Monday
Night Raw
April 14, 2008 – Recap by Sassy
Last week on Raw
Umaga defeated Val Venis in a quick squash match.
Mickie James & Ashley defeated Jillian Hall &
Melina in a tag team match.
Brian Kendrick & Paul London defeated Lance Cade &
Trevor Murdoch in tag team action
John Cena defeated John Bradshaw Layfield and Randy Orton
in a 2 on 1 Handicap Match to win a place in and make it a Triple Threat Match
for the WWE Championship at Backlash.
Santino Marella & Carlito defeated Hardcore Holly
& Cody Rhodes, WWE World Tag Team Champions in a tag team match.
The Glamazon Beth Phoenix defeated Maria.
In a 2 on 1 Handicap Match John Cena defeated John
Bradshaw Layfield and Triple H to win a place in and make it a Four Way Fatal
Match for the WWE Championship at Backlash.
William Regal is backstage and is approached by John Bradshaw
Layfield. JBL tells Regal that he is spineless by giving Triple H and John Cena
a place in the championship match at Backlash. JBL is complaining about being in
England. Regal says he has been too accommodating of late and he won’t let
that happen again. Regal says that tonight JBL will be in a match against Triple
H.
Monday
Night Raw broadcast from London, England
On
the USA Network.
Ringside announcers: Jim Ross & Jerry “The King”
Lawler
Ring announcer: Lillian Garcia
Interviews: Todd Grishman and Mike Adamle
Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels enters the arena and heads to
the ring. He grabs a mic and says that the last thing he wanted to do was to
come out in the ring and address the problems between HBK and Batista. He gives
the audience a rundown of the feud between HBK and Batista. When he mentions
Flair’s name, thunderous WOOOOOS! come from the live audience. When he
mentions Batista’s name, there are equally thunderous BