Former second generation professional wrestler Luna Vachon was found dead in her home this past Friday (August 27, 2010). The cause of death won’t be certain until after the toxicology results are known, but there is a good chance it is another drug related death.
There was a box of Oxycodone found in her kitchen. There was a blue powder substance and a straw found in one part of the house, as well as loose pills and more ground up medication with a straw found in her bedroom.
It is a shame to loose more and more wrestlers to all sorts of cause, but especially to drug related ones.
Her mother said she often seemed medicated due to past wrestling injuries.
Luna wrestled alongside some of the greatest in the business, including; Kevin Sullivan, Shawn Michaels, Bam Bam Bigelow, The Fabulous Moolah, Sherri Martel, and many more.
R.I.P. Luna (January 12, 1962 – August 27, 2010)
Here is a clip of a match from her short stint in WCW. It was at the 1997 Slamboree Pay-Per-View against one of her long-time rivals Medusa.
I will be updating this post with results as the PPV goes on so check back every 15-20 minutes or so to see the results of the current matches at the Money in the Bank PPV. I will then update the post after the show with my final post for the event.
Match Results:
Smackdown Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Matt Hardy vs. Drew MacIntyre vs. Kane vs. Christian vs. Cody Rhodes vs. The Big Show
After a REALLY good match Drew MacIntyre had his hands on the briefcase, but Kane Chokeslammed him off the ladder and unhooked the briefcase to become the Money in the Bank winner for Smackdown.
Diva’s Championship Match
Champion Alicia Fox vs. Eve Torres
Fox hit the Axe kick and got the pin to remain Diva’s Champion
Unified Tag Team Championship Match
The Hart Dynasty (David Hart Smith & Tyson Kidd) with Natalya Neidhardt vs. The Usos (Jimmy & Jay) with Tamina
David Hart Smith locked on the Sharpshooter and made one of the Usos tap out to keep their tag team belts.
World Heavyweight Championship Match
Champion Rey Mysterio vs. Jack Swagger
Mysterio loosened up his boot (just like Eddie Guerrero did against Kurt Angle years ago) and when Swagger locked on the Ankle Lock he shoved him and the boot off onto the ropes. He hit the 6-1-9 and rolled Swagger up for the pin to retain his title. Somewhere Latino Heat is smiling and doing that chest shake.
Swagger locked on the Ankle Lock after th match, but Kane came out to put a stop to it, and chased Swagger off.
Kane then returned to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase!
Rey Mysterio vs. Kane
The match was over pretty quickly. Kane hit a Tombstone Piledriver and got the pin to become the NEW World Heavyweight Champion.
Women’s Championship Match
Champion Layla vs. Kelly Kelly
After a bit of a distraction from Michelle McCool, Layla got the pinfall and retained her title.
Raw Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Evan Bourne vs. Mark Henry vs. The Miz vs. Ted DiBiase vs. John Morrison vs. Chris Jericho vs. Edge vs. Randy Orton
At one point while everyone was out on the floor Maryse climbed into the ring and climbed a ladder, but John Morrison stopped her and told her to get out of the ring. This gave DiBiase an opening, but Morrison cut him off too. In the end Miz grabbed the case and won the match.
WWE Championship Cage Match
Champion Shaemus vs. John Cena
After a pretty good and long match Nexus finally made an appearance. Michael Tarver was carrying a set of bolt cutters, but a referee snatched them away from him and ran to the back with them. While the ref in the cage was distracted by Nexus and another ref outside the cage he got hit from behind. Cena locked on the STF and Shaemus tapped out, but no ref saw it. So then Cena climbed to the top of the cage, and was met Justin Gabriel. Cena tossed him off the top of the cage. Meanwhile on the other side of the cage Shaemus climbed up and out and touched the floor. Shaemus wins and retains the WWE Championship.
Nexus had left the ringside area to chase Shaemus. Gabriel and Tarver were left near the ring. Cena attacked them both. He wound up throwing the steel ring steps into Tarver’s head.
All in all it was actually a pretty good PPV. The Smackdown Ladder Match was definitely the match of the night, and since it was the first match it made the rest a bit anti-climatic really. Kane winning the title was a BIG surprise to me. I was fully expecting The Big Show to win the ladder match, and then when Kane won it I assumed Jack Swagger would beat Rey. That would lead to Kane getting his hands on Swagger by cashing in the case this coming Friday. What’s going to be interesting is when Kane is still champion and The Undertaker comes back for Summerslam. I am betting it will be those two facing one another, or possibly a three-way match with Swagger thrown in.
I was very upset that there was no Triple H sighting! He was even listed in the synopsis for the PPV. On the brightside, if he is indeed making his return NOW, that means I get to see it live tomorrow night at the BOK Center for Raw.
Luckily Nexus was only a small part of the PPV, however they did control the outcome of the WWE Championship match. Again, on the brightside, with Shaemus as champion that means Triple H has a title shot coming very soon after his return since it is Shaemus that put him out. That match will probably be at Summerslam too.
WWE Friday Night Smackdown
From: Louisville, Kentucky
Other Highlights:
After Kane talked about vengeance a bit in the ring we went to the back to see Rey Mysterio getting an ankle brace put on. Then to Jack swagger talking on the phone with his apparent alibi.
The Straight Edge Society came down to the ring, but were interrupted by The Big Show carrying two ladders to the ring, a big one and a small one. He mocked the SES for a minute and then the SES stepped out near the announce table to let Show talk.Turns out Show had a special ladder made that can hold up to 2,000 pounds for the Money in the Bank match. When Show let his guard down Luke Gallows and the other masked guy jumped him from behind and beat him down briefly. When they began to celebrate Show got back up and threw them out of the ring. This left C.M. Punk on top of the ladder and all by himself. Show climbed up the ladder and got a hold of Punk. Once he had him neutralized he tore the mask off Punk so everyone could finally see his big bald head.
Jack Swagger’s dad finally showed up with an envelope with a tape or disc in it that was sent to the production truck. It was apparently proof of his alibi. His proof was a bunch of bad pictures of him and his dad competing in Memorial Day competitions. Kane wasn’t buying it. He came down and attacked Swagger, but thanks to a distraction by his dad, Swagger got the upper hand. Then out came Rey Mysterio who hit a quick 6-1-9 and then hobbled back up the ramp. Kane grabbed Swagger’s dad by the throat, and then Swagger by the throat. Swagger broke out of the grasp and left the ring, but Kane held tight n his dad. Swagger wouldn’t get in the ring to help his dad and Kane Chockeslammed him. Swagger still would not get in the ring, so Kane picked his dad up for a Tombstone Piledriver. Swagger just walked back up the ramp and left his dad laying in the ring.
Match Results:
Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston vs. Annoying Cody Rhodes
This match didn’t get to finish because Kane came out and Chokeslammed both competitors.
Drew MacIntyre vs. Christian
MacIntyre hit the Future Maker DDT and got the pin.
Mixed Tag Team Match WWE Women’s Champion Layla & Trent Baretta vs. Kelly Kelly & Chris Masters
Rosa Perez came jump roping down to the ring and her The Dudebusters went to hold the rope for her. Layla got very upset and the distraction was enough to allow Kelly Kelly roll her up for a pin. Rosa than jumped rope to the back.
Matt Hardy vs. Dolph Ziggler
Thanks to a distraction from Vicki Guerrero, Dolph Ziggler got the pin.
Wow, this is bad even by recent Smackdown standards. Four total matches, one didn’t even get to finish, and all three of the others ended due to interference. Plus they weren’t even very good matchups really. I understand wanting to give the wrestlers some time off to gear up for the PPV, but you can’t forget about your weekly shows. If I had paid money to see this Smackdown I would probably be very upset. I just hope that this Monday’s Raw is much better since I will be at it live! On the plus side, I am pretty certain we will be seeing Triple H making his return live on Monday! (Well returning at the PPV, but then to Raw on Monday.)
WWE Monday Night Raw
From: The Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky
Guest Host: Florence Henderson
Match Results:
WWE Diva’s Champion Alicia Fox vs. Gail Kim
Fox got the pinfall after hitting her Scissors Kick.
Eve Torres was out at the announce table for this match, and Fox tried to get her upset. As Eve approached the ring the GM spoke e-mailed again. Due to Fox faking her ankle injury last week he was giving Eve another rematch this Sunday at Money in the Bank.
(Time for ANOTHER) Six-Person Tag Team Match
The Hart Dynsaty (Natayla Neidhart, David Hart Smith, and Tyson Kidd) vs. Tamina & The Usos (Jimmy & Jay Uso)
Jay Uso got the pin on David Hart Smith after a top rope splash.
Edge vs. Randy Orton
Edge got the pin after Chris Jericho came out and distracted Orton. Jericho then climbed into the ring and hit Edge with a Codebreaker. As Jericho turned Orton hit him with an RKO. As Orton turned there was Evan Bourne with a kick. Bourne then went to the top rope to hit Air Bourne. In an amazingly timed move Orton jumped up and hit the RKO on Bourne in mid spin!
8-Man Brady Bunch Challenge Tag Team Match
The Regal Bunch (William Regal, Zach Ryder, Primo, & Doink the Clown) vs. The Santino Bunch (Santino Marella, Vladimir Kozlov, The Great Khali, & Golddust)
Khali pinned Doink after a bit of comedy which included Doink with a water gun.
Florence Henderson was the special ring announcer for this match. She stayed at ringside during the match and tried on Regal’s robe at one point. After the match she got in the ring and as Santino closed his eyes and moved in for a kiss she ducked under him and walked over to Khali for a kiss. He then picker her up and got an even bigger kiss.
6-on-1 Handicap Match
John Cena vs. Nexus
Cena lasted for a while, but in the end there were just too many of them. Justin Gabriel got the pin after hitting his top rope flip into a splash. As they were about to gang attack him after the match Cena slipped out of the ring and grabbed a chair. The cleared the ring, regrouped and then surrounded the ring. Shaemus came out with a chair to help Cena!
