Monday
Night Raw
January 7, 2008
Recap by Sassy
The show opens with Ric Flair and his career threatening
match against Triple H on last Monday Night Raw. If Flair lost the match, he
would have to walk away from wrestling. If Triple H lost the match, he would be
unable to compete in the Royal Rumble. Flair won the match after General Manager
William Regal interfered in the match and hit Flair with a set of brass
knuckles.
Regal and Vince McMahon are backstage. Regal says he needs to
talk to McMahon and McMahon says not now. McMahon says that it is the first Raw
of 2008 and the fans are looking for something great. Tonight is Raw Roulette.
Regal says that he knew McMahon was disappointed when Regal refused to hit
Hornswoggle in his match with him last week so Regal thought he would take
Triple H out of the Royal Rumble match because he knew McMahon would like that.
McMahon says that Regal was right but tonight he thinks Triple H should be
injured tonight and that tonight Triple H will be in a match with William Regal.
McMahon spins the wheel and the match will be a First Blood match. Ouch.
As Regal leaves the area, Triple H attacks him. We could have
our first blood right now or worse…Referees and security break up the action
in the hallway.
Monday Night Raw is being broadcast from Mohegan Sun Casino
on
the USA network.
Ringside announcers: JR and Jerry Lawler
Ring announcer: Lillian Garcia
Backstage interviews: Todd Grisham
HBK Shawn Michaels from San Antonio, TX
Before HBK’s opponent is introduced, a clip is shown from
the match last week in which Mr. Kennedy beat HBK.
Vs.
Mr. Kennedy from Green Bay, WI, weighing 243 lbs.
Mr. Kennedy brings down the mic from the middle of the arena.
McMahon interrupts to spin the wheel and the first Raw
Roulette Match is a Strange Bedfellows Match It will now be a tag team match
with HBK Shawn Michaels and Mr. Kennedy as tag team partners.
Commercial break.
Back from commercial break.
The match has already started and it is
HBK Shawn Michaels
&
Mr. Kennedy
Vs.
Charlie Haas
&
Trevor Murdoch
It is my understanding that Lance Cade is out with an injury,
however, this match is supposed to be wrestlers who have never tagged before.
HBK seems to have a problem remembering who his partner is in this match as he
tosses Kennedy out of the ring after a tag. Haas gets out of the ring and puts
on a mask, telling the announcers that it is time. May I just say – what the
heck? Trevor gets tagged in, he works on HBK and then Haas is tagged bad in to
come off the top rope, land on his feet on the mat and then drop an elbow on HBK.
HBK goes for a tag to Kennedy but Kennedy hops off the ring apron and refuses to
tag. HBK pulls off Haas’s mask before continuing in the ring. HBK climbs up on
the top turnbuckle to come off with an elbow on Haas and then he turns and
delivers a super kick to Trevor sending him out to the floor. Kennedy tags
himself in as HBK delivers a super kick to Haas. Kennedy takes down HBK and then
covers Haas for the win.
Strange Bedfellows Match Winners: HBK Shawn Michaels &
Mr. Kennedy
JR reminds us that there will be a First Blood Match between
Triple H and William Regal
Commercial break.
Back from commercial break.
Trading Places Match
Opponents Must Dress as Each Other
Carlito dressed as Hardcore Holly
accompanied to the ring by Santino Marella
Vs.
Hardcore Holly dressed as Carlito
One half of the WWE World Tag Team Champions
accompanied to the ring by Cody Rhodes, the other half of
the WWE World Tag Team Champions
Audience favorite: I’m not sure
My favorite: I like them both
Hardcore Holly has to take off his Carlito wig in order to
take off his shirt. Carlito is just adorable in a blonde wig. Holly manages to
lose the wig in a hurry as Carlito goes after Holly. Carlito’s wig must be
glued on. It hasn’t moved. Holly gets the match turned around in his favor and
Carlito still doesn’t lose the wig. Marella climbs up the ropes and as the
referee goes to make him get down, Cody tosses Holly his apple. Holly takes a
bite and tosses the apple back to Cody. Carlito gets back to his feet, Holly
spits the apple in his face, takes him over his head and drops him down to the
mat then goes for the cover to get the three count. Carlito still didn’t lose
his wig!
