On Monday, June 30, 2008 at 10:16 PM EST WWE Monday Night Raw Results (Hour #1)
June 30, 2008
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Commentators: Michael Cole & Jerry “The King” Lawler
Reported By: Adam Martin of WrestleView.com
Note from Adam Martin: I will be checking in with coverage for the first hour of Monday Night Raw tonight. Hunter Golden will cover the second hour along with thoughts.
- The WWE promo hits.
- A video package runs highlighting last Monday night's Million Dollar Mania contest that included $100,000 winners and a final $500,000 winner. We then see the stage falling apart and a sign falling on Vince McMahon. "I can't feel my legs...", said McMahon.
- Shane McMahon appears from WWE Headquarters. He talks about his father experiencing an accident last week. Shane said in respect of his father's privacy, they will not reveal his condition or anything /* at this time. Shane asks WWE employees to pull together during this time of uncertainty. The fans boo this loudly. You could even hear a few laughs.
- The Monday Night Raw promo hits (featuring new Raw stars).
- We then go live to the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, OK where a series of pyro goes off. Michael Cole is the first voice we hear (that is strange already) and he welcomes us to the show. Cole, along with Jerry Lawler, plugs Kofi Kingston defending the WWE Intercontinental Championship against Chris Jericho later tonight in a rematch from last night's Night of Champions PPV.
- Boomer Sooner! The fight music hits and Jim Ross is on his way out to the ring. JR gets a big reaction from his hometown crowd. He gets into the ring and salutes the thousands of fans in attendance tonight. JR grabs a mic and says, "Wow." The fans continue to give him a huge reaction. JR yells thank you. JR continues saying, "Wow, it is a magnificent honor to be standing in this ring on this night with our wonderful WWE fans around the world watching, to say, it is damn sure good to be home." He said he is excited about a new journey he is embarking on as the new play-by-play voice for Friday Night Smackdown. The fans boo. JR said he hopes in the many years since he has started on Monday Night Raw that the WWE fans will join him on Friday night's. He said they plan to raise hell on Friday night from now on. JR said he is excited about the opportunity to work with Mick Foley on Smackdown. He adds that for over a decade his traveling partner, his driver, the one he confessed and hell his older brother, Jerry Lawler. JR thanks The King and says he is a special guy to him. He said he knows going to Smackdown is that the good news is that his friend Michael Cole will do a great job on Raw. The fans boo as Cole shrugs. JR said he was here the day Cole started and wants the fans to respect Cole like they respected him. He said the first time he saw wrestling was Danny Hodge in Oklahoma City. JR brings up Mid-South Wrestling in the area. He said some of his other experiences involved our "fallen chairman" Vince McMahon. JR said he isn't one to throw salt on a wound when a man is down, even if he is a Longhorn fan (fans boo). He said his past experiences with Vince McMahon can't hold back the great experiences he had with the fans on Raw. JR said he will never forget this night and in closing, he wants to say that he hopes you will load the wagon, get on that Sooner Scooter and ride it to Friday Night Smackdown and join him every Friday night. JR calls his time on Raw an amazing run. He thanks everyone for being here tonight and encourages everyone to eat some more BBQ when Edge's music hits.
World Heavyweight Champion Edge appears with the world title over his shoulder and Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder close behind him. Edge has a big smile on his face as his pyro goes off. Edge gets into the ring and holds up the World Title. Edge gets on the mic and the fans start to boo. Edge said when he heard JR was having a farewell speech tonight, he just had to make an appearance. He said JR's arrogance never ceases to amaze him. Edge said what makes you think people care about you or the Sooners at all? He yells, "hook'em horns!" Edge says no one cares about his relationship with The King, Michael Cole and that they never cared about him. He says to put that in his BBQ, boy! Edge said it isn't all that bad. He said JR can truly start his Hall of Fame career by coming on his show Smackdown and starting to call his future Hall of Fame career. Edge said instead of JR yelling "Stone Cold! Stone Cold! Stone Cold!" it will now have to be "Edge Wins! Edge Wins! Edge Wins!" He asks JR to try that on for size and try it out. JR throws his mic away and it lands with a thud. Edge says put that one in the record books because JR is actually speechless. He asks Hawkins and Ryder to escort JR out of the building. JR walks out and leaves the ring. Edge says his farewell speech is officially over as JR leaves the ring with Hawkins and Ryder right behind him. JR walks up the ramp and heads to the back.
