On Tuesday, February 6, 2007 at 12:34 AM EST WWE RAW
February 5, 2007
Sioux City, IA
Commentators: Jim Ross & Jerry “The King” Lawler
Reported By: Hunter Golden of WrestleView.com
A video airs recapping the Royal Rumble and some of the events that happened on Smackdown and ECW last week, as the Undertaker attempts to make his decision as to whom he'll face at Wrestlemania 23.
We then go to the arena, and Adam-Martin Land looks like it's pretty excited for Wrasslin'.
The Undertaker’s gong hit and he came out to the ramp and made his way down to the ring. He did his whole entrance routine while JR and King collectively crapped their pants. John Cena’s music hit and he came out to the ramp. Lashley and Batista followed.
Taker stared all three down individually, doing a great job of building up the suspense. He pulled away from Batista but then got back in his face and gave the thumb across the neck signaling that he was picking Dave Batista. HBK’s DX music hit and he said he couldn’t help but notice that John Cena was without an opponent at Wrestlemania. Randy Orton’s music hit and he came out saying that he was challenging Cena for a title shot at Wrestlemania. He said he wasn’t asking for it, he was demanding it.
Edge’s music hit and he came out to the bottom of the ramp. Edge said like Taker, he had never lost at Wrestlemania and he took precedence over everyone. He said he didn’t need to ask permission for a title shot, that it was his god given right to a title match regardless if anyone liked it or not.
Mr. McMahon’s came out and asked what the hell we were doing in this ‘god forsaken corn field’ in the middle of Iowa. He said Cena and Batista were both challenged, but Bobby Lashley wasn’t. Therefore if someone on Raw stepped forward, he’d defend his belt tonight. He said the Cena situation was a mess though, and it needed to be figured out. He said tonight it’d be Randy Orton v. Edge v. Shawn Michaels, a triple threat match to face John Cena at Wrestlemania for the WWE Championship.
McMahon said he wasn’t going to drop thousands of dollars onto all these people, but he said the triple threat match was ‘real value’.
Batista went to leave the ring but turned around to face him instead. Batista stared Taker down but then got choke slammed right out of hit boots. Taker’s statement was a bit bigger than Batista’s.
****Commercial****
Carlito & Cryme Tyme v. Chris Masters & The World’s Greatest Tag Team
Carlito jumped Masters to start things off and here we go. Everyone ended up getting dumped from the ring, leaving JTG in the ring with Shelton. JTG hit a nice Lou Thesz Press before bullying Shelton to the corner. He went for a whip but Benjamin countered it before dragging him to the corner to make a tag.
Haas hit an Irish whip and hit an overhead belly to belly on the rebound and went for a cover. Haas tagged in Masters who hit some nasty clubbing blows and some back elbows before tagging Haas right back in. Haas hit a few clubbing blows and went for a vertical suplex but JTG flipped out and made the tag to Carlito.
Carlito came in and cleaned hose leaving an exclamation point with a nice springboard double elbow. Masters almost caught him in a master lock but Carlito managed to toss him to the outside. Carlito briefly worked over Haas and went for a roll up, but the referee wasn’t looking because he was paying attention to Masters on the outside. Shelton Benjamin leapt up on the apron and came sling shoting in with a nice snap mare move, planting Carlito right on his head and rolling Haas on top of him in the process. The referee is looking now, and that’s all she wrote.
Winners: Chris Masters & The World’s Greatest Tag Team via pin fall
****Commercial****
Vince McMahon was talking about how classless it was to drop cash on the fans a few weeks ago to Coach. Kenny came into his office and said he wanted to face Lashley tonight for the ECW World Champion. McMahon said if he beat Lashley he’d be the youngest champion in WWE history. He wished him good luck and dismissed him. Coach said he wanted to give McMahon something he received this morning and that was a letter from Donald Trump. Apparently Trump is going to up the ante. He said next week, he’d be showing up on Raw and has a business proposal that will change Vince’s life forever. Vince said he had a business proposal for Donald too, that he could join a very elite club, if we know what he means.
Maria was backstage with Ric Flair. Flair put over the Wrestlemania main event and the triple threat match later tonight. Flair said he was all about Wrestlemania and that if he beat Jeff Hardy tonight, he’d be challenging him for his Intercontinental Championship.
Melina was backstage with Candice and they were basically bantering back and forth. Nitro came in and told her that he was going to put a hurting on Super Crazy later on. He said he had put the paparazzi folks together for later tonight when she wins the Women’s championship as well.
