'll be the only big man there and the dominant force on the show. HBK is a little more unlikely, but with Janetty scheduled to be on Smackdown eventually, I'm seeing HBK moving over and possibly beginning a feud over there. He's the kind of star power they need. If it's not HBK, i've got a hunch it's going to be Shelton Benjamin. Smackdown needs the star power though, especially if they're moving to Friday nights. My guess would be Michaels.
Hogan was a nice sort of surprise and it was fun to see the leg drop again. Again, Cena gets the big rub on the Raw brand, just having Hogan and HBK in the ring with him. The ‘my favorite tag team partner’ line screams Janetty-HBK coming shortly. It’ll likely be happening on Smackdown.
The Bad-- We got exactly 3 wrestling matches tonight. One was a total squash, one was just for pops, and the other was actually quite good. The in ring product still needs to improve. Tonight’s lack of matches may have SOMETHING to do with Smackdown being taped as of my typing these words, but still.
The Master Lock challenge is getting stale quick. Actually, it’s been stale. Next week should be Big Show-Masters. Masters could use the immediate rub from the big guy.
The Ugly-- It’s that time of year again, time for the Diva search. Sgt. Slaughter made me rouse from a slumber for a second, but that was about it. The crowd was completely dead with the exception of the girl who really looked like she was really going to take her clothes off. But Coach corralled her just in the knick of time. Total garbage.
By the way, Kane-Edge-Lita needs to end now.
Overall- B-- I can’t really say tonight was a bad show and I can’t say it was a great show either. It was a fun show. Some interesting possibilities peaked their heads out so we’ll see what comes around in a few weeks. The road to Summerslam starts in the next two weeks. Again, a fun show.
Quick Results
Kane/Mystery Partner v. Edge/ Snitsky ended in a no contest
Big Show def. Snitsky
Kurt Angle def. Ric Flair
John Cena, Shawn Michaels, & Hulk Hogan def. Christian, Tyson Tomko, and Chris Jericho
Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?
Biggest Pops
1. Hulk Hogan
2. John Cena
3. Rob Van Dam
4. Shawn Michaels
Most Heat
1. Kurt Angle
2. Carlito
3. Jericho
4. Christian
Match of the Night: Kurt Angle v. Ric Flair ***
WWE Draft as of 6-27-2005
Raw Draft Picks
1. John Cena (WWE Champion)
2. Kurt Angle
3. Carlito
4. Big Show
5. Rob Van Dam
Smackdown! Draft Picks
1. Chris Benoit
2. Randy Orton
3. Muhammad Hassan
4. TBD
5. TBD
Any Questions, comments, or feedback send email me at Raw@wrestleview.com