Other Highlights:
John Cena was in the ring at the start of the show to talk about his match this Sunday at Money in the Bank vs. Shaemus for the WWE Championship, and to talk about his 6-on-1 Handicap match tonight on Raw. After a while The 6 members of Nexus came out to interrupt. Then the Anonymous GM interrupted to point out if any WWE Superstar got involved in the match that they would be suspended for 90 days, and that Nexus must tag in and out of the match tonight or suffer the same fate.
After Wade Barrett talked with Chris Jericho for a minute The Nexus met up with Yoshi Tatsu who came out to help John Cena last week. They beat him down a bit.
Ted DiBiase and Maryse were in the ring so he could introduce everyone to the Million Dollar Couple…Him and the Money in the Bank briefcase. Maryse was not happy at first, but the Ted explained how he’d be able to get them both even more stuff. John Morrison came out to interupt. After a bit of comedy from Morrison they fought briefly.
There was a great parody of The Brady Bunch opening sequence that used Santino Marella (along with Vladimir Kozlov, The Great Khali, and Golddust) & William Regal (along with Zach Ryder, Primo Colon, and Doink the Clown!).
In the back for more Nexus. This time they were attacking John Morrison.
The Miz came out to the ring to talk about how he took out R-Truth. The GM e-mailed and said Miz would face R-Truth’s replacement in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match…The World’s Strongest Man, Mark Henry. This time the GM used another familiar quote as he did last week with, “…and that’s the bottom line because I said so.” and “Give me a hell yeah!”. This week’s quote was “Just when you think you have all the answers, I go ahead and change the questions.”
There was a weird interview with Edge about the voices in the back of his head. Apparently Randy Orton isn’t the only one with voices in his head that talk to him.
Nexus then jumped Evan Bourne while Shaemus stood by and watched. After Nexus walked away Shaemus came back over to gloat a bit over Bourne. Nexus came back and stood over Shaemus. He stood up and looked at them, they jumped to scare him and he ran off looking for John Cena’s locker room.
TNA Champion Rob Van Dam vs. Samoa Joe
Rob Van Dam got the pin while Joe had a Rear Naked Choke still locked in.
Ladder Match
X-Division Champion Doug Williams vs. Jeremy Buck
Jeremy Buck scored a huge upset by climbing the ladder and taking down the red X. It seems Williams has a fear of heights.
The Motor City Machines (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) & Hernandez vs. Beer Money (Robert Roode & James Storm) & Matt Morgan
Robert Roode pinned Alex Shelley with a handful of tights.
Mr. Anderson vs. Jeff Hardy
Hardy got the pinfall after hitting the Twist of Fate.
Other highlights:
Mr. Anderson and Jeff Hardy talked things out in the ring at the start of the show. Even though they would be facing one another later in the show.
Angelina Love called out Madison Rayne after the match. Rayne suggested Love put her career on the line at Victory Road on Sunday. Love agreed, but planned ahead. She said she had met with the Championship Committee and if Lacey Von Erich or Velvet Skye interfere in the match in any way that Rayne would be DQ’d and Love would become the Knockouts Champion.
Devon was in the ring with Jesse Neal and Shannon Moore and called out Brother Ray. After going through a bunch of Jesse’s history Devon asked Ray what his problem with Jesse was. Ray started off by saying he doesn’t answer to Devon, and that he is Brother Ray, the leader of Team 3D. Ray went on to say how his problem is now with Devon because he is not a loyal partner. He went on to say that at Victory Road it would be Brother Ray vs. Jesse Neal vs. Devon in a Three-Way Dance.
There was a public service announcement from Alex Shelly speaking out against Beer Money…Paid for by The Motor City Machine Guns and The Beer Money Are A Couple Of Tools Foundation.
Jay Lethal was in the ring talking about his upcoming match with Ric Flair at Victory Road, and to his mother who is apparently sick when Flair came out to interupt. Flair went on one of his usual rants trying to get into Lethal’s head.
After the Hardy-Anderson match out came Abyss carrying his new toy. (The 2X4 with hundreds of nails in it.) The ref got it away from him which allowed Anderson and Hardy to get the upper hand briefly. Abyss recovered and got a hold of the 2X4. He swung it at Anderson who ducked out of the way. It got stuck in the turnbuckle pad. Anderson grabbed the chair he had brought to ringside with him and crept up behind Hardy who was behind Abyss. He yelled for Jeff to move and hit Abyss with the chair. Out came Rob Van Dam. He took the chair from Anderson and hit the Van Daminator (Threw the chair for Abyss to catch and then hit the chair with a spinning round kick.) on Abyss. The three then stood int he ring celebrating. RVD and Hardy shook hands, then RVD and Anderson shook hands, but Anderson pulled him in close to remind him that Sunday they would be opponents.
It was a pretty good show leading into the Victory Road PPV this weekend. Built up just enough curiosity to get people to watch. It should really be a good PPV too. The Joe-RVD match was one of the best that has been on TV in a long time. I am sure it is the first in quite a few great matches between the two.
To open the show Abyss was on the ramp throwing steel chairs into the ring. It was a scene similar but on a smaller scale then that memorable scene that took place in ECW at one point. Before he got a bunch in the ring out came Hulk Hogan. He got in the ring and told Abyss to get in and fight him. Eric Bischoff came out to try and stop it though. Hogan got Bischoff to stand aside, but then security got in the middle. Then Bischoff got face to face with Abyss and smacked him while calling him an ungrateful bastard. Abyss took out the security guys and went after Bischoff, but Hogan hit him from behind with a chair. It didn’t phase him at all, he turned to Hogan and got another chair shot which also had no affect. Abyss was about to go after Hogan, but out came Jeff Hardy who took out Abyss briefly. The three of them left Abyss in the ring. As Mike Tenay and Taz moved on with the show Abyss walked over to the announce table. he pointed at Taz and did the “YOU!” thing. Taz threw his headset off and was prepared to fight, but security got involved again.
During the commercial Abyss continued tearing things up in the back. Hogan and Bischoff began talking about how they can cut him out of the company. Hardy demanded a match with him tonight and got it.
The Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) vs. Ink, Inc. (Shannon Moore & Jesse Neal)
It was a decent match. Halfway through Devon came out and sat at the announce table. He said he wasn’t going to let Brother Ray interfere in the match. When Ray started to come out to the ring Devon stopped him and they began to argue. It was enough of a distraction though to allow Sabin and Shelley to set Neal up for a great double team move and get the pin.
Bischoff came out to officially announce the main event match as Abyss vs. Jeff Hardy. He did add a twist though. The special guest referee would be TNA Champion Rob Van Dam.
Next out was A.J. Styles accompanied by Ric Flair and Kazarian in a suit.
A.J. Styles vs. Samoa Joe
As usual, these two put on a great match. It ended with Joe slapping on the Coquina Clutch and Styles tapping out.
Flair was not at all happy, and the three of them held the all to familiar conversation they have been having for weeks in the middle of the ring. As Flair and Kaz walked up the ramp A.J. grabbed a mic. He told Kaz that he’d beat him like a crying little girl in the ring. He then challenged Kaz to a match next week. After asking Flair’s permission they agreed to the match.
To the back where Hogan and Bischoff were trying to convince Dixie Carter into taking some sort of action against Sting. She agreed after a bit of coaxing.
Desmond Wolfe vs. Brian Kendrick
Wolfe’s disagreement with Chelsea continued. Doug Williams came out to the announce table, but didn’t get involved at all. Wolfe told Chelsea that if she didn’t like it she should do something about it. She did, she walked back up the ramp in the middle of the match. It was enough of a distraction that Kendrick was able to slap on the Cobra Clutch and make Wolfe tap out.
The Pope D’angelo Dinero got a warm welcome back to the iMPACT! Zone. It basically brought him to tears, because as he said it is moments like this that let him know that it is worth it every time he gets into the ring. After he was done talking and saying he was at about 80% right now, out came Kurt Angle. Angle pointed out that their paths have crossed in his Top Ten battle. They will face one another at Victory Road. So much for the accelerated schedule. He will have to wait to Victory Road to move up any further.
After the break we reviewed the Jay Lethal – Ric Flair storyline. Then out came Jay Lethal to call out Styles and Flair, but he was interrupted by Matt Morgan coming out for their scheduled match. Morgan pointed out how Flair asked him to become part of Fortune.
Matt Morgan vs. Jay Lethal
Morgan controlled most of the match. He then sent Lethal out to the floor. As the ref checked on Lethal, Hernandez came down to the ring and behind Morgan. He hit him with a low-blow just as Morgan had done to him last week. Lethal took advantage of it and got the pin on Morgan.
To the back where Abyss was making a new toy. He was hammering nails into a 2X4. As he walked off carrying it he said, “This looks like it is going to hurt someone!” It certainly did! Now let’s see if Dreamer & Friends head down to ringside during the match before the Abyss match again.
TNA Knockouts Champion Madison Rayne vs. Taylor Wilde
Madison Rayne wound up winning the match which was overshadowed by Dreamer’s entrance. Angelina Love came out after the match with a chair and drove it into Rayne’s midsection.
Sure enough, during the match Tommy Dreamer, Raven, and Stevie Richards headed down to their regular seats. As I stated last week, Rhyno can’t be far behind, and there he was with them! Once the fans spotted them they began chanting E-C-W! Finally they realize!
After the break we saw Serita in the back attacking what is now apparently her former tag team partner Taylor Wilde. Security eventually made it back there to break them up.
Dixie Carter finally tracked down Sting. She suspended him without pay for 30 days. Bischoff showed up with security to interrupt. Sting walked off and said to just make his suspension indefinite.