****Commercial****
Balls Mahoney is in the middle of the ring. Coach came out to the ramp and explained to the fans who he was. He said recently, Mr. McMahon had some problems with ECW originals. He said those would be taken care of and tonight the problem solver was hand picked. Here comes Umaga.
Umaga v. Balls Mahoney
Balls started off with his right hands to the face but it didn’t get him very far. Umaga draped him on the ropes and kicked him in the face a little bit before dropping down with a head butt across the back of Ball’s bean.
Umaga hit a nasty Samoan drop before gathering the ECW Original and punching him stupid in the corner. Umaga lined him up and delivered his running ass to the face. Umaga stuck up the good old thumb and drilled Mahoney with a Samoan Spike and made the cover for the easy victory.
Winner: Umaga via pin fall
****Commercial****
Super Crazy w/ Mickie James v. Johnny Nitro w/ Melina
Nitro hit a nice European uppercut and followed it up with a back breaker and a very quick cover attempt. Nitro missed a follow up on a whip to the buckles and Crazy almost rolled him up. Nitro rolled through however and hit a nice back breaker to slow the ‘not so balanced luchadore’.
Nitro clamed on a neck vice which Crazy fought out of. Crazy hit a low drop kick and went for something coming off the ropes but Nitro caught him and rolled him up for a two count. Nitro came bounding off the ropes and Mickie James grabbed the legs tripping him up. Super Crazy went to mount the turnbuckles but Nitro cut him off. The two fought for a bit before Super Crazy knocked him off and hit the big moonsault for the three count.
Winner: Super Crazy via pin fall
Melina jaw jacked with Mickie as she tended to her fallen boy toy.
****Commercial****
WWE Women’s Championship
The two went right at each other rolling around on the ground and landing some super stiff shots at each other’s faces. Mickie caught a hammerlock before Melina gave her a thumb in the eye. The two put their dukes up before Melina kicked her hard in the gut and grabbed an arm bar.
Mickie rolled out of the move and kicked her off to the side. While Nitro babied Melina on the outside, Mickie came back and booted her in the back of the head because it’s fun. Melina came back super pissed and hit some really nasty looking cross faces before going for a roll up. Melina continued her assault, spiking Mickie’s face on the mat a little bit before yanking her hair back and kicking her hard in the back of the head.
Mickie began to fight back a bit, hitting a jawbreaker to buy herself a little time. The two exchanged strikes in the middle of the ring before Mickie just grabbed her and made her eat some elbows. Mickie hit a few lariats and went for a whip but it was reversed. Mickie avoided the follow up and hit a hurricanranna before going for a cover.
Mickie ducked under a punch and hit a mule kick right to Melina’s mid section before Melina caught her tights and tossed her to the outside. Mickie went for a sunset flip roll up but Melina reversed it. She saw the ropes and grabbed them but the official caught her. Mickie reversed the hold and got the pin fall.
Winner and STILL Women’s Champion: Mickie James via pin fall
After the match, the paparazzi came in and were trying to take pictures of Melina and she wasn’t having it. Nitro had to keep them at bay. Melina looks like she’s been humiliated.
John Cena walked in on Shawn Michaels in the locker room. Before he could speak HBK asked him to save the whole ‘wish you luck crap’. Cena said he wasn’t here to be nice to him. He said he was rooting for Edge to win because he’s beaten him god knows, how many times. He just told HBK he wanted him to be ‘safe’. After all, they were World Tag Team Champions.
****Commercial****
Jeff Hardy v. Ric Flair
The two locked up in the middle of the ring before Flair tossed Hardy into the ropes but got flat backed for it. The two tussled a little bit before Flair hammered Hardy back with some chops into the corner. Hardy fought back with some right hands before Flair went to whip him. Hardy flipped out of the way and landed awkwardly, feigning injury.
Flair went right after the limb, stomping away at it in the corner. Flair landed a chop and then a brutal kick to the leg before slapping on a leg lock to work over that injured limb. Flair let the hold go and kept hammering away at the leg before stomping on the champion’s face just because. Flair used the corner after that to perch Hardy’s knee on and stomped away at it some more.
