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Monday Night RAW June 30, 2008
by Sassy

Monday Night Raw is broadcast on the USA network

Ringside announcers: Michael Cole & Jerry “The King” Lawler – Jim Ross should be in the house tonight – the show is being broadcast from Oklahoma City, OK.

Ring announcer: Lillian Garcia

Backstage interviews: Todd Grisham

The audience sees a replay of the “accident” Mr. McMahon had last week. Shane McMahon appears on camera to tell everyone that they will not be providing any information on McMahon’s condition. Not even a good joke, McMahon family.

JR appears at the top of the entrance ramp and heads to the ring. JR gets a standing ovation from the live audience and it looks like it might be a sold out arena JR basically gives a farewell speech to the Raw audience and before he leaves the ring, The Rated R Superstar, accompanied by Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder, appears. As Lawler said, this is Monday Night Raw and Edge is a Smackdown roster member. I really did like Hawkins & Ryder better when they were The Major Brothers. Edge proceeds, after the fans are finished telling Edge “you suck”, to tell JR that JR’s arrogance never ceases to amaze Edge. Edge picks on JR, JR’s blog and JR’s barbeque sauce. Hawkins & Ryder escort JR out of the ring and up the entrance ramp. Edge tells the fans that Raw doesn’t have a General Manager – and we are back to disgusting. Raw doesn’t have The Undertaker because of Edge. Raw doesn’t have a World Champion and no one on the Raw roster will ever have a shot at Edge’s championship. As Edge backs up the ramp, Batista appears and Edge has no backup. Oops. Edge runs back around the ring but he slips and falls down and Batista decides to get even for his loss at Night of Champions. Edge makes it into the audience but Batista catches up with him and sends him back over to ringside. Batista uses Edge’s head as a battering ram on the announcer’s table and then picks Edge up and drops Edge on the table before sending Edge into the steel steps hard enough to knock over the steps. Batista rolls Edge back into the ring and delivers a Batista bomb. What we just saw sounds better than the actual championship at Night of Champions. As Batista gets to the top of the entrance ramp, CM Punk, with his Money in the Bank Briefcase and a referee in tow, charges toward the ring and the already beaten up Edge. Punk rips off his shirt in the ring, hands the briefcase to the ref and it looks like we have...

WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match
CM Punk, Mr. MITB, Challenger
Vs.
The Rated R Superstar Edge, Champion

Garcia announces the match, the ref calls for the bell to ring, Punk picks up Edge, delivers the GTS, goes for the cover and gets the three count. Time: Less than 1 minute.
Winner and New WWE World Heavyweight Champion: CM Punk

That was a smart move by CM Punk. Edge is not only already down from his beating courtesy of Batista, Edge has no one around the ring to interfere in the match. I’m not disappointed that Punk has the title and I’m sure he’ll work harder at defending it – without any outside help – than Edge has done to date. We go to commercial break.

The audience sees a replay of the beat down of Edge by Batista and the loss of the WWE World Heavyweight title to CM Punk who turned in his Money in the Bank briefcase to win the title.

Non-title Match
Mickie James from Richmond, VA
WWE Woman’s Champion
Vs.
Jillian from Lousville, KY
who comes to the ring in terrible pain
– oh, I guess she’s singing. James shoves her and puts a stop to the racket. High kick to the jaw by James, she goes for the cover and gets the three count. Time: 2 minutes.
Winner: Mickie James with a kick to the jaw.

A really short match but James did a decent job in the ring. I am not impressed with Jillian’s singing or her ring work. We go to commercial break.

Rey Mysterio, newly drafted to Monday Night Raw, appears in the ring. Mysterio congratulates CM Punk on beating Edge and bringing the World Heavyweight Championship back to Raw. Before Mysterio can get much said, Santino Marella appears and heads to the ring. Marella says he has come to officially welcome Mysterio to Raw but Marella doesn’t see what the big deal is. Mysterio is on the cover of the new WWE Magazine. Mysterio nails Marella with the mic and delivers the 619. We go to commercial break.

The audience sees what happened at the opening of tonight’s Raw, including Punk winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Punk is backstage with the title belt. Todd Grisham congratulates Punk but Punk is so busy smiling, he has a hard time talking. JBL appears and Punk’s smile goes away. JBL wants to face Punk for the title tonight. Punk agrees. We go to commercial break.