Abyss vs. Jeff Hardy
IT was a pretty good main event. In the end Hardy hit the Swanton Bomb and got the three count. After the match though Abyss beat both Hardy and RVD down. He then went in search of his new toy. Before he could use it out came Mr. Anderson with a chair. He hit the 2X4 with the chair and sent it flying. He then hit Abyss with the chair once, but as he wound up for a second time Abyss ducked out of the way and Anderson hit Hardy with the chair instead. The show ended with Abyss as the only one standing in the ring.
WWE Monday Night Raw
From: The Wacovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Guest Host: Rob Zombie
OK, so now the NXT Season 1 rookies want to be called “Nexus”. This is getting more annoying by the minute.
The show started off with WWE Champion Shaemus coming out to the ring to talk. He started off talking about the attack on Mr. McMahon last week, and how as the WWE Champion he felt he needed to make a statement. That statement, “The Champ is Here!” He was also happy to announce that John Cena was no longer the #1 contender for the title. As he went on and on out came Cena to interrupt. Cena wanted Shaemus’s help in fighting Nexus tonight.
Then suddenly Michael Cole got an email from the anonymous General Manager. He said that he would take no action against Nexus until next week after Wade Barrett has had a chance to give his side of the story. He said if any member of Nexus initialed contact with any WWE Superstar they would be fired, and if any WWE Superstar initiated contact with them they would be suspended. He then went on and on, finally saying at the Money in the Bank PPV that Cena would face Shaemus for the title in a Steel Cage Match.
6-Person Tag Team Match
The Hart Dynasty (David Hart Smith, Tyson Kidd, and Natalya Neidhart) vs. Jimmy Uso, Jay Uso, and Tamina
As the Harts made their way into the ring The Usos attacked. They began to leave, but then Tamina turned back, threw Natalya into the ring and hit the big splash from the top rope.
After an review of the Dance Off between Vladimir Kozlov and Santino Marella they were going to face each other in a match. If Santino can beat Kozlov then he would become his tag team partner.
Santino Marella vs. Vladimir Kozlov
Kozlov won after a brief match. He then tried helping Santino up a couple times, but he just collapsed back down onto the mat. As Kozlov left the ring William Regal congratulated him and then climbed into the ring to attack Santino. Kozlov turned back and chased Regal off, then helped Santino up and carried him back up the ramp.
Prior to that match there was an interview with R-Truth where the only question was “What action should be taken against Nexus for their actions?” Apparently this week’s filler will be interviews asking everyone that question. After the match they asked The Great Khali.
Finally it was time to bring out Rob Zombie! His job was to announce the 8 competitors in the Raw Money in the Bank Ladder Match.
They are; Randy Orton, The Miz, R-Truth, Chris Jericho, Evan Bourne, Ted DiBiase, John Morrison, and Edge.
After he introduced Edge, Edge appeared on the Titantron to say that the last time he talked to Rob Zombie was to tell him that he was dropping his song as his entrance music. Zombie disputed that claim and said he told Edge to stop using it. He made that clear and then left the ring. Edge continued on though to point out that he won the first ever Money in the Bank match and went on to win the title because of it, and then he did it a second time.
Time for another message from the GM. All 8 competitors in the Money in the Bank Ladder match would be in tonight’s main event. An 8-Man Tag Team match – John Morrison, R-Truth, Evan Bourne, and Randy Orton vs. The Miz, Chris Jericho, Ted DiBiase, and Edge.
Shaemus vs. Mark Henry
Shaemus won the match. Yes, it really wasn’t much of a match which is why that is all I said.
Now to the back for an interview with Nexus. They can’t touch WWE Superstars so Skip decided to attack one of the crew.
Back into the ring where Jerry The King Lawler in the ring to announce a new DVD release. The DVD, “Ricky Steamboat – The Life Story of The Dragon”. After a video preview of the DVD out came Ricky The Dragon Steamboat. Next the King brought out a few other legends to congratulate Steamboat. Out came Arn Anderson, Michael P.S. Hayes, Dean Malenko, and Mike Rotundo. Of course only one of them had ever faced Steamboat in a match. (Arn Anderson) Anderson made one statement about how people will always talk about the Top 5 of All-Time, and how names like Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and the Undertaker will always be mentioned, but Steamboat is up there too. It is truly sad that McMahon can force even Arn Anderson to not mention Ric Flair just because he is in TNA now.
As Steamboat began to talk out came Nexus. The six were ready to fight though. As they rolled in the ring one by one they were turned back at first. Then they pulled Arn Anderson out and beat him down, next they dragged Malenko out, then Rotundo. with just the other three left in the ring all of Nexus entered the ring and began to attack them. It was then down to just Steamboat in the middle of the ring surrounded by all of Nexus. Of course he didn’t back down, but he did wind up getting beat down. After a commercial they were helping the legends from the ringside area, including Steamboat strapped to a stretcher.
Diva’s Tag Team Match
Champion Alicia Fox & Maryse vs. Eve Torres and Gail Kim
Of course, now that Fox is the champion she is now an expert wrestler…or at least that is what they try to make her look like. Anyway, she got the pin on Gail Kim.
8-Man Tag Team Match
Randy Orton, John Morrison, Evan Bourne, and R-Truth vs. Edge, The Miz, Ted DiBiase, and Chris Jericho
In the end Orton hit the RKO on DiBiase and got the pin. Then a preview of Money in the Bank began. Edge attacked from behind, got a ladder, R-Truth attacked, then each of the competitors attacked one another one by one. At the end of it all The Viper was standing alone in the ring again. He climbed the ladder and retrieved the Money in the Bank briefcase. I am sure that is how the match will end at the PPV too.
Again, WAY TOO MUCH NXT/Nexus crap. The replayed the attack on McMahon twice, then also replayed the attack on Steamboat and the others twice, too. Add in the interviews in the back about them and I would estimate close to an 45 minutes being dedicated to them. Of course there was like another 30 minutes of commercials, so that left about 50 minutes for other stuff.
Hulk Hogan came out to start the show. He pointed out that the main event at the Victory Road PPV would now be a 4-way match for the TNA Title. Champion Rob Van Dam would be defending against Jeff Hardy, Abyss, and Mr. Anderson. As he moved on to address what Abyss did last week, out came Abyss. Abyss said that everything would change once “They” arrived. He said how they told him he doesn’t need the fans or Hogan anymore. Abyss then attacked Hogan and stuffed the Hall of Fame ring into his mouth. He also dumped out a bag full of broken glass. Out came RVD to put a stop to it. When Abyss got the upper hand out came Mr. Anderson. He hit Abyss with a chair a few times, but it had no affect. Hogan, RVD, and Anderson then left the ring. This all led to the main event match being Mr. Anderson vs. Abyss in a Falls Count Anywhere match.
Velvet Skye vs. Angelina Love
This match ended the same way Angelina’s match with Lacey Von Erich ended last week. She DDT’d Velvet into a steel chair and left he laying in the ring. Velvet wins via disqualification.
Out next was Matt Morgan to call out Hernandez, but only because he knew Hernandez was in Mexico. After Morgan bad mouthed him a bit Homicide came out and attacked him from behind. Morgan beat him down in the end though.
Kazarian vs. Jay Lethal
Lethal kept his winning streak going by beating Kaz. While the match was going on however Ric Flair and A.J. Styles were in the back attacking Lethal’s brother who had come for a visit. While Lethal was celebrating Flair came on the screen to let him know what was going on in the back. Lethal took off looking for them in the back.
Jeff Jarrett vs. Sting
After Jarrett came to the ring Sting’s music began to play, but there was no Icon in sight. Then Sting was spotted up in the rafters. Jarrett went up after him. They fought as they came down the steps and headed back to the ring. As Jarrett had dragged him half way back to the ring the camera showed Sting was actually standing in the ring and the guy Jarrett was beating on really wasn’t Sting. Jarrett realized a bit too late and the real Sting came up behind him and put the bat across his throat. He then beat on him a bit with the bat. He left Jarrett laying in the ring, but not before saying “If you’re going to walk with them, you’re gonna go down with them.”
Apparently they want to up the time table as to when Kurt Angle will get a title shot. Instead of waiting to Victory Road to have #10 Kurt Angle face #9 Desmond Wolfe they are doing it tonight. At this rate it should give him his title shot at the August PPV. As long as he faces one a week and one at Victory Road.
Kurt Angle vs. Desmond Wolfe
Wolfe was too preoccupied with yelling at Chelsea throughout the match which gave Angle opening after opening to regain control of the match. Angle countered an attempt at the Tower of London and turned it into an Olympic Slam. He followed it up with the Ankle Lock to which Wolfe tapped out pretty quickly. As Angle took control at the end Chelsea got a big smirk on her face which turned to a huge smile when Wolfe tapped out.
Next out in the ring was X-Division Champion Doug Williams. He called Brian Kendrick out. Kendrick came out to explain their match at Victory Road. Apparently it is going to be an Ultimate X match, but it can also end by submission. Williams suggested they just walk away and conclude their affairs at Victory Road. Then Williams suddenly attacked, Kendrick saw it coming and reversed it and put the Cobra Clutch on Willaims.
After the commercial we go right to the back where we see Jesse Neal laying motionless while Shannon Moore is beating on Brother Ray. Security finally broke it up, but then out came Devon to pull security off of Ray. Devon then grabbed Ray and yelled at him a bit.
TNA Tag Team Tournament Finals
Beer Money (James Storm & Robert Roode) vs. Ink, Inc. (Jesse Neal & Shannon Moore)
Moore came out by himself since Neal was laid out in the back. Jesse would eventually make his way to the ring. Shortly after the match began Tommy Dreamer started walking through the crowd again. This time however he was not alone! Right behind him was a couple more familiar faces, Raven and Stevie Richards. Back to the in ring action…Beer Money hit the DUI and got the pin. They will now face The Motor City Machine Guns for the TNA Tag Team Titles at Victory Road.