Edge remains in the middle of the ring as the fans boo him again. He said now that he took care of that he did have a reason to be here tonight. Edge wants to point out to all the Raw viewers that this "flagship show" doesn't have a General Manager...unlike his show that has the greatest GM in history, his fiancee, the love of his life, Vickie Guerrero. He said she is resting comfortably and thanks the fans for asking. Edge said this show is also missing The Undertaker. He adds the entire WWE Universe is missing him since he banished him from the entire WWE and adds your welcome. Edge said there is one other thing this show is missing, oh yeah, a World Champion. He said he wanted to come here tonight to let John Cena, Shawn Michaels, Rey Mysterio or Batista know they will never have a shot at his World Heavyweight Championship. Edge says unless there is another Draft show, they will never see him on Monday night's ever again. He drops the mic and holds up the World Title as his music hits. Edge heads up the ramp with a cocky look on his face. As he gets to the top of the ramp, Batista's music hits and Edge stops. Edge turns around and Batista walks out. Batista stares Edge down. Batista goes after Edge and chases him around the ring. Batista catches Edge and gets in a few rights. Batista picks up Edge and drives him into the ring barricade and the ring. Batista puts Edge on his shoulder and throws him into the steel ring post. More forearm shots from Batista to Edge. Edge retreats over the ring barricade into the crowd and Batista chases after him. Batista gets in more stiff right hands and throws Edge back into the ringside area. Batista nails Edge's face off the Raw announce table three times. Batista then lifts up Edge and drops him face first again off the announce table. Batista then sends Edge into the steel ring steps. Batista throws Edge in the ring. Edge begs for no more. Batista gets Edge up for a Batista Bomb and connects. Michael Cole said this was not about the World Title tonight but rather about retribution. Batista stands over a lifeless Edge, stares him down and then leaves the ring.
As Batista walks up the ramp, CM Punk's music hits and he runs down with his briefcase in hand along with a referee. The referee orders Lilian Garcia to say that the following match is for the World Heavyweight Championship. The bell rings and here we go.
World Heavyweight Championship Match
(Punk cashes in his "Money in the Bank" briefcase)
Edge (c) vs. CM Punk
CM Punk picks up Edge and connects with the GTS! Punk hooks the leg and gets the pinfall! We have a new World Heavyweight Champion!
Winner & NEW World Heavyweight Champion: CM Punk
After the match, Punk can't believe it and is handed the World Heavyweight Champions. Lawler does his best JR impression and yells, "Punk Wins! Punk Wins!" Michael Cole says the World Title is now back on Raw. Punk continues to celebrate holding the title close to him. We see a shot of Edge leaving the ring and making his way to the back. Punk again holds the World Title high in the air and celebrates as we go to commercial. Wow, what a way to kick off Raw!
****Commercial****
- We are back and highlights are shown of Punk cashing in his "Money in the Bank" briefcase and defeating Edge to become the NEW World Heavyweight Champion, bringing the title back to Raw.
Non-Title Match
WWE Women's Champion Mickie James vs. Jillian Hall
Jillian sang (or attempted to) during her entrance.
The bell rings and Mickie tackles Jillian right away. Mickie with a big takedown on Jillian on the outside. Mickie throws Jillian back in, but Jillian cuts her off with a kick. Jillian starts choking Mickie against the ropes. Jillian slams Mickie's face down on the mat and then goes to work on Mickie's shoulder that was roughed up by Katie Lea Burchill last night. Jillian with a big slam takedown on Mickie, but misses a flipping body splash. Mickie comes back kicking Jillian and with another big takedown. Jillian attempts her flipping splash in the corner, but Mickie gets her knees up and catches Jillian with her big kick (or what they called the Mick Kick). Mickie covers Jillian and gets the pinfall.
Winner: Mickie James
- Backstage, Rey Mysterio is shown making his way to the arena next.
****Commercial****
- Later tonight, Chris Jericho gets his mandatory rematch against Kofi Kingston for the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
- Highlights are shown from last week's Monday Night Raw and the 2008 WWE Draft when Rey Mysterio was drafted to Raw.
- Rey Mysterio comes out and gets a big reaction from the crowd. Mysterio takes the mic and congratulates CM Punk on beating Edge and bringing back the World Heavyweight Championship back to Raw. He said that was kind of weird. Mysterio said up until last week, his entire WWE career, his entire life was on Smackdown. Mysterio said he was shocked when he got drafted to Raw. He said that was a good thing though because now that he is here, he likes it and he is excited.