Trading Places Match Winner: Hardcore Holly dressed as
Carlito
McMahon is backstage with Maria. Maria is going to decide
what match all of the divas will be in tonight. They spin the wheel and it is a
Submission Match but McMahon has Maria close her eyes and he turns the wheel and
it is a Lingerie Pillow Fight. WWE can’t come up with a new type of match for
their “divas”? Like a wrestling match?
Commercial break.
Back from commercial break, clips from the Jeff Hardy and
Randy Orton match coming up at Royal Rumble and the feud between the two
including Orton beating up on Matt Hardy last week backstage.
Todd is backstage with Jeff Hardy. Todd asks about how Matt
is doing and Jeff tells him that Matt isn’t doing very well. Jeff says he
isn’t only going to take Orton’s title, he’s going to take Orton out. JR
says that Jeff Hardy will face Umaga tonight in a steel cage match.
Hornswoggle is backstage playing with the roulette wheel.
McMahon enters and stops the wheel but there is something wrong with the sound
and I can’t hear what McMahon is saying. I think they are talking about the
Royal Rumble and JR tells us that they have technical issues. JR then reminds us
about the First Blood match coming up tonight and that coming up next will be
the Diva Lingerie Pillow Fight.
Commercial break.
Back from commercial break. a rerun of what we missed between
Hornswoggle and McMahon, which we could not hear due to technical difficulties.
McMahon says that Hornswoggle will be in a match tonight in a qualifying tag
team match for the Royal Rumble. First Hornswoggle must find a partner and
McMahon tells him that Finlay is not in the building tonight.
Lingerie Pillow Fight Match
Everything in the Ring Can Be Used
The first diva to get a pinfall or submission will be
declared the winner
Melina from Los Angeles, CA
Vs.
Jillian Hall from Louisville, KY
Vs.
Maria from Chicago, IL
Vs.
Mickie James from Richmond, VA
Vs.
Ashley from New York NY
Audience favorite: I don’t know
My favorite: Mickie James
The entrances of the divas were out of synch and we can
assume this is because of the replay of the spot with McMahon and Hornswoggle.
There is kayfabe and then there is just plain silly. This
falls under the just plain silly category. It doesn’t say much for Ashley’s
return. Look for Maria’s body to be a topic of conversation for the next few
weeks since she will be featured in Playboy. The commentary for this “match”
is as bad as the action in the ring. Ashley pins Jillian in the middle of the
bed.
Lingerie Pillow Fight Winner: Ashley
I didn’t notice the audience being overly enthused with
this show of pillows.
Triple H is heading toward the arena to his First Blood Match
coming up next.
Commercial break.
Back from commercial break, Hornswoggle is with Super Crazy
who says that he is super but not that crazy, leaving Hornswoggle still looking
for a tag team partner.
First Blood Match
General Manager William Regal from Blackpool, England
Vs.
The Game Triple H from Greenwich, CT, weighing 255 lbs.
Audience favorite: Triple H
My favorite: I like them both
Even if I didn’t like Triple H, Motorhead rocks. So far the
loudest noise of the night for Triple H. People are on their feet for The Game
who accomplishes his standard entrance that we all wait impatiently for each
week. Has Regal been working out?
Regal steps into the ring and again the audience is shouting.
Neither man backs down but Triple H is out for that first blood. They are
outside the ring battling it out. We see multiple fists being thrown by Triple
H. Regal’s head meets the announcer’s table and then Triple H rakes
Regal’s forehead on the steel steps. Triple H picks up another set of steps
and throws them at Regal but Regal, fortunately, gets out of the way. Regal is
back on the attack and he slams Triple H’s head into the steel steps to chants
of “Regal sucks” from the fans. Both men are now back in the ring and Regal
slams Triple H to the mat and then turns to take the pad off of the top
turnbuckle. It’s off now and he heads back for Triple H. Regal uses some
boxing skills and then he slams Triple H’s head into the exposed turnbuckle.
Triple H is not yet bleeding but Regal keeps up the pace. Regal again tries to
send Triple H into the exposed turnbuckle, but Triple H gets the switch and
sends him into the exposed turnbuckle instead. Regal isn’t bleeding yet either
and we are back to a battle in the middle of the ring. Regal again has Triple H
down on the mat and the chants of “Regal sucks” gets louder. Regal goes out
of the ring and heads to his brass knuckles on the floor outside the ring.
