Monday Night RAW October 6, 2008
by Bigelow34
Key Arena
Seattle, WA
Announcers: Michael Cole & Jerry Lawler
- We hit our animation right out of the gate this week and then head inside the Key Arena where Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler welcome us to the flagship program in WWE, Monday Night Raw! We are in HD and the crowd is rocking early on as we are immediately joined by Chris Jericho, who is still World Heavyweight Champion after last night’s war with Shawn Michaels. Jericho is decked out in a suit and has a nasty bruise on the side of his mouth. The crowd seems to think Jericho sucks and he doesn’t seem too impressed. He recaps the WWE.com story that Mike Adamle is in a high level meeting with Shane and Stephanie so he was asked to take Adamle’s place here tonight. He has full responsibility and decision making power and he will do the best of his abilities to run the show. Speaking of best and abilities, that brings him to last night’s match. The man who supposedly revolutionized the ladder match lost to him. Even though he beat Shawn Michaels, Michaels did something he said he would as he permanently disfigured Jericho by chipping his tooth. Jericho opens his mouth and point to the tooth and says he will have to live with that each and every day for the rest of his life and will have to think about Shawn Michaels whenever he sees. The irony, however, is that when he thinks of Michaels he will smile as he also did what he said he would and that beat Shawn Michaels. He brutalized him, embarrassed him and defeated him in a match he isn’t supposed to lose. Michaels won’t get any revenge tonight because Jericho is through with him. He is handing him over to someone who isn’t done with him and makes a Michaels/Lance Cade anything goes match for later tonight. He has nothing left to prove to any of the hypocrites here or anyone at home and we are forced to admit that he is the real, true World champion and the most dominant performer in the business in the world today. And, it seems as if we have someone who disagrees as Batista’s music fires up and the Animal calmly makes his way out to a ginormous pop. Batista congratulates Jericho and tells him to pick a number. Chris is confused but Batista tells him to just pick the number of days before they have their title match now that he is number one contender. Batista asks if he thinks seven days…fourteen days…today. Jericho says that despite having a brutal match last night he would still find a way to beat Batista here tonight. He may call himself and animal but Jericho is an animal that fight, claw, scratch and bite to survive and come out on top. Just like Shawn Michaels, he will ensure the name Batista is synonymous with failure. He suggests that Batista gets out of his face and ring right now. Batista seems to enjoy that one and chuckles. Batista differs and says that first off, Jericho will defend the title against him whether he likes it or not. Second…spinebuster on Jericho! Jericho is hurting as he writhes in pain and the Animal is out and we are out to break.
- We are back and take a look at what happened moments ago. During the break, Jericho made another match for later tonight as he forces Batista to face JBL with his title shot on the line. Oh, and Jericho will be the special referee for that bout.
1) Santino Marella & Beth Phoenix defeat Jamie Noble & Mickie James when Marella pins Noble with a roll up
William Regal and Layla are at ringside to observe our next match as Jamie Noble and Mickie James head out to a nice reception. They will have some tough competition here as Glamarella make their way out, gold in hand as always. Santino has the mike and wants to say one thing: recently, he has been criticized for being too ethnic and not American enough. Recently, he has made an effort to become more American just for us. He has adopted a new favorite NBA team: the Oklahoma City Thunder! Man that is low. Finally, a good city like Oklahoma has a franchise all its own…and the NBA…it’s terrific! The thunder known as Glamarella will rain down on Jamie and Mickie. Beth and Mickie start off and Beth gets a waistlock but Mickie works free and hits a Thesz press. Beth makes the tag to Santino, who is wearing his singlet over the Thunder shirt, which is quite awesome. Mickie tags Noble in and he hammers away at Santino. He puts him down with a forearm and then hits a release Northern lights suplex. He goes for the cross armbreaker, but Beth breaks it up. Mickie sends her to the floor and Noble gets a sunset flip for two. Santino eats a boot on a charge but Beth distracts Noble and allows Santino to roll him up for the quick win. We get the standard Glamarella celebration after the match but Noble goes out after them. They escape through the crowd, but Regal charges from behind. Noble ducks and flips him onto his head. Regal is incensed and goes at Noble but the ref breaks it up as Mickie holds back Jamie. Grade: 1
- Backstage, the Grish is with Shawn Michaels and asking about his match tonight. Shawn asks what Todd wants him to do. Run in and beg Jericho to cancel the match? Run in there and tell him he is tired, sore and has pain throughout his body? He has a better question…why doesn’t the Grish go in there and ask him if he will defend his title tonight. He knows he won’t and he wants Cade to go out and do his dirty work for him and finish off HBK for good. Because he is bordering on the brink of insanity and hopped up on adrenaline he will show Cade that HBK still has plenty of gas left in the tank.