Santino Marella's music hits. This should be good. Santino grabs the mic and said just like Shane McMahon said earlier, we have to pull everyone together and officially welcomes Rey Mysterio to Raw. He laughs and says personally, he doesn't see what the big deal is because anyone who hides behind a mask is either ugly, stupid or is The Batman! Mysterio said you sir are not The Batman. Mysterio goes to talk and Santino cuts him off telling him to shut his face. He said he doesn't get the popularity and has a look at the cover of the new WWE Magazine. They show a graphic of Mysterio on the cover. Santino says, "Look at me. I'm Rey Mysterio. I'm more tall than Hornswoggle. I like cookies. BOOYAKA BOOYAKA." He said he isn't finished. The problem he has is that he gave WWE Magazine a great photo to use and they didn't use it. They show his photo and it is Santino almost nude holding a flower and posing on his side. Santino says that is a photo and if it was poster, man or woman, would buy it and put it in their bedroom. He says there is a reason Mysterio has never been on Raw. Santino says Raw is where true superstars like himself rise and shine. He says if he wants his experience to be a good one then he should mind his manners and behave. Santino says if he doesn't then things could turn out very badly for him. He then allows Mysterio to speak freely, but asks him to say it in a language that we all can understand. Mysterio hits Santino with the mic and lights him up with some right hands. Mysterio drop toe holds Santino on the second rope and connects with the 619. Mysterio celebrates and heads up the ramp.
- Up next, we will hear from the NEW World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk.
- A promo for the new Ric Flair DVD airs. It will be released next week.
****Commercial****
- WWE DID YOU KNOW: WWE video games have sold more than 39 million copies this decade.
- Highlights are shown again from earlier tonight when Batista attacked World Heavyweight Champion Edge after Edge had interrupted Jim Ross' farewell speech. After Batista's attack on Edge, CM Punk ran out and cashed in his "Money in the Bank" briefcase, hit Edge with the GTS and got the pinfall to become the NEW World Heavyweight Champion. The World Title is now on Raw. Michael Cole mentioned Punk was the first person ever to cash in the "Money in the Bank" briefcase Raw.
- Backstage, Todd Grisham is with the NEW World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk. Grisham congratulates Punk. Punk said he doesn't know if he has the words. He said there are so many people he wants to thank. He thanks Batista for the assist and mentions he needs to change the name on the belt. Punk said he feels awesome when JBL walks up. JBL says, "You are joking right? You are celebrating?" He said Punk beat a defenseless man and asks if Punk is proud of that. Punk said he is proud to be "the" champion. JBL said he has some options in that Punk can go to bed tonight knowing that he is nothing more than a paper champion or an asterisk. He challenges Punk to put the title up tonight to prove himself. Punk asks if JBL really wants to be the first one then his answer is yes. Punk looks down at the World Title and smiles as JBL walks off.
****Commercial****
- We are back live and John Cena is out to a big reaction. Cena grabs the mic and you can hear more of a mixed reaction when the music stops. Cena said he is certainly a fan of classic and surprise moments and he told everyone that his match with Triple H at Night of Champions would indeed be a classic moment. He said no, I did not win the WWE Title last night. Cena said he was defeated by Triple H, but it is a loss he takes with pride. He said last night's match proved one thing - we are the best two in this business and that match will go down in history. Cena said just like tonight, you have all been part of history and that you will look back and say you were there when CM Punk cashed in the "Money in the Bank" briefcase and became the new World Heavyweight Champion. He said the only thing he is not happy about is JBL trying to bully his way into becoming World Heavyweight Champion. Cena said he doesn't know much about Punk, but he likes him since he used his brains to earn the title. He said the kid is a fighter and he would have said yes to anyone, even him. Cena said that isn't too bad of an idea and since Raw doesn't have a GM, the champion CM Punk should be the one to choose. He said Mr. Punk I know you are watching and that you just won the World Heavyweight Championship, but wants him to listen to the largest WWE crowd ever in Oklahoma City. Cena asks if JBL should get the shot and they boo. Cena asks if it should be CM Punk vs. John Cena right here tonight and the fans cheer loudly. He said the choice is up to Punk. Cena goes to give a message to JBL when his music hits.
JBL walks out on the ramp with a mic in hand. The fans start a loud "YOU SUCK" chant. JBL gets on the mic and tells John Cena that he will not be wrestling CM Punk tonight for the World Heavyweight Championship since that match is his. He declares Marshall Law right here in the WWE and that tonight is his destiny to become World Champion. JBL says Cena cannot remain in the building tonight. A security team walks out and stands next to JBL. He said this isn't WWE security and that it is his security. JBL says you don't rule things by crowd response, but rather with money. He said with Mr. McMahon gone from WWE that means he is running things around here. JBL said he will become World Heavyweight Champion tonight and tells his personal security to show Mr. Cena the door. The six members of JBL's security team walk down the ramp. Cena removes his shirt and starts counting the number of security. They all hit the ring and go after Cena. Cena fights off a few until they hold him back. They hold Cena back allowing JBL to get in some cheap shot. Security drags Cena out. Cena gives one of the security members a knee to the face, but they continue to overpower him. When they break from the ramp Cena starts to fight them off again. They contain Cena once again and bring him to the backstage area. We go to a camera backstage and Cena is still trying to fight them off. They throw Cena out of the exit and JBL smiles.
****Commercial****
Hunter Golden's coverage of the second hour will be posted shortly.
For hour two results, click here.