Triple H is back to his feet in the ring, Regal comes after Triple H, but Triple
H catches Regal in a spine buster. Triple H is pounding on Regal’s head as the
ref is trying to get in close enough to see if there is any bloodshed. Yes, we
have blood. Regal is now officially bloody but Triple H has a problem stopping
the pounding.
First Blood Match Winner:
The Game Triple H
Triple H doesn’t appear to be finished with Regal after the
bell rings and he delivers a pedigree for good measure.
Lawler reminds us about the steel cage match between Jeff
Hardy and Umaga coming up later tonight.
Commercial break.
Back from commercial break, Hornswoggle is backstage with
Santino Marella asking him to be his tag team partner, however, Marella
doesn’t appear to be interested. Hornswoggle is still looking for a tag team
partner.
JR and Lawler give us a rundown of the brewing feud between
Y2J Chris Jericho and John Bradshaw Layfield beginning at Armageddon.
Handicap Match
Y2J Chris Jericho weighing 227 lbs
Vs.
We go to commercial break before we find out whom Jericho’s
opponent will be and what type of match it will be.
Back from commercial break, the match and Jericho’s
opponents are announced.
Snitsky from PA
&
JBL
Audience favorite: Y2J Chris Jericho
My favorite: Y2J Chris Jericho
We can be eternally grateful JBL doesn’t have a mic in his
hand. I don’t expect this to be much of a match but more of a beat down of
Jericho. He came back to WWE for this type of match? Jericho takes Snitsky out
of action and goes outside the ring after JBL and we have a beat down of JBL.
JBL’s head meets the announcer’s table but JBL gets smashed with a chair.
JBL sends the official out of the way and the ref calls for the bell with JBL
still pounding on Jericho.
Handicap Match Winner: Y2J Chris Jericho via
disqualification
The ref again gets in JBL’s face when he chokes Jericho
with a cable. JBL, in a way overdone whatever he thinks he’s doing, pulls
Jericho around the ring using the cable around Jericho’s neck. He then pulls
Jericho to the top of the entrance ramp with the ref running off at the mouth
the entire way. JBL decides to stop strangling and start pounding on Jericho.
And he’s still at it and even the live audience seems to be losing interest in
the JBL beat down of Jericho. JBL ties the other end of the cable he is using
around a metal town as we now have four referees and one member of WWE personnel
trying to keep JBL away from Jericho. The crowd revives long enough to chant
“You suck” for JBL and we go to
Commercial break.
Back from commercial break, we have a replay of the beat down
of Jericho by JBL.
I don’t even have an opinion to express for this fiasco.
You can’t call it a match. If JBL is trying to get heat from the audience, he
already had it and it appeared that JBL went overboard in his efforts to get the
audience vocally involved.
Royal Rumble Tag Team Qualifying Match
Winning tag team will be in the Royal Rumble Match
The Highlanders from Scotland, at a combined weight of 34
stone
Vs.
Hornswoggle
&
B.K. Jordan
Audience favorite: I’m not sure
My favorite: I’m not sure
Mick Foley enters the ring. Does this mean that Mr. Jordan
won’t be wrestling this evening? Yes, it does. Foley will now be
Hornswoggle’s partner and The Highlanders may be in trouble. Foley is taking
care of action in the ring but he does tag in Hornswoggle and Hornswoggle goes
in to deliver some heavy-duty kicks and pounces on one of The Highlanders. We
now have the Rory in the ring and he is working on Hornswoggle but Foley manages
to make his way in to break it up. Hornswoggle
gets the tag and Foley is in the ring working over Rory. Foley is trapped in the
wrong corner and is being worked over by The Highlanders. Rory gets sent out of
the ring over the top ropes and Mr. Socko makes an appearance to take down Rory
who has come back in the ring and then Robbie is taken down with a DDT as Foley
tags in Hornswoggle to deliver a tadpole splash and get the three count.