- We are back and Michael Cole thanks us for watching No Mercy while King thanks Metallica for the official No Mercy theme song.
2) Ted DiBiase defeats Kofi Kingston with the Million Dollar Legsweep
Kofi is out and pumped up for his match. DiBiase is accompanied by the rest of Team Priceless but it looks like Kofi won’t be alone as CM Punk’s music fires up and he heads out to stand in his buddy’s corner. Kofi lands a back elbow after a series of leapfrogs and then shoots Ted into the corner. Kofi misses a charge and Ted spikes him to the mat out of the corner. He kicks away and hits a double stomp from the middle rope. Ted grabs a bodyscissors but Kofi works out and lands a couple of rights and a chop to regain control. He nails a dropkick but hits a nifty kick in the corner. He goes up top and gets some sick height on a high cross body. Manu tries to interfere but gets knocked to the floor. Kofi hits a legsweep and sets up the Boom legdrop but Cody distracts him. Punk takes out Cody but DiBiase sneaks up and hits the Million Dollar Legsweep for the win. Grade: 1.5
- Five dollar foot long…at Subway!
- Backstage, Chris Jericho is talking to Randy Orton and says that even though they don’t get along, Batista being number one contender isn’t good for either of them. Since he has been hurt for so long and has only been able to walk around and tell people how good he used to be, Jericho has decided to put Orton to work. We don’t find out what that duty is as we head back at the announce table. Michael Cole gives us an update on the status of John Cena and we get a special video look at the Summerslam match that put him on the shelf as well some follow up on it with words from Cena’s doctor. It looks like the prognosis is three to four months for Cena. Backstage, Kane, Tony Atlas and Mark Henry are walking. Dolph Ziegler tries to introduce himself but gets blown off by all three men and we are off to break as Dolph seems a bit put off.
3) Kane & Mark Henry defeat Rey Mysterio & Matt Hardy when Kane pins Hardy with a chokeslam
We are back from break and set for some inter-promotional action featuring four heated rivals. Rey is out first and then followed by Matt. Hardy and Atlas are ready to clip some wings and then they are joined by Kane. Rey and Kane start things off and Rey attacks to start but Kane stops him in his tracks. Rey ducks a kick and hits an Enziguri to the face. He tags in Matt and they work Kane over in the corner but Kane comes back with a right hand to put Matt down. He tags in Henry and Mark slugs Matt down with a right hand. Henry misses a charge in the corner and Matt tags in Rey. Rey whips Matt into Henry and then Matt drops down to his hands and knees for Rey to try the Poetry in Motion. However, Henry catches him in mid air, but Hardy chop blocks Henry to take him down. They hit a double dropkick on Kane to send him to the floor and we hit a break. When we return, Kane has a reverse chinlock locked in on Matt. Matt fights up but Kane puts him down with a shoulderblock. He tags in Henry who works Matt over with some fists. He scoops Matt up, but Matt slides down his back and chop blocks him again. Matt slugs away but Henry drills him with a clothesline on a charge attempt. Mark misses a splash and Matt tags in Rey. Rey hits a dropkick and then follows with a springboard legdrop. He kicks Henry in the face and gets a two count. He hits the ropes but Kane nails him from behind. Henry slides Rey out to the floor and hobbles over to the ropes. Henry hops out to the floor and tosses Rey inside. He drags Rey to his corner and tags in Kane. Kane lands a headbutt and then runs Rey into the corner. He kicks him in the face and shoves him to the mat. Kane hammers away at Rey and then tags in Henry who sends Rey hard to the mat. Henry stands on Rey’s chest and then yanks him to the middle of the ring for two. He tags in Kane, who catches Rey as he almost crawls to a tag. Kane gets a near fall but eats a boot when he puts his head down on a whip. Rey charges but Kane drops him with a right hand. Kane heads up top but misses a clothesline. Rey hits a flying headscissor and tags in Matt. Matt dives in and takes Kane down and hammers away. He hits a big swinging neckbreaker and then sends Henry to the floor with a knee. Kane eats a boot on a charge and then Matt hits a bulldog. Matt hits a drop toehold on Kane, sending into the middle rope and Rey hits the 619. Rey dives out after Henry, but Henry catches him in mid air. Hardy heads up top, but Henry throws Rey into the top rope which knocks Hardy off balance and to the mat. Kane scoops him up and plants him with a chokeslam for the win. That was a really good tag match and all four men busted their asses out there. I am a sucker for a classic big men/little men formula tag match. Grade: 3
- We are back from break and we also have the return of our WWE 24/7 Classics On Demand clip. This week’s clip is from the classic Wrestlemania XIV showdown between Pete Rose and Kane.