Well if you ask me the “They” Abyss was referring to is probably Dreamer, Raven, Richards, and whatever else ECW talent they have convinced to come back to the ring. I am hoping and hoping Sabu is on the list. Balls Mahoney and Rhyno probably aren’t far behind. Taz keeps saying how Dreamer isn’t returning his calls, but I also hope that Taz gets in with the group, if only for support.
Interestingly enough Dreamer, Raven, and Richards were still sitting in the crowd for this next match.
Falls Count Anywhere Match
Abyss vs. Mr. Anderson
They used a chair and a Kendo Stick but didn’t go further than right outside the ring. Anderson went to the top rope to try for a Swanton Bomb, but Abyss got his knees up. Abyss hit a Shock Treatment backbreaker and got the pin. Abyss took Anderson up the entrance ramp to the stage. Once there he Chokeslammed Anderson off the stage. As Abyss stood there looking down on Mr. Anderson out came Hulk Hogan carrying a steel chair. It didn’t phase Abyss one bit. As he turned security came out to break it up really quickly.
Not a bad show really. Again, I can’t wait to see who else joins the ECW Reunion. Maybe Paul E. will even make an appearence.
WWE Fatal 4-Way
From: Nassau Coliseum, Long Island, New York
Mr. McMahon opened the show by explaining that Bret The Hitman Hart will not be at the PPV tonight. Then they replayed what the NXT Season 1 Rookies did to him on last Monday’s Raw. Then we reviewed the whole Drew MacIntyre saga. Then finally it was time for the first match.
Intercontinental Championship Match
Champion Kofi Kingston vs. Drew MacIntyre
The match was mainly controlled by MacIntyre, but as Kofi mounted his comeback MacIntyre took out the referee by accident. He then went for a pin, but the ref was still out. He tried to revive him, but then gave up and dragged Teddy Long (Who was sitting at ringside because MacIntyre wanted him to hand him the title when he won it back.) into the ring. He forced Long to put on the ref’s shirt. As he pinned Kingston, Long began to count, but stopped at two and shook his head saying he wasn’t going to do it. MacIntyre went after Long and told him he better count the next time. As MacIntyre turned his attention back to Kingston, Matt Hardy came into the ring and hit the Twist of Fate. Kingston then hit the Trouble in Paradise and Teddy Long gladly counted to three this time.
Winner and still Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston.
Diva’s Championship Match
Champion Eve Torres vs. Maryse vs. Gail Kim vs. Alicia Fox
This was a decent match for a change. I think maybe Tara is working with some Divas though. I say this because Eve Torres hit a big Moonsault off the top rope onto Maryse after hitting her Swinging Neckbreaker. Alicia Fox came in and tossed Eve out of the ring and pinned Maryse to become the new Diva’s Champion.
Winner and new Diva’s Champion, Alicia Fox
Chris Jericho vs. Evan Bourne
Jericho talked for quite some time before the match. As the match progressed, Jericho missed a Lionsault, Bourne missed an Air Bourne, then Jericho hit the Code Breaker. Bourne got his foot on the rope to stop the three count. Jericho went for the Walls of Jericho, but Bourne countered. Bourne took too long to get to the top rope, and Jericho climbed to the top rope with him. Bourne fought him off twice and then finally hit the Air Bourne and got the upset victory.
Winner, Evan Bourne
Time to review The Undertaker and Kane seeking vengeance storyline.
Fatal 4-Way Match for the World’s Heavyweight Championship
Champion Jack swagger vs. The Big Show vs. Rey Mysterio vs. C.M. Punk
Each time that Show took control of the match the others teamed up to knock him out of it for a while. As all four competitors were laid out both in the ring and on the floor Kane’s music came on. He came out pushing a coffin. He went right after Punk and chokeslammed him into the empty coffin. Before he could close it though out came Luke Gallows to interrupt. Rey took advantage of this distraction and hit the 619 on Swagger and got the pin to win the World Heavyweight Title for the second time!
Winner and new World Heavyweight Champion, Rey Mysterio
This of course sets up a series of matches once The Undertaker makes his way back. After all it was Rey who actually gave him the injuries he is currently recovering from.
United States Championship Match
Champion The Miz vs. R-Truth
Good Lord! They let Miz (c)”rap” on his way to the ring. The song was “The Miz” rapped to the tune of “What’s Up?”
R-Truth was going for a Sunset Flip, but Miz dropped down onto his chest and hooked his legs to get the three count.
Winner and still United States Champion, The Miz
Six-Person Tag Team Match
The Hart Dynasty – Natalya Neidhart, David Hart Smith & Tyson Kidd vs. The Usos – Jimmy & Jay Uso and Tamina
Maybe I need to start watching Superstars on Thursdays. Apparently I missed The Uso’s in ring debut this week. Of course it was just a match with Golddust and Mark Henry. At one point Kidd jumped from the ring apron down to the floor trying to hit a DDT on Jimmy, but instead he was caught for a Samoan Drop right into the ring barrier. The Usos should maybe be renamed The Wild Rikishis, just a thought. The thing I was most impressed with in this match though was Natalya Neidhart. She hit a couple great Snap Suplexes. Then after rolling out of the way of Tamina coming off the top rope Snuka style she hit a Tornado Clothesline and got the pin on Tamina.
Fatal 4-Way Match for The WWE Championship
Champion John Cena vs. Randy Orton vs. Edge vs. Shaemus
About 15 minutes into the match The NXT Rookies attacked a few of the wrestlers in the back watching on a monitor. They then headed to the ring where the action had all but stopped. They went right for Cena first. Then Edge joined in and got their attention. Then suddenly Shaemus pinned Cena in the ring and won the match.
Winner and new WWE Champion Shaemus.
They continued to beat on Cena for a bit while Edge and Orton laid motionless on the floor. As Shaemus raised his new belt in celebration at the top of the ramp the NXT guys ran up the ramp after him.
The PPV ended there.
They “squeezed” in seven whole matches for a pay-per-view! That is ridiculous! What makes it even worse is, it was only like two hours and thirty-five minutes or so. They expect people to pay their $40 or more for 2.5 hours filled with 7 matches and not a lot of great matches at that? TNA could win this battle based solely on the PPVs.
That is all I have to say about this “new” PPV. Just very frustrated with another sub par show. Let’s hope the next “new” PPV, Money in the Bank is better next month.
The show started off with M.V.P. explaining why the pros beat the rookies down last week. They basically kissed and made up.
Kaval vs. Alex Riley
This was actually a pretty good match. Probably because you had the FCW Champion facing a guy with 12 years experience that has held multiple titles all over the world. It was good to see Kaval/Senshi/Low-ki hasn’t missed a beat since leaving TNA. His kicks were better than ever, and he is still allowed to call his move The Warrior’s Way. In the end though Alex Riley got the three count.
Tag Team Match
Mark Henry & Lucky Cannon vs. Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston & Michael McGillicutty
Apparently McGillicutty is a name from his mother’s side of the family. I still don’t understand why you wouldn’t want to be called Hennig if you are a professional wrestler. However, regardless of the name wrestling runs deep through his veins. It was a good match, in the end McGillicutty hit a running neckbreaker out of nowhere and got the pin. It was a very impressive move, and surely a sign of things to come from this future WWE Superstar.
The problem with hour long shows is that they only fit in two matches. Remember the days when you’d sit and watch the late night Saturday WWE shows on a local channel? For me it was WWOR TV out od Secaucus, NJ. The show would come on at 11PM ET. They would fit 4 or maybe even 5 matches into a one hour show. Ahhh, the good old days.
Well even if it is only two matches it is much better than the first season of NXT with maybe one match and a bunch of annoying competitions that were meaningless. After just two episodes of this second season has been better than the entire first season. Of course I did only watch two episodes of the first season, but that’s because it was crap.
WWE Monday Night Raw
From: Charlotte, North carolina
Guest Host: Mark Feuerstein, star of Royal Pains.
The show started off with a recap of what the NXT rookies did last week. That makes a total of about an hour that they have dedicated to the whole thing since it happened last week.
Wade Barrett was in the ring to start the show. He explained how Bret The Hitman Hart told him to be in the ring at the start of the show to apologize for what they had done. He called out all the other NXT Rookies from season one to apologize with him. Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler along with some other crew members got up and walked off. They didn’t want to hear it. Barrett then went one by one asking them to apologize and they all refused to do it. As Barrett rambled on and on finally out came Bret Hart to put a stop to it. They went back and forth forever, rookies demanding contracts for everyone, first class travel accommodations, and personal locker rooms. Bret Hart refused their demands, and fired Wade Barrett. He then told them all to get out of the ring or he’d call the cops to physically remove them all.
Now 20 minutes into the show and just back from a commercial and Cole and Lawler had their own little commercial for the Fatal 4-Way PPV. It did have a purpose though, it led into a Fatal 4-Way match for the United States Championship.
Fatal 4-Way Match for The United States Championship
Champion R-Truth vs. John Morrison vs. Zack Ryder vs. The Miz
Woo woo wait, why is Zack Ryder in a title match? Anyway, this could be a decent match, but it probably won’t be. Morrison and Truth dumped Ryder and Miz out of the ring early and actually started wrestling one another with little hesitation. It was a normal 4-way match. Someone was always there to break up the three count. Then Ryder hit R-Truth with the Rough Ryder, but Morrison was there to knock Ryder out of the ring. Morrison then hit the Starship Pain on R-Truth, but as he went for the pin Miz came in and tossed him out of the ring and got the three count on R-Truth to win the title back.