Flair kept up the pressure with a nice side leg lock-half crab hybrid move before giving the crowd a ‘woo’. Hardy hit an enzeguiri which cold cocked him and left him on the mat. Hardy hit a jawbreaker before sending Flair into the ropes and hitting a back body drop. Hardy fought through the pain with some back elbows before coming off the corner with a whisper to the wind. Hardy nailed a twist of fate shortly thereafter before heading to the top turnbuckle. Hardy missed the swanton bomb, leaving both men laid out in the ring.
Flair hit a few more boots to the leg before yanking on it a bit and strutting like only an old man could. Flair went for the figure four, but Jeff Hardy grabbed his head and rolled him up for the three count.
Winner: Jeff Hardy via pin fall
Flair was pretty pissed off after the match but sucked it up and shook hands after the match as Hardy paid homage. Looks like no title shot for Flair at Wrestlemania.
Kenny Dykstra takes on Bobby Lashley for the ECW World Championship NEXT!
****Commercial****
Todd Grisham was in the back with Batista. Grisham said he was chosen and choke slammed by Undertaker. Batista said he didn’t have a problem with it and he wasn’t intimidated. He said pay back was a bitch and that was up to him as to where and when. He said he didn’t have any issues.
ECW World Heavyweight Championship
Lashley v. Kenny
Lashley grabbed the leg looking for a take down but Kenny broke for the ropes and was able to neutralize the hold. Kenny backed Lashley into the corner and landed some right hands. The two traded blows into the middle of the ring before Kenny got decked over the top rope and to the floor.
Lashley tossed Kenny into the ring and hit some nasty looking shoulder thrusts before catching Kenny trying to leap from on him and dumped him to the floor. Lashley went to chase Kenny out to the ramp and Kenny dropkicked Lashley low and the champion’s head clacked off the ring ramp. After grinding his head into the ramp, Kenny tossed him back into the ring and went for a cover but didn’t get much.
Kenny put the boots to the champ, stomping him all over the ring before dropping some elbows and going for yet another cover. Lashley was sent into the ropes and met with an impressive jumping back elbow by the challenger. Kenny dished out another cover attempt before slapping on a sleeper hold attempt in the middle of the ring.
Lashley struggled to escape the hold but succeeded in flipping Kenny off him eventually and plastering him with a lariat. Lashley hit an Irish whip then a nasty T-Bone on the rebound. Lashley went into the rope before getting caught in the mug with a Kenny drop kick. The ref counted Lashley while we headed to commercial break.
****Commercial****
Kenny had Lashley in a front face lock when we came back. He quickly broke the hold and went for a cover but didn’t get anything so he went back to the well and cinched in the hold extra deep this time. Lashley was able to toss Kenny into the buckles eventually and then hit a huge back body drop and a mean vertical suplex. Lashley went for the spear, but Kenny kicked him in the mug. Kenny came running at Lashley, but was caught by the champion, tossed in the air like a baby and power slammed hard to the mat. Lashley made the cover and retained his title.
Winner and STILL ECW World Champion: Bobby Lashley via pin fall
Randy Orton was in the back getting ready. Edge said he needed to talk to him. Orton said it wasn’t a tag team match, it was a triple threat. He said his only goal was to win and face Cena for the title. Edge said he was being a clown by saying what he was. He said if Orton had any honor, he would help Edge make sure, at the very least, that Shawn Michaels wasn’t going to be in the main event at Wrestlemania.
Carlito was getting ready to go out when Ric Flair walked by and asked him why he was leaving, after all, Raw’s end of the Wrestlemania main event was going to be decided. Carlito said he wasn’t in the main event so he didn’t care. Flair tweaked on him telling him that he had no pride. He said guys like him who completely lacked passion were trying to take his spot on the roster while Flair didn’t even know who he was some days. He said the reason guys like Orton and Edge were in the main event was because they had passion, something Carlito didn’t have any of. I’m going to stop recapping this promo. Too damn good. Find a word by word recap of it. It’s worth it. I love wrestling.
Orton, Edge and HBK are making their way to the ring.
****Commercial****
#1 Contender’s Triple Threat Match
Edge v. Randy Orton v. Shawn Michaels
Michaels dove into the ring and Orton and Edge came right at him. The two stomped away on his body and put a pretty mean beat-down on him before tossing him through the ropes to the floor. The two spent some time arguing before we went to commercial break.
****Commercial****
We came back to Edge and HBK going at it. Edge hit a back suplex while Randy Orton rolled around on the outside of the ring. Edge whipped Michaels who drop kicked Orton through the ropes and then hit a Lou Thesz press before whaling away on him on the mat. Edge reversed the hold and hit a nasty boot to the face on HBK before planting him with a back breaker and going for a quick cover attempt.