4) Shawn Michaels defeats Lance Cade in a no disqualification match after hitting him with a chair
Back inside Key Arena and Shawn Michaels is limping his was out to the ring. Cade is out next and is powerwalking to the ring. We get a quick clip of Cade’s win over Michaels in a handicap match two weeks ago. Both men slug it out off the bell, but Cade hits a clothesline to put Shawn down. He tosses Michaels to the floor and pulls out a table. Cade drops Shawn face first on the announce table and then pounds away at him on the floor. Cade sets up the table while Shawn is trying to get to his feet. He pulls Shawn up and then spinebusters him through the table to the floor. Cade tosses Michaels into the ring and then he goes and grabs a chair. Cade comes at him with the chair, but Shawn hits a flying forearm and then he hammers away at Cade. Shawn grabs the chair and crushes Cade with it. He keeps pounding on the prone Cade with the chair, focusing on the leg. Shawn covers and gets the win. Shawn grabs the chair after standing still and pounds Cade some more with it. I think that was a golden opportunity to put Cade over a banged up Michaels but if it furthers an angle where Michaels snaps, it is worth it. Grade: 1.5
- We are back from break and Cole is crowing about Smackdown being the highest rated program in MyNetwork’s history. We then head up to the ring where the King is hanging out. Santino Marella claims to be the greatest IC champion of all time. In three weeks, he has the chance to prove that at Cyber Sunday as the fans have the ability to choose his opponent. The options for the vote are the following former IC champions: Roddy Piper, Goldust and the Honky Tonk Man.
- Lillian is about to introduce our next match, but we are interrupted by the Great Khali instead. Apparently Khali had a confrontation with Johnny Knoxville on Johnny’s new internet show. Khali grabs the mike and rambles on in his native language about Knoxville. Runjin tells us that Khali recently had an interview with Knoxville and it didn’t go well. We get video of the interview where Knoxville basically asked Khali if his manhood is in proportion to the rest of his appendages. Khali wasn’t happy and Knoxville tries to back pedal a bit saying he meant no respect. Khali yanks the table around and that is that. Back in the ring, Khali spouts off some more. Runjin translates and says that Khali is formally inviting Knoxville to Raw next week and he will show him the true meaning of entertainment. Khali will now show that he can have fun as he runs the Kiss Cam. We get the usual Kiss Cam feature only with Khali yelling at people to kiss. After some hilarity, Khali sets his sights on Lillian and plants one on her. Runjin lands the punchline by saying “Great Khali says he will call you!” That was some funny stuff.
- We are back from break and Miz and Morrison have joined the commentary team. In the ring, Jillian sings some Nirvana as a tribute to Kurt Cobain. Miz and Morrison singing along is pretty funny. Thankfully she is quickly interrupted by Kelly to set up our next match.
5) Kelly defeats Jillian Hall with a roll up
As Kelly heads out, her music stops and Cryme Tyme’s fires up as they come out to back her up. Miz and Morrison immediately start crapping on CT and are funny as always. CT join in on commentary as well and there is no way I can keep up with it. Although Miz calling CT “Jonas Brothers’ groupies” was awesome stuff and it was worth a mention. Jillian and Kelly are going at it but the focus is all on the commentary as Morrison apologizes for having great abs. Jillian is in control in the ring as Morrison and Miz continue to land horrible verbal jabs and celebrate like crazy over them. Now it has devolved into non stop yelling and digging between the four men. Vanilla Ice gets name dropped in there as King tries to calm things down a bit. Jillian is still in control as CT talks about partying with Kelly last night. Kelly gets a roll up for the win and a nice pop but the argument rolls on. Miz rambles on and as he finishes his sentence it quiets down and all you hear is “…some peanut butter and Johnny!” CT gets in the ring and dance with Kelly as we go to break. Grade: 1.5
- We are back from commercial and taking a look at downtown Seattle. We then get a video recap of various superstars talking and marveling about Cena’s incredible appearance on Raw the day of his surgery.