A clip of The Big Show’s guest starring role on this week’s Royal Pains was shown, and then we saw this week’s guest host, Mark Feuerstein. He was talking to the Bella Twins, until he was interrupted by Ted DiBiase and Virgil. DiBiase wanted him to make him co-guest host. He was saying no, but seemed to be waivering a little until The Big Show quietly walked up behind DiBiase and Virgil. At that point he got very brave and talking back to DiBiase. DiBiase told Virgil to take care of this. At this point Show cleared his throat to let them know he was there. Show suggested that he and Feuerstein face DiBiase and Virgil in a tag team match. Dibiase agreed to the match. Feuerstein then explain how he was a figure skater in high school rather than a wrestler as he had told DiBiase. He demonstrated some of his moves and then jumped into Show’s arms. They then noticed the Bella Twins were still there watching, and a bit creeped out by it all.
Chris Jericho vs. Evan Bourne
Jericho just couldn’t put Bourne away. He then snapped and wound up getting disqualified. As he went back to continue beating on Bourne he was met with a kick to the head followed by Air Bourne from the top rope. Winner by DQ, Evan Bourne.
Next out was John Cena to talk a bit. As he was talking all of a sudden the NXT rookies were heading through the crowd toward the ring. This time however Cena had some back up. Lawler was the first into the ring, but then from the back came Evan Bourne, William Regal, R-Truth, and Santino Marella. The rooks still got in the ring and the brawl began. Out came the reinforcements, first Mark Henry, then Randy Orton, then Edge, and finally Shaemus with a lead pipe. They cleared the ring and chased the rookies back into the crowd, and out of the building.
Eve Torres & Gail Kim vs. Maryse & Alicia Fox
Tonight it is a tag team match preview of the Fatal 4-Way this Sunday. Maryse and Alicia had the match under control until Maryse was holding Eve in the corner for Alicia to kick her. Instead the kick landed on Maryse and sent her to the floor. this allowed Eve to get the upper hand, hit a neckbreaker and get the pin.
OK, back from a commercial and time for a WWE commercial. These commercials I could wind up liking though. It was one for the WWE Classics on Demand channel. It showed clips from the Philadelphia Spectrum where Intercontinental Champion Pedro Morales began a long feud with The Magnificent Don Muraco. Muraco won the title for the first time that night. It brought back a lot of good memories from long ago.
Tag Team Comedy
The Big Show & Mark Feuerstein vs. Ted DiBiase & Virgil
After Show dominated DiBiase for a bit Virgil was reluctantly tagged into the match. After Show hit him once though Virgil rolled out to the floor and said he quit. Before he could walk away from ringside Feuerstein grabbed him and tossed him back into the ring. He tore his shirt so the chops would make more noise. He then hit Virgil with a Chokeslam and tagged in Feuerstein. Feuerstein entered the ring, it is clear he must have been a Scotty Too Hotty fan. He went right into the worm move Scotty used to use. He then wound up and dropped a big elbow across Virgil’s chest and then got the three count. Virgil was laying in the ring lifeless. DiBiase was about to leave the ring, but instead turned around and stuffed a hundred dollar bill into Virgil’s mouth. He then started to leave again, but turned back yet again and took back the money before leaving.
William Regal vs. Santino Marella with Special Guest Referee Vladimir Kozlov
After a rather brief match Santino rolled Regal up and grabbed a handful of tights. Kozlov counted one, two, three regardless. Regal then got in his face arguing about it.
Out came Bret Hart and asked the three of them to come stand with him. He said he had asked the entire locker room to come stand with him because he wasn’t going to let history repeat itself on his watch. Out came all the Raw Superstars that weren’t set to be in the main event match. As the match was about to begin we could see Bret Hart go backstage. This leads me to believe that he will be attacked by the rookies back stage while the entire locker room is busy watching the match.
Edge & Shaemus vs. Randy Orton & John Cena
As I said, they are going to be playing this foursome against one another for a long time. Started a few weeks ago, and the scheduled main event at the July 19th Raw here in Tulsa is set to be this same match.
How does someone stay this pale really? McMahon must have put it in his contract that he is not allowed out of his coffin until after dusk or something. What might be a better question is…If you know how extremely pale you are why do you go into a business where you know you will be mostly naked most of the time?
Edge and Shaemus were controlling the match until Edge went for a Spear that Cena moved out of the way of. Edge went head first into the second turnbuckle. Cena finally got a tag to Orton. He came in and began to dominate Shaemus. As he was waiting for him to get up so he could hit the RKO Edge came up behind him and was met with an RKO instead. Then as Orton concentrated on Edge, Shaemus attacked from behind. This led to them dominating Orton for a bit. Orton finally got the tag to Cena who came in and threw a couple shoulder blocks.
Then the lights went out and we saw the NXT Rookies tearing apart the backstage area. Then they dragged Bret Hart out and put him in the back seat of a limo. The limo then started driving around and crashing into other cars that were set up strategically. They then ended it by dragging him out of the limo for everyone to see. They demanded an answer by Sunday about their contracts.
Well, as usual even what the WWE wants to be unpredictable is way too predictable. Just send the guys back to Florida, or blend them into the shows. Don’t try a whole rehash of The Outsiders coming in and taking over. It worked then because A) It hadn’t really been done before, B) It was people we cared about that were doing it, and finally C) It was cool to see two big stars revolt and leave the WWE for WCW.
Through all of the NXT crap it was still a pretty fun show to watch. Mainly because I really like Mark Feuerstein and they actually let him get involved in the show. I feel a letdown coming from this Sunday’s pay-per-view though. One thing that can backfire on Vince McMahon making sure his PPV is scheduled the week after TNA’s PPV is that TNA set the bar very high this month. It will be hard for the WWE to put on a show that doesn’t pale in comparison.
Odd how Kurt Angle is suddenly in the opening match of a PPV. It either means they don’t think he is full back yet, or the show is so jam packed with great matches that they wanted to start off big and stay that way. Regardless, it is great to see Angle back in the ring.
Kazarian has let things with Ric Flair go to his head too much. He showboated a bit and wasted a lot of time repeatedly that kept giving Angle a chance to recuperate. At one point he raised his leg backwards to deliver a low blow. The referee was about to disqualify him, but Angle convinced him to let the match go on because he didn’t want to win like that.Wow, this was such a good match. If this is a sign of how the rest of the show is going to go then it might turn into the PPV of the year. They battled back and forth again and again. Kaz managed to block every attempt at the Olympic Slam and the Ankle Lock. The thing it, it only takes Angle locking it on once. He did indeed lock in the Ankle Lock and kept Kaz away from the ropes long enough to make him tap out. Welcome back Kurt Angle!
X-Division Championship Match
Champion Doug Williams vs. Brian Kendrick
Well they can’t ALL be top of the line matches like Angle-Kazarian. All in all it was a decent match. Williams retains his title after hitting a Tornado DDT from the middle rope and getting the pin.
During the first two matches of the night I saw so many suplexes that I began to wish that The Human Suplex Machine could put on his orange and black and get in the ring rather than just call the matches.
TNA Knockouts Championship Match
Champion Madison Rayne vs. Roxxi
After Madison talked way too long she asked Roxxi to put her career on the line if she were to lose the match. As Roxxi was agreeing Madison hit her in the head with the mic. It busted her wide open. Roxxi is almost as big a bleeder as Ric Flair is! the blood was just pouring from her forehead. Roxxi was controlling most of the match, but then Rayne got a quick three count to win the match. This apparently put an end to Roxxi’s TNA career…unless of course we suddenly see a masked knockout make her debut.
Jesse Neal vs. Brother Ray
Before the match started Ray decided to call it all off and apologize to everyone. As they walked back up the ramp together he turned and attacked Neal and threw him into the ring. the match would go on after Ray had the ref send Devon to the back. Ray had everything under control until all of a sudden in the crowd was an old friend. It was The Innovator of Violence, Tommy Dreamer! It provided enough of a distraction that Neal was able to get the upper hand and pin Brother Ray for the win.
It is great to see Dreamer coming to TNA. If given the chance we will see that “He’s Still Got It!” Just be prepared, things are probably about to get a little more bloodier in TNA. It is strange because it was just a few hours before I watched this PPV that I was wondering if anyone from ECW would wind up in TNA since the WWE killed off the brand again. Dreamer joins quite a few other ECW alum in TNA. I just hope they let them be extreme again. With RVD in the company they could probably convince Sabu to come back too. Imagine a Fatal 4-Way Barbed Wire match with RVD, Sabu, Dreamer, and maybe Abyss if Mick Foley or Taz can’t be involved.
When it was time for the Matt Morgan – Hernandez match out came Morgan with a doctor’s note and a neck brace saying he couldn’t compete tonight. Before he got back up the ramp though, out came Hernandez to attack and drag him back to the ring. After the ref continually tried to get Super Mex to stop choking Morgan with a shirt, Hernandez lost his temper and grabbed the ref and tossed him across the ring. The match ended with him being disqualified. He went right back after Morgan outside the ring. He set up Morgan’s head against the ring post and was about to land a kick on his head, Morgan pulled referee Brian Hebner into the way and he took the full brunt of the kick right to his ribs. Morgan then ran off, and Hernandez followed back up the ramp. Other refs rushed out to help Hebner.
Monster’s Ball Match
Desmond Wolfe accompanied by Chelsea vs. Abyss
This match is bound to end with Chelsea helping Abyss win. Oh! Imagine a Monster’s Ball match instead of the barbed wire match I was hoping for earlier. Shortly after the match started Abyss pulled out a board with barbed wire attached to it. He set it up in the corner where someone would surely be landing later. At one point Wolfe pulled out a teddy bear wrapped in barbed wire. After he used it to hit Abyss with, Abyss knocked Wolfe down. He went and gave the teddy bear to Chelsea. Next he pulled out the bag full of broken glass. Wolfe decided it was time to leave, and held Chelsea in front of him as a shield until he had a chance to grab a Kendo Stick. The fight made its way up to the announce table. As he swung the Kendo Stick again Abyss reached out and grabbed him for a Chokeslam. He slammed him right through the floor in front of the announce table. Then Abyss dragged him back to the ring. This entire time Chelsea was still holding on to the teddy bear. Abyss then retrieved the board with barbed wire on it and laid it on the mat. He hoisted Wolfe onto the corner turnbuckle and attempted to Superplex him onto the board. Wolfe fought him off and hit a sort of Sunset Flip which slammed Abyss down onto the board, entangling him in the barbed wire. He went for a pin, but Abyss got a shoulder up. Abyss’s arms were all bloody again. Wolfe then slammed Abyss face first into the pile of broken glass. He was bleeding profusely now. Wolfe screamed for Chelsea to give her the purse. She did reluctantly, but then there were no Brass Knuckles in it. Then suddenly she tossed them over Wolfe’s head and right to Abyss. He landed a big punch and hit the Black Hole Slam followed by the pin. As I said before the match, Chelsea helped Abyss win the match. Chelsea walked off still clutching the teddy bear. A MUCH better match than I was expecting. Abyss puts his body on the line every time he steps into the ring. It would be nice to have a Monster’s Ball opponent that will do the same and bleed a bit.