Edge hit a body slam and went to the buckles but HBK cut him off. Edge threw him off before Orton tossed HBK into the buckles, crotching Edge on the buckles and laying out HBK. Orton hit his inverted back breaker and then gave a garvin stomp to HBK.
Michaels and Orton exchanged blows a little bit before Orton connected with a big European upper cut, flooring him. Orton gathered HBK and hit a standing drop kick and went for a cover but HBK kicked out. Orton continued with the Euro uppercuts, but HBK got a roll up. Orton kicked out and immediately RKO’d HBK. He went for the cover but Edge dragged him off.
Orton and Edge stared each other down. They shook hands before going at each other. Orton hit some blows before Edge caught him with a boot to the face. Orton went for an RKO but Edge pushed him off and went for a spear but Orton leap frogged him. The two both went for clotheslines and connected, leaving both laid out.
HBK got back into the ring and amped up the crowd. He began tuning up the band. Edge ducked under the kick and Orton caught it. Edge came through and hammered Orton with a spear, sending HBK careening to the corner. Edge turned around only to get cold cocked by sweet chin music. HBK covered Orton for the 1, 2, 3.
Winner: Shawn Michaels via pin fall
After the match Cena came out to stare down HBK. Batista’s music and he came out to the ramp. Taker came out to the ramp and he and Batista stared each other down while HBK and Cena did the same. JR gave us lots of ‘bah gawds!’, etc. RAW THOUGHTSThe Good-- The title choice by Taker was the perfect way to start this Raw off. The Batista stare down was nice but I couldn’t help but notice how absolutely out of place Bobby Lashley looked in that group. Regardless, it was done the right way.
I love the interaction between HBK and John Cena. Just absolutely the perfect way to warm the coming bon fire.
Hats off to WWE creative in actually doing a good job with the Edge-Orton feud so far. I didn’t have faith in their ability to hold off on turning one guy or the other, but it looks like they’re going to be smart and, well, hold off. WWE should do one of two things in this feud: 1.) Turn the guy face whom the fans want you to turn face or 2.) Hope you can maybe even keep both these guys heel, which really would be an ideal situation and neither guy is particularly good in the face roll. This is a very different feud from what we’ve come to expect from WWE and hopefully they stick with things a bit and not get lost in any ‘telling moments’. This could do a lot of good for these two, or it could do irrecoverable damage to both. WWE needs to keep playing this one safe.
Ric Flair’s promo with Carlito was off the charts. If you can find a full script of it please do, because it was really sensational. Flair came off old, cranky and bitter, but at the same time, you couldn’t help but agree with him. Here’s one vote for Flair to stop being the Nature Boy so much and get Grumpy. Carlito’s the perfect guy for a program to move Flair in that direction as well.
I’ll admit it. I’m shocked Super Crazy is getting over as quickly as he is. Maybe he does have some life left in his career after all.
BTW, am I the only guy who thinks Mr. McMahon’s been flat out awesome in the past few weeks? I hope he slaps Donald’s comb over into the balcony next week. The ‘meeting in the middle of a corn field’ line tonight killed me.
The Bad-- I was very surprised to hear how much the reaction to Batista has toned down. I’d say two or three faces got a better reaction than he did tonight and they’re in the mid card. Not good. Lashley’s got lots of tools and potential, but he’s obviously not as over with fans as he probably should be to be holding that title.
The Ugly-- Nothing.
Overall- B --- Another very solid Raw. This was considerably more busy than the Raw’s in past weeks as we had seven matches in two hours. 85% of the action was in the ring and the promo/skit stuff they did was good. Nothing was overly spectacular but again, it was all solid. This is what an average Raw should be every week. Keep it up WWE. Great first step to Wrestlemania
Quick Results
Chris Masters & TWGTT def. Carlito & Cryme Tyme
Umaga def. Balls Mahoney
Super Crazy def. Johnny Nitro
Mickie James def. Melina to RETAIN the WWE Women’s Championship
Jeff Hardy def. Ric Flair
Lashley def. Kenny Dykstra to RETAIN the ECW World Championship
HBK def. Randy Orton & Edge
Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?