Royal Rumble Qualifying Match Winners: Hornswoggle &
Mick Foley
No matter how many times I see Hornswoggle in the ring it is
entertaining. If anyone was paying attention, Hornswoggle does appear to have
wrestling abilities in the ring.
The steel cage is being placed over the ring. Coming up next
will be a Steel Cage Match featuring Jeff Hardy versus Umaga
Commercial break.
Back from commercial break, WWE is hyping WWEHD on Raw in two
weeks.
Steel Cage Match
Jeff Hardy from Cameron, NC, weighing 225 lbs.
WWE Intercontinental Champion
Vs.
Umaga from the Isle of Samoa, weighing 350 lbs.
Audience favorite: Jeff Hardy
My favorite: I like them both
I hope Jeff can bail over the top of the cage in a hurry.
Otherwise, he could be in some serious trouble against Umaga. Randy Orton,
current WWE Champion, enters the arena –
I wonder how much Orton had to beg to get Jeff in this match against Umaga?
Orton takes Lillian’s chair to get a ringside seat for the match. Jeff is
already in trouble in the ring with Umaga delivering a major beat down on Jeff.
Jeff nails Umaga with a short drop kick and goes for the cover but can’t get
the three count. Big foot to the face and Jeff hits the canvas. Jeff gets out of
the way as Umaga goes for a splash and Umaga hits the steel cage face first.
Again Jeff tries for a cover but can’t get the three count. Orton is now on
his feet and Jeff is thrown into the cage but manages to grab the cage and
starts to climb to the top but Umaga brings him back down the hard way. Orton is
all over the side of the cage running off at the mouth and we go to
Commercial break in the middle of a match. You couldn’t do
the commercial break during the diva pillow match?
Back from commercial break, Orton is back in his chair and
Jeff is down in the ring with Umaga working on Jeff’s neck and shoulder. We
get to see what happened during commercial break, which appeared to be all Umaga.
Orton is now on his feet running off at the mouth again. Could someone turn him
off? Jeff works to get back to his
feet and he does but ends up being tossed into the cage again by the powerful
Umaga. Jeff is down on the mat and Umaga goes after him. Umaga delivers head
butts before slamming Jeff’s head into the side of the cage. Orton is busy
giving Umaga orders and Umaga delivers a splash catching Jeff against the side
of the cage. Umaga goes for the cover but Jeff gets his foot up on the bottom
rope. Orton has a steel chair and he throws it into the ring to Umaga, and then
another chair and another. Orton is up on the side of the ring apron as Umaga
nails Jeff in the back with the steel chair. Jeff is now down on the mat. Umaga
is now attempting to climb out of the ring but Jeff is on his feet and hits the
top rope in order to crotch Umaga on the ropes. Jeff then delivers a flying
dropkick with the help of one of the chairs Orton threw into the cage and nails
Umaga, sending him down to the mat. Jeff goes for the twist of fate but Umaga
catches Jeff in the throat. Jeff is down on the mat, Umaga sets him up in the
corner as the ref tells Orton to stay out of the way. Umaga runs across the ring
to smash Jeff but Jeff rolls out of the way, delivers a kick to Umaga’s face,
throws a chair at Umaga, nailing him again in the face and then delivers a DDT
on top of the steel chair. Jeff goes for the cover but only gets a two count
before Umaga powers out. Jeff heads for the door and starts out but you know who
slams it shut on Jeff. Not even original anymore WWE. Umaga goes for the cover
but he can’t get the three count either. Umaga is back on his feet ready to
deliver the Samoan Spike but Jeff gets the twist of fate, rips off his shirt to
the joy of the female fans, goes up to the top of the cage with Orton standing
below. Jeff does a whisper in the wind off the top of the cage and onto Umaga,
goes for the cover and gets the three count.
Steel Cage Match Winner: Jeff Hardy, WWE Intercontinental
Champion
I haven’t stopped laughing. Orton on his best day
couldn’t do what Jeff Hardy does in the ring. Actually I was hoping Jeff would
come off the top of the cage and take Orton out on the floor but this ending was
much better. Great job from both of the men in the ring in this match.
And I’m still hoping Jeff Hardy takes that title belt away
from Orton at Royal Rumble.
WWE SMACKDOWN / JANUARY 4
Wrestling Bodyslam . Com