A.J. Styles with Ric Flair vs. Jay Lethal
This was a great X-Division type match that was fun to watch. It is great to see the new management using Lethal in the ring again instead of as a Macho Man knockoff. Flair used his jacket to choke Lethal at one point, but other than that it was a classic X-Division match. Something that TNA needs more of! Then Styles poked Lethal in the eye which gave him a chance to slap on the Figure-Four Leglock. Lethal managed to get to the ropes and break the hold. As he went for the Styles Clash Lethal countered with a Half Nelson into a Suplex. He pinned him, but Flair dragged A.J.’s leg under the rope. Lethal then put on a Figure-Four of his own. Styles got to the ropes to break it, but not before the damage was done. As Styles was regaining control he started to climb the ropes but his knee gave out and he fell and smacked his head on the turnbuckle. As A.J. climbed the ropes again and leaped off Lethal caught him and in one single motion hit a Northern Lights Suplex into the pin. Winner Jay Lethal!
Flair was not at all happy. As he started to approach A.J. out came Kazarian to try and stop things from escalating. Flair and Kaz then left the ring with A.J. sitting in the corner all alone.
Beer Money (Robert Roode & James Storm) vs. Mr. Anderson & Jeff Hardy
After battling for a while Storm was about to hit a kick, but Anderson grabbed him from the floor. Hardy hit a Stunner and then a Swanton Bomb on Roode. As referee Slick Johnson was counting Storm dragged him out of the ring and then collapsed to the floor to make it look like it wasn’t him. It was an act that would have made Eddie Guerrero proud. Johnson thought it was Anderson and began yelling at him and walking him back to his corner. This gave Beer Money a chance to double team Hardy. Beer Money kept control of the match from that point, just not allowing Hardy to get the tag to Anderson. Finally there was a small opening where he went for the Whisper in the Wind, but Roode moved out of the way. As Roode lifted him from the mat Hardy hit another Stunner and then got to the corner to make the tag. At this point the match broke down, everyone was flying everywhere. Storm eventually hit the Eye of the Storm on Hardy. They then were trying to hit the Last Call on bloody Anderson, but Hardy pushed Storm out of the ring without Roode noticing. As he hoisted Anderson over Hardy caught him and pushed him back over. Roode had no clue what was going on and turned to look, only to see Hardy standing there. Then Anderson grabbed him and hit The Mic Check and got the pin. Anderson called for his mic to come down. He announced the winner of the match, “Jeffrey Nero Hardy………Hardy”, then Hardy took the mic and announced “and the other winner of the match, Mr. Anderson…..Anderson” He also wished TNA a happy anniversary.
TNA Heavyweight Championship Match
Champion Rob Van Dam vs. Sting
This match wound up outside the ring soon after it started. This seemed to give Sting an advantage for a while. Sting kept control of things when they got back in the ring too. Finally RVD mounted a comeback using his biggest assets, his flexibility and kicks. Earl Hebner accidentally got hit in the eye. This led to hi wandering into harm’s way as RVD came off the top rope with a Flying Cross Body Block. Sting moved and Hebner got laid out. Sting went and grabbed his bat. Then all of a sudden Jeff Jarrett came down the entrance ramp. He took the bat and hit Sting in the face with it. RVD hit a Rolling Thunder and went for the pin, but Sting kicked out at two. After a few missed moves, RVD hit the Five Star Frog Splash and got the three count to retain his title.
This is how a pay-per-view should go! Not even Wrestlemania does a PPV as good as this (mostly). From top to bottom it was one great match after another. The only exception was probably the Doug Williams – Brian Kendrick match. I admit I wandered off to get some chips shortly after that one started. I give them credit though, the part I watched of that match turned out to be decent. I loved how they piled so many Suplexes into the first two matches.
Even the Knockouts match was very good for a second straight PPV, let’s see the WWE do that. The problem with the last two Knockouts Title matches at the PPVs is the reason they were both very good wound up losing the match and their TNA careers in the matches. If TNA keeps letting the Taras who actually do Moonsaults and wrestle in matches, and the Roxxis who will continue on through the profusely bleeding forehead and the Knockouts Division will soon look like The Divas division.
So, in review, even though it was an amazing PPV TNA has to grow from this point to keep things going in the right direction. They need more all out wrestling matches like the Angle-Kazarian match, more Knockouts wrestling and putting it all out there, more exciting X-Division type matches like the A.J. – Lethal match, more people willing to put their bodies on the line like Abyss for a Monster’s Ball match.
Enter Tommy Dreamer, apparently he was the big surprise Dixie Carter Tweeted about earlier in the week. He is the perfect type of wrestler to put into a Monster’s Ball match with Abyss. Unlike Desmond Wolfe he too will get tangled in the barbed wire, land face first in the broken glass…and all the while love every minute of it.
On the horizon is the probably additions of people like Shelton Benjamin (and Charlie Haas on his coattails). Maybe even Mickie James, even though she won’t really fill that void left by Tara and Roxxi.
Also possibly coming soon… How do you make Team 3D relevant again? Well you put them in a battle with The Nasty Boys, of course. No wait, that didn’t work one bit, and everyone should have known it wouldn’t before they did it. Why not try breaking them up for a bit and have them fight one another in the ring? Yep, I am pretty sure we will see Brother Devon and Brother Ray facing off against one another in the middle of the ring at the next PPV.
Well, I felt the first edition of NXT was a total and complete waste of time. So much so that I couldn’t stand to watch it other than the first time I did, and then the finale to pick the winner. The competitions were ridiculous, the people involved didn’t stir any interest in me at all.
I tuned in to see the first episode of “Season Two” just to see the list of people involved this time around. I was happily surprised. They realized they needed to put some people in the competition that people might have a bit of an interest in. How did they do that with a bunch of rookie nobodies?
Well first off they have a former CBA and IBA basketball player, a former NFL player, and the son of a former New York Jet and sportscaster. If that however doesn’t peak your interest enough to watch how about a former TNA champion being on the roster? No, nothing yet? Well then, what about two third generation professional wrestlers?
Eli Cottonwood who is being mentored by John Morrison played basketball in the International Basketball Association, and the Continental Basketball Association. He also attended a camp for the Milwaukee Bucks as well as playing in a summer league for the Dallas Mavericks. He has been part of Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) since 2008.
Percy Watson has played for the Green Bay Packers, New York Giants, and Washington Redskins in the NFL. His mentor is M.V.P., and he has wrestling in FCW since September, 2009.
Alex Riley whose real name is Kevin Kiley, Jr. is the son of former New York Jet and ESPN host Kevin Kiley. Junior played football and basketball at Boston College. He is the current FCW Champion after beating NXT season one competitor Justin Gabriel and winner Wade Barrett in a Triple Threat match. He is paired up with The Miz, and amazingly it might be the best matched pair of the bunch. Their attitudes are very similar.
TNA fans will recognize Kaval as 3-time TNA/NWA Tag Team Champion, and 2-Time X-Division Champion Low-Ki or more recently Senshi. Good to see him getting a shot in the WWE, even if it is about 12 years after the start of his wrestling career. Unfortunately he has Lay-Cool as his co-mentors. They seem to just want to use him as their valet thus far.
Now, this is where it really takes a turn to the interesting for me.
Husky Harris who is being mentored by Cody Rhodes is a third generation wrestler with a deep wrestling heritage. His real name is Windham Rotunda. 1980′s wrestling fans will realized right away why that name has history. You see, Windham Rotunda apart from being a great tag team of the 80s is also the son of wrestling great Mike Rotunda (aka I.R.S), and is named for his dad’s former tag team partner who just happens to also be his uncle. You see Mike Rotunda married Stephanie Windham, the sister of wrestlers Barry and Kendall Windham. For those that still haven’t caught on to how deep his bloodline goes let me remind you who Stephanie, Barry, and Kendall called daddy… That would be WWE Hall of Famer Blackjack Mulligan! It will be great to see him as he develops into a WWE Superstar. Unfortunately he has more of his grandfather’s body than his dad or uncle’s.
Husky Harris isn’t even the biggest reason for me to watch NXT season two. The biggest reason is being called Michael McGillicutty. It really makes no sense to me WHY he is being called Michael McGillicutty. Well other than the McMahon thing where he has to own the wrestlers name and likeness whenever possible. That name however might be the biggest/only reason he doesn’t catch on fast as a WWE Superstar. You see Michael McGillicutty’s real name might sound “perfectly” familiar… Joe Hennig. That’s right his grandfather is none other than Larry The Axe Hennig, and more importantly his father is Mr. Perfect, Curt Hennig.
Joe Hennig’s pro debut was in Iowa’s World League Wrestling in a tag match with another WWE third generation Superstar, Ted DiBiase, Jr. He has been in FCW since early 2008. HE has held the FCW title once, and the FCW Tag Team Titles twice. Once with first season NXT star Heath Miller, and again with third generation wrestler Brett DiBiase. He has also won the Pro Wrestling Illustrated Rookie of the Year award in 2008. Of course with a name like Hennig you pretty much have that award half won when you lace up your boots. One of the best things about Joe, he uses his dad;s Perfect-Plex finishing move. Also the fact that they let him talk about his dad is great too.