Biggest Pops
1. Shawn Michaels
2. The Undertaker
3. John Cena
4. Jeff Hardy
Most Heat
1. Edge
2. Mr. McMahon
3. Randy Orton
4. Umaga
Match of the night: HBK v. Randy Orton v. Edge **1/4
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 (4-3, 11 points) (Last Week: WWE Champion)—Despite being involved in some pretty big events, it was a pretty laid back Monday for Cena and now we know with certainty that he’ll be facing Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania. I think it’s the perfect feud at the perfect time for both of these guys.
Intercontinental Champion: Jeff Hardy (7-1, 17 points.) (Last Week: IC Champion)— Hardy continues along his winning ways. He was incredibly sloppy though and it showed working with a guy like Flair. He no sold the leg work with the swanton and whisper in the wind. He’s obviously not the most competent worker, but still managed to put on something a little entertaining with Flair.
1. HBK 3-2, 5 points (Last Week: 1)—Well, HBK is officially the number one contender both on my list and WWE’s. Michaels is working on an entirely different level it seems from the rest of the Raw roster. Next week is the beginning of what will prove to be a very entertaining main event program with John Cena.
2. Umaga 3-2, 5 Points (Last Week: 2 )— Umaga picks up another win but doesn’t really seem to be headed in any particular direction. As much as I love the character and wouldn’t want to see it wasted, I almost feel like Umaga would be the IDEAL guy to take on Bobby Lashley at Wrestlemania for the ECW World Championship and maybe be a top heel act over there. Call me crazy. Other than that, I’m really interested in seeing who they have him go up against at Mania.
3. The Great Khali, 3-0, 5pts. (Last Week: 3)— Khali wasn’t so much as on TV this week which is a little surprising considering how much ‘got done’ tonight. Thanks to Edge and Orton losing however, he doesn’t move an inch.
4. Edge 2-3, 6pts. (Last Week: 4)— Orton and Edge are doing a surprisingly good job with their program thus far. The split has been deliberate, but not overly accelerated like the Foley-Edge program a year ago or the Batista-Triple H break up was. It’s just been a consistent slow burn with something coming every week. I’m quite enjoying this. Edge managed to avoid being pinned tonight, so I’ll keep him ahead of his soon to be former partner.
5. Randy Orton (1-3 , 4 pts.) ( (Last Week: 5)-- I loved Orton’s performance tonight throughout the show and I really see him ‘coming together’ so to speak. This feud with Edge will certainly be an interesting one. What I love most about it is that WWE are letting the fans pick which one is going face. They haven’t swayed in one direction or the other in terms of dirty tricks, making it a tough choice. If they play their cards right, WWE JUST MIGHT be able to get through this without having to turn either guy, which would be a heck of an accomplishment and perhaps the most ideal scenario.
6. Super Crazy 3-2, 5 points) (Last Week: 8)— No doubt here that Super Crazy’s on a roll. He’s quickly catching on with fans as well. I don’t know how long he’ll be able to sustain this momentum, but three clean wins in a row over the two top heels in the mid card is pretty good.
7. Chris Masters, 3-3, 6 pts. (Last Week: 9) —Quiet night for Masters in the six man tag, but still, he’s on the winning side while everyone /* wasn’t as fortunate.
8. Kenny Dykstra 3-4, 6pts. (Last Week: 7) —Kenny looked great tonight in that ECW title match. He really did. That’s why he should be thanking god for all those Sprit Squad squashed throughout the summer. They obviously paid off.
9. Carlito 2-4, 4pts. (Last Week: 6)— Carlito’s a constant yo-yo on this list. One week he’s up, the next he’s down, but I’m intrigued to see where this whole ‘lazy’ thing is heading with Flair. The two have great chemistry together and really of anyone in the mid-card, this program is best suited for Carlito over virtually anyone /*.
10. Ric Flair, 1-3, 2pts. (Last Week: 10) — Thanks to Johnny Nitro’s complete incompetence and recent jobber duties, Flair has been holding on the final spot in the top ten. He completely MADE the match with Hardy tonight and then made Carlito his woman with a seriously awesome promo, the best one I’ve heard from anyone, anywhere this year so far. Absolutely awesome.
Remember guys, SEND IN YOUR COMMENTS! I for whatever reason last week got like two ‘comments’ from you guys and no joke, probably a hundred or so ‘questions’. I love hearing your questions, but also don’t be afraid to speak out! It’s your chance to get your name out. Again last week, I only ended up with a few comments and TONS of questions! Let your opinion be heard! Don’t forget to leave your name and location: raw@wrestleview.com