John Cena enters the arena to a standing ovation from the live audience. Cena says that Punk used his brains to get the championship and he is using his guts to keep it by facing JBL tonight. Cena also wants a shot at the title and he says that Punk should be the one to choose who should face him in his first title defense. The fans want to see Punk versus Cena. JBL appears, still dressed in his suit, at the top of the entrance ramp. JBL says that Cena will not be wrestling CM Punk tonight for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. JBL says he is declaring marshal law in the WWE and he cannot have Cena in the building. JBL calls out security to remove Cena from the arena. JBL says it is not WWE security, it is JBL’s security. Security heads to the ring but Cena rips off his shirt and invites them in. JBL climbs into the ring and proceeds to pound on Cena and then JBL security hauls Cena out. Who are the Keystone Cops, anyway? We go to commercial break.

Non-title Tag Team Match
Cody Rhodes & Ted Dibiase
WWE World Tag Team Champions
At a combined weight of 454 lbs.
Vs.
Darren Wade
&
Steve Anthony
At a combined weight of 405 lbs. (who were already in the ring)

Rhodes is starting to look like a carbon copy of Randy Orton and Rhodes doesn’t look good wearing that skin. Time: 1 minute.
Winners: Cody Rhodes & Ted Dibiase

This was an extremely short match, which appears to have taken place only so that the new champions can talk. I can’t tell you how well Dibiase works in the ring because I really didn’t a chance to see very much. Rhodes complains about carrying Holly and Dibiase complains about the people under the age of 30. We go to commercial break.

Paul and Katie Burchill are backstage and Katie is complaining about losing the Women’s championship last night. Jamie Noble appears to introduce himself. Kane appears and Noble has once again put his foot in his mouth. Noble has to make tracks and Kane is right behind Noble. Noble appears and runs down the ramp to the ring and hides behind the ring. Noble can’t seem to find a way out so he runs through the ring and dives on Kane. Kane is back on his feet and they are in the ring. Noble does try to fight back but Kane choke slams Noble on the announcer’s table. It’s all over in 2 minutes.

WWE Intercontinental Championship Rematch
Y2J Chris Jericho weighing 226 lbs.
Challenger with Lance Cade
Vs. Kofi Kingston from Jamaica weighing
Champion

We go to commercial break before the match begins. Back to the ring, the match is already in progress and Jericho has Kingston down on the mat. Kingston goes for a roll up but Jericho kicks out. Kingston delivers a leg drop, Jericho goes for a roll up and gets a two count. Jericho nails Kingston in the back of the head with a high kick and again goes for a cover getting a two count. Jericho delivers a face plant and delivers a lionsault, goes for the cover but Kingston kicks out at the count of two. Kingston delivers a roll up, Jericho flips Kingston over, holds the tights and the ref calls for the bell. Jericho is disqualified. Time: 2 minutes.
Winner and still WWE Intercontinental Champion: Kofi Kingston

Jericho goes after Kingston’s eyes when the ref hands Kingston the belt. The audience chants for HBK but Shawn Michaels does not appear. We go to commercial break.

Edge is in the parking lot beating up Hawkins & Ryder. Edge says he wants to leave now and they drive off as JBL’s limo pulls into the arena.

WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match
John Bradshaw Layfield from New York City
Challenger
Vs.
CM Punk from Chicago, IL weighing 222 lbs.
Champion

This is a nasty way to begin defending a title. In case wrestling fans weren’t aware, I’ll be cheering for Punk in this match. And right on cue, JBL’s security team appears. What is this, a security lumberjack match? With the sudden distraction, JBL goes after Punk. JBL goes for an early cover but Punk kicks out. Punk uses a few kicks to send JBL out to the floor. Punk tries a baseball slide but JBL gets out of the way and nails Punk with a clothesline before tossing Punk on top of the announcer’s table. JBL rolls Punk back into the ring and goes for the cover but Punk kicks out at the count of two. The fans are cheering for Punk, too. Punk comes off the ropes and gets caught in a sleeper hold courtesy of JBL. Punk goes for a high kick and drops JBL but both men are now on the mat. Punk goes for a high knee in the corner and follows up with a bulldog. Punk goes for the cover but only gets a two count. JBL delivers a fall away slam and goes for the cover but he gets a two count. Punk springboards off the ropes with a clothesline and goes for a cover, getting a two count. John Cena with Cryme Tyme appears at the top of the ramp and they go after the security team on the floor. JBL gets distracted, Punk delivers a GTS, goes for the cover and gets the three count and the win. Time: 7 minutes.
Winner and still WWE World Heavyweight Champion: CM Punk

Punk did a heck of a job in this match keeping ahead of JBL. After the match, Punk goes over the top ropes to take down everyone on the floor and that’s the end of the show.

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