Just to give the two rookies I haven’t mentioned yet some time…
Titus O’Neil is actually one of the more impressive rookies. O’Neil played football for the Florida Gators, and in the Arena Football League. Unfortunately his pro is Zack Ryder. However, Woo woo woo, I am betting he turns out to be one of the best rookies of the second season of NXT. Granted he has a long way to go before becoming a WWE Superstar, but he has already come a long way considering his TV debut in FCW wasn’t until January, 2010.
The last NXT Rookie that I have yet to mention is Lucky Cannon. His pro is Mark Henry, and he has been in FCW since July 2008. Just a hunch, but if I were to bet on who will be eliminated first…my choice would be Lucky Cannon.
Another good thing about this season of NXT, the fans vote will count for 50% of the decision making as to who is eliminated.
My prediction for the winner of NXT Season 2 – Michael McGillicutty aka Joe Hennig with Titus O’Neil and Alex Riley rounding out the top three. Of course Husky Harris and Kaval should catch on in the WWE regardless of the outcome (as with the top 3 I think.).
The show started off the always expected showdown in the ring of superstars who will be in one of the main events at the next PPV. Rey Mysterio, Jack Swagger, C.M. Punk, and The Big Show all made their way to the ring at the usual intervals. After they were done Kane came on the Titantron to talk about getting vengeance.
First match of the night -
Rey Mysterio vs. Jack Swagger
This match seemed to take a very long time, that was mainly due to them taking two commercial breaks during the match. In the end Rey hit a third 619 and got the pin.
After the match Swagger attacked Rey, but Kane made his way out and Chokeslammed both of them.
Next out came Lay-Cool along with their rookie from NXT, Kaval (See more about him and the new season of NXT in an upcoming post) After an annoying segment having to do with makeovers out came Layla’s opponent accompanied by Kelly Kelly.
Layla vs. Tiffany
Layla got the win after Tiffany had knocked Michelle McCool off the ring apron to the floor.
Then after a commercial they reaired the entire 14 minute segment from the end of Raw with NXT attacking, followed of course by more commercials. They must have need tons of filler for tonight’s show. Match count after more than an hour is 2. To waste more time they reviewed the return of The Peep Show from a couple week’s ago with guest Hornswoggle which ended with Chavo and Dolph Ziggler attacking. Then they review their match from last week too. Then after Christian made his way to the ring out came Vicki Guerrero to excuse herself and annoy us a bit. Oh, she also introduced his opponent, Dolph Ziggler.
Christian vs. Dolph Ziggler
Well this match only needed one commercial break before Christian hit the a sunset flip off the middle rope and pinned Ziggler as Vicki watched on from a ringside seat near the announce table.
After the match Kurt Hawkins and Vance Archer attacked Christian. Now that Christian was down and out Ziggler moved in and locked on “the vicious Sleeper Hold” which was then followed by a big hug for Vicki.
Then to the back with more Kane mourning and demanding vengeance.
After the commercial Drew MacIntyre came out to the ring to bitch a bit more. He called out Teddy Long. He demanded that Teddy watch the Titantron. He showed him the replay of last Friday where Matt Hardy came out of the crowd to attack him, and then pinned him in a match on Raw’s Viewer’s Choice show. He then went on to say how Mr. McMahon has suspended Hardy from all WWE programming. It seemed as if MacIntyre was about to tell Teddy that he was fired, but Kofi Kingston interrupted him to point out how sick and tired everyone is about listening to MacIntyre crying. Kingston got in the ring face to face with him and said that on behalf of the entire WWE Universe he is telling him to shut up! He then hit MacIntyre in the head with the mic and the fight went on until Kingston hit MacIntyre with the Trouble in Paradise which sent him from the ring apron down to the floor.
After the commercial MacIntyre caught up with Teddy Long in the back. The news wasn’t that Teddy was fired, but instead that next week Teddy would face Drew MacIntyre in a match. If he doesn’t show up though, he will be fired.
The Big Show vs. C.M. Punk
As Show was trying to get the mask off of Punk the Straight Edge Society attacked. After they beat on him a bit out came Kane again. He Chokeslammed the masked mystery guy and Luke Gallows, but Punk escaped the ring. Kane then turned his attention to Show who he also Chokeslammed.
First off, why can’t McMahon deal with competition a bit. I feel he purposely scheduled a Smackdown in Tampa on the same week that TNA is holding Slammiversary in hopes maybe people will only have enough money to go to one of the shows and maybe they will pick Smackdown over Slammiversary. Personally I think you are a fool to not pick the PPV, especially for a normally subpar show (as of late) like Smackdown. I mean four matches, really? Especially THOSE four matches?
Next topic, I certainly hope The Undertaker heals quickly from his fractured nose, broken orbital bone, and concussion. The Kane vengeance storyline is already getting annoying.
Also overly annoying is the Lay-Cool best friend’s forever / bad Beautiful People knockoff. On the bright side, I think I only barely saw Layla’s ass crack once this week. Unfortunately, she did loan a pair of her pants to Sarena.
LOL, OK, it seems all I have to comment about this week on Smackdown is annoyances. The two other annoyances; Drew MacIntyre chosen one crap, and Dolph Ziggler and Vicki replaying the Edge-Vicki storyline.
The show started off with A.J. Styles, Desmond Wolfe, Beer Money, and Kazarian coming to the ring without Ric Flair. They started talking about how they found out that there was an 8-man tag match tonight. Styles pointed out how Kazarian didn’t count. Then out came Jay Lethal as Ric Flair. He really does do a great impersonation of him. After a bit we found out his partners were Abyss and Mr. Anderson. They rushed the ring, but the numbers game let the other five take control. Then Jeff Hardy came out of the crowd to turn the tide.
Brian Kendrick vs. Homicide
Homicide tried bringing in a weapon, the ref stopped him, but it gave Kendrick a big enough opening to hit a Super Kick and get the pin.
Next up we see Jesse Neal getting into it with Brother Ray. They moved it into the ring after the commercial. Neal was accusing him of being the one laying him and Shannon Moore out and leaving a card on them. He denied it of course. Shannon Moore finally spoke and wound up calling Devon, Brother Ray’s puppet. Devon kept a level head and gave him a pass because he was Jesse’s partner. Devon then turned and told Ray he needed to get his head on straight and leave Jesse alone. Devon then walked out of the ring. Ray took the opportunity to attack Jesse from behind and then run off.
They showed the entire Jeff Jarrett – Sting match from Sacrifice because Jarrett was going to be commenting about Sting later in the show.
To the back with Eric Bischoff telling Matt Morgan he will find out who his tag team partner was going to be at Slammiversary. Hulk Hogan was waiting at the ring entrance to tell him who it was.
First it was time for Jarrett’s comments. He said he would get his revenge, but not for quite some time. He still had his arm in a sling.
Out came Matt Morgan, then Hulk Hogan to tell him who his partner was going to be. His partner was going to be Hernandez who was returning from injury. Super-Mex looked better than ever. He charged the ring and dove over the top rope at Morgan. Hernandez controlled all the action. It ended with him choking Morgan out with his shirt. Hogan announced that at Slammiversary they would have a match. As they were strapping Morgan to a back board out came The Band who was supposed to be defending their belts against Morgan and Hernandez tonight. When they got to the ring the ref rang the bell and Eric Young pinned Morgan while he was strapped to the board. So much for Morgan’s return match.
To the back for an interview with Rob Van Dam. Sting came in and attacked him from behind. He left him laid out and walked off with the TNA Heavywieght Title over his shoulder.
Kurt Angle was in the ring for his first match since returning. His opponent was Amazing Red. It was supposed to be a tune up match for his match at Slammiversary against Kazarian. Red put up a pretty good fight and even got a couple of two counts. In the end Angle hit the Olympic Slam and got the pin. He then checked to make sure Red was ok and raised his hand.
To the back where Sting talked about lifting the veil so everyone can see the truth after he wins the belt at Slammiversary. He said the big word around here is deception. He actually painted it on the title belt.
After a big Slammiversary commercial it was time for another actual commercial.
8-Man Tag Team Match
A.J. Styles, Desmond Wolfe, Robert Roode, James Storm vs. Jay Lethal, Jeff Hardy, Mr. Anderson, Abyss with Chelsea
This match went on and on. In the end it came down to the usual one person hits their big move, then an opponent comes in and hits their own on that person. As it cycled through Lethal launched himself into the ring, but Styles caught him and hit the Styles Clash and followed it with the pin.
To the back where Sting was taunting RVD a bit more. After the commercial Sting attacked RVD from behind. RVD finally turned it around. The fight went out to a concession stand, then below the bleachers, and eventually out towards the ringside area. They battled back and forth for a while. In the end Sting came out on top and laid the belt on RVD, telling him the belt was his until Sunday at Slammiversary.
Slammiversary is shaping up to be a pretty good pay-per-view. We will have to wait and see if that is true. Dixie Carter tweeted about having a big surprise for Slammiversary. I wonder what it could be? Maybe J.R. has landed, or perhaps it could be whoever left the cards on Jesse Neal and Shannon Moore? Or perhaps it could be someone who recently had his name moved to the alumni page at WWE.com after quitting during an episode of Raw? That would be nice, and really how hard would it be for Ric Flair to talk Batista into heading south? Again, we will have to wait and see. I just hope this surprise can live up to the hype.