6) Batista defeats John Bradshaw Layfield with the Batistabomb to keep his number one contender status
When we return to the arena, Chris Jericho is out and decked out in a referee’s shirt as it is main event time. JBL is out next and before Lillian can introduce Batista, Jericho whispers something to her. She then informs us that we have a special guest timekeeper…William Regal. Jericho whispers again and now we have a special guest commentator: Randy Orton. Orton heads to ringside as we go to break. When we return, JBL is pacing in the ring and Regal is menacingly sitting at ringside with the bell hammer in his hand. Orton has the head set on and Batista finally makes his way out. Orton says he doesn’t know why he is out here and surmises that Jericho must think Cole and King do a lousy job. We get a lockup and clean break to start things off. JBL lands a knee and runs Batista into the corner. He whips him across but Batista comes out with a shoulderblock. Jericho is slow to count and JBL is up. Batista hits a shot to the gut and JBL is staggering all over the place. Batista chop blocks him twice as Jericho is begging for JBL to get up. Batista hits a shinbreaker and then locks in a figure four. JBL barely touches the rope before Batista drags him back but Jericho makes him break anyway. JBL gets a neckbreaker and Jericho gives a super fast two count. JBL hammers away in the corner and gets another near fall on a more normal count this time. Batista blocks a suplex and gets one of his own but Jericho refuses to count the fall. He heads to the floor as Batista stalks him. JBL is able to take advantage of the distraction and send Batista to the floor as well. Jericho starts admonishing JBL but that is just a reason to allow Regal to assault Batista. JBL shoots him back in and gets a two off a fast count. JBL locks in a full nelson and the follows with a sleeperhold. Batista hits a back suplex to break the hold. Batista lands a clothesline and follows with another in the corner. He rams the shoulder to the abs in the corner and then shoot JBL across. He starts to charge, but Jericho trips him. Batista is up but Regal snaps his neck on the top rope. Batista recovers and hits a double spear on Jericho and Regal. Out of nowhere, Mike Adamle sends out a new referee and Batista gets a super close near fall. JBL misses the CFH and Batista drills him with a spinebuster and finishes him with the Batistabomb to a mega pop.
- Mike Adamle now has the mike and says it is ironic that Jericho named himself as guest GM tonight. It was an idea he had earlier tonight as Shane and Stephanie urged him to shake things up. Therefore, Batista will get his title shot at Cyber Sunday and the fans will determine the special guest referee from the following choices: Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels or Steve Austin? The crowd loved that last option and they are fired up and we are out!
Final Analysis
I really liked the opening promo as Chris Jericho can make anyone interesting viable at this point. He is such a great heel that everyone who goes at him will be pretty damn over. Not that Batista needed the extra pops, but it always helps. Both men interacted well and they got me interested in their match right off the bat. Glamarella was awesome as always and although the heat was cheap, it was still a great low blow to the fans of Seattle. We also got another taste of the simmering Noble/Regal feud which is set to explode soon. I hope they get a gimmick match at Cyber Sunday but I won’t hold my breath. Michaels delivered a great hair-raising promo as only he can and set the stage for the match with Cade. The Kofi/DiBiase match was solid but too short to mean anything. They definitely have a great PPV match in them someday though. The Cena package was well done, as always, and a reminder that he will be back in a couple of months. I have always liked the videos like that with the sit down interviews mixed in with a match and what not. The tag team match was surprisingly energetic and well worked and the crowd was digging it. Kane and Henry worked well as a team and Rey was bouncing all over the place out there. The Cade/Michaels match was short and sweet, but after the war Michaels was in last night, it was understandable. Cade could have used the win, but like I said above, if they take an interesting turn with Shawn, I am all for it. The IC title match announcement was interesting and you have to think Honky gets the match based on the way the angle is going. The Khali segment was great stuff and I am glad they are letting him act a bit as he has some good comedic timing and presence. The women’s match was nothing special but the dueling commentary was awesome stuff as Miz and Morrison are so great and cheesy at the same time I can’t get enough it. I loved Jericho’s evil plan and the way Orton and Regal hammed it up like they were plotting to take over the world or something. Jericho is such a great evil genius and did a great job in his GM role tonight. I love how he was so blatantly rooting for JBL while refereeing as well. The main event was overbooked enough to make it great and the crowd was off the hook, especially for the near fall after Adamle came out and they popped like crazy for the finish. Well, tonight’s show was pretty fun and much better than last week’s outing. There was a lot of energy and focus and the crowd was into everything. Cole and King continue to do a good job of driving the show and each segment had some meaning to it. I hope they can keep up the solid episodic nature and roll into Cyber Sunday on a strong note. Final Grade: B+
MVP: Chris Jericho
Runner Up: Kane, Mark Henry, Rey Mysterio & Matt Hardy
Non MVP: Lance Cade
Runner Up: Kofi Kingston
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