WWE Monday Night Raw
Special Live 3 Hour Viewer’s Choice
From: Miami, Florida
Guest Hosts: The cast of The A*Team
The show started off with Teddy Long and Bret The Hitman Hart coming down to the ring to talk about how the night was going to go. After they mentioned that all 4 participants in the upcoming Fatal 4-Way match for the WWE title will be in action tonight they started with mentioning Randy Orton. Orton came to the ring with his arm in a sling. Orton demanded a match with Edge, out came Edge to agree that he wanted a match with Orton so he could finish him off. Teddy Long suggested that the fans in the arena decide if there would be an Orton-Edge match tonight. Of course the crowd went crazy. Then Teddy let the crowd choose what they would go head to head in tonight.
A) A Debate
B) A Situp Competition
C) A One-Armed Match where Edge’s arm would be tied behind his back to level the playing field.
The crowd’s overwhelming choice was of course C.
Onto the first match that fans could help pick by voting on WWE.com. The Big Show vs. Chris Jericho. The options open to vote for were
A) Over the Rope Challenge
B) A Submission Match
C) A Bodyslam Challenge
Matt Stryker was apparently in charge of announcing the results. The fans vote was C – 48%, B – 41%, A – 11%… A Bodyslam Challenge it is.
The rules were simple, in order to win the match you had to bodyslam your opponent. At first Show just stood there in a wide open stance giving Jericho a chance to try and slam him. Instead he slapped him across the face. Show was not happy and began pounding on Jericho. Jericho finally mounted some offense and began working on Show’s right arm and shoulder. Show recovered quickly, and after tossing Jericho into the ropes he caught him coming off with a Cross Body Block. Then with a huge smile he slammed him down to the mat for the win. That wasn’t enough though. He then slapped on a Camel Clutch type move and got Jericho to tap out. Finally he grabbed Jericho and threw him over the top rope to officially win all three types of matches.
Next up was for the fans to decide who would face the Tag Team Champions, The Hart Foundation.
A)John & Jey Uso
B) The Dudebusters
C) The Great Khali & Hornswoggle
Of course the comedy factor had to find its way into the show. B – 10%, A – 36%, C – 54%. I do believe the WWE as with anything might be tweaking the numbers a bit. I think the clear favorite would have been the Usos, but they can’t let that match happen between two dynasties until a pay-per-view.
The Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd & David Hart Smith) vs. The Great Khali & Hornswoggle
The Hart Dynasty made quick work of their odd opponents. Out came the Usos for the third straight week. This time however, the Harts weren’t left laying on their back in the ring, instead they got the upper hand finally.
Next out came Bradley Cooper to plug the new A*Team movie, that’s about all he did before going backstage again.
Before the commercial Jerry Lawler wandered off looking for something. He met up with Murdock and B.A. in the back. He needed them to find out who stole his crown. ::shakes head::: As they wandered off in character they bumped into the Bella Twins briefly.
Next out to the ring was Santino Marella. He is to face Vladimir Kozlov in one of the following…
A) A Match
B) An Arm Wrestling Match
c) A Dance Off
So, during this commercial did ANYONE really think that something other than the Dance Off was going to win by a landslide? I am betting on about 80% or more picks C. And the winner is… lol I shock myself some times. An overwhelming 84% picked the Dance Off, A – 9%, B – 7%.
Santino went first with a “dance routine” that made Carlton Banks look like Mikhail Barishnikov. Kozlov’s routine was incredibly bad, but I think better than Santino’s, sort of. The fans agreed. Then as Santino reached out to shake his hand Kozlov pulled him in close and they danced together for a minute. Santino was a bit shaken up, but decided he wanted to try that big jump move in Dirty Dancing. As he came running in Kozlov lifted him and shoved him down to the mat instead.
Out came the entire Divas division. Hard to believe they only have 12 of them. Fans had to pick between…
A) 6 on 6 Tag Team Match
B) Diva Battle Royal
C) Champion vs. Champion
The winner is… B – 73%, A – 11%, C – 16%
Diva’s Battle Royal
Order of Elimination:
Rosa Mendes, Tiffany, Kelly Kelly, Alicia Fox and Gail Kim simultaneously, The Bella Twins simultaneously, LayCool simultaneously, Eve Torres, Jillian Hall
The Winner – Maryse
Now then, will someone PLEASE, PLEASE give Layla’s outfit or at least her shorts to Kelly Kelly, Gail Kim, or maybe Maryse. Then get Layla some sort of one piece outfit or something with a good belt so that her ass stays covered.
I must say this has been the most action on Raw in a long long time. All of that happened in just the first hour of the show. Of course, most of it was ridiculousness, but still more action than any show in a long time.
To the back where they began playing up the whole “Undertaker is in a vegetative state” because someone attacked him angle that they started on last Friday night’s Smackdown. In reality the storyline is being use to give The Undertaker time to heal. His match against Rey Mysterio a couple weeks ago didn’t go very well. He walked out of it with a broken nose, broken orbital bone, and a concussion. Hopefully he will heal up quickly. Kane was hunting for who attacked Taker to put him in this state. He accused Shaemus who denied it, but of course this will influence the vote that they just announced.
Next fan vote… Shaemus will face
A) Kane
B) Mark Henry
C) Evan Bourne
Shaemus vs. Kane it is. Kane had 88%, C – 9%, B – 3%
After fighting for a bit Shaemus wound up on the floor. He was about to get back in the ring at a count of 7, but then dropped back down to the floor and walked away. Kane wins via countout.
Next vote… John Cena’s opponent will be
A) Jack Swagger
B) Rey Mysterio
C) C. M. Punk
First, to the back to hear Wade Barrett talk a bit. Then to Ted DiBiase and Virgil’s locker room. In came B.A. and Murdock looking for Lawler’s crown. As things were becoming heated DiBiase called out “Uncle Irwin”. Out came I.R.S./ Mike Rotunda wearing the King’s crown. He claimed that Lawler never paid back taxes on the jewels in the crown, so it belongs to him. It was funny to that point, but then they attacked B.A. and Murdock with gas, and had masks ready for themselves.
OK, time for a different vote apparently. It will be a tag team match between R-Truth and The Miz. Fans get to pick their partners.
R-Truth’s partner will be…
A) Christian
B) M.V.P.
C) John Morrison
Miz’s partner will be
A) Dolph Ziggler
B) William Regal
C) Zack Ryder
A) Christian – 27%, B) M.V.P. – 19%, C) John Morrison – 54%
A) Dolph Ziggler – 38%, B) William Regal – 17%, C) Zack Ryder – 45%
Woo woo woo, I knew it…was going to be this match up. lol
Miz wound up pinning Morrison for the win.
To the back with Kane accusing Bret Hart now. Of course they followed that up with a commercial for The Undertaker’s new DVD that includes 21 of his deadliest matches.
One-Armed Match
Edge vs. Randy Orton
Soon after the start of the match Edge untied his hand and began attacking. The ref disqualified him after attempting to tie his arm back up. Then Edge moved in for a Spear, but Orton hit him with a couple of kicks, the second of which sent him to the floor. Orton then came out after him, but Edge hit him with a chair. Edge then hit him a second time with the chair right in his injured shoulder.
They then used this opportunity to waste time so they could make it easier to fill the 3 hours. Orton stayed at ringside for an extended period of time. Meanwhile The King and Michael Cole stalled, and then reviewed the Diva’s Battle Royal match.
To the back again for the continuing A*Team saga. This time Murdock was being interviewed by Mean Gene Okerlund.
Back to the ring, Drew MacIntyre, and his opponent will be..
A) Yoshi Tatsu
B) Golddust
c) A mystery opponent we only saw a silhouette of, but everyone knew it was Matt Hardy.
C – 88%, B – 8%, A – 4%
MacIntyre stopped the match before it began and started screaming how Hardy is suspended. Teddy Long came out to point out that Hardy was suspended from Smackdown…NOT Raw.
Drew MacIntyre vs. Matt Hardy
Hardy attacked while MacIntyre was still complaining. He never looked back. Hardy controlled the entire match, beating him from announce table to ring post. He hit the Twist of Fate and got the pin. Then he continued beating on him.
To the back where DiBiase, Virgil, and I.R.S. had B.A. tied to a chair. After a commercial they were all in the ring. Apparently DiBiase was offered money by someone to who wanted B.A.’s head served to them on a platter. Out came Rowdy Roddy Piper who has a bunch of history with the previous B.A. Baracus, Mr. T. The Hot Rod was looking pretty good considering. He pointed out how he silenced Mr. T, but now he has to start it all over again with a movie. As the Hot Rod was preparing to beat the mohawk off of B.A. out came a golf cart carrying Murdock, Gene Okerlund, and The American Dream Dusty Rhodes. Thanks to the distraction B.A. was able to break free, including breaking the handcuffs. He then hit DiBiase with a Spinebuster and then tore off his shirt. I.R.S. then charged at Rhodes, but was met with an Bionic Elbow. Piper shoved Virgil into B.A. who was hit with a not so good Chokeslam, while Piper climbed out of the ring. He was apparently not in any shape for any action. In the end it turned into Rhodes giving a big plug to The A*Team movie.
Now to find out the results for Cena’s opponent.
A) Jack SWagger – 23%, B) Rey Mysterio – 32%, C) C. M. Punk – 45%
John Cena vs. C.M. Punk
Just as Cena was taking control of things out came Wade Barrett. Then suddenly ALL the NXT rookies appeared at ringside. They took out Gallows and Sarena, and finally Punk too. Then they all got into the ring and beat down Cena. Then they began tearing apart the entire ringside area, and everyone in the area. Lawler, Stryker, Cole, even the ring announcer and bell ringer. After they had most of the area torn apart they got back in the half disassembled ring and continued beating on Cena. At one point Punk got back in the ring to try and help but was quickly taken out. They were so organized and even had matching armbands! Lookout Raw! It looks like the WWE wants to try a new version of The Outsiders. Only thing is it is a bunch og guys no one cares about, many of which should really be tearing the ring down for a living instead. After a few of them hit their finishing moves on Cena they finally left the ring. As they wheeled Cena off on a backboard and stretcher he flashed a thumbs up for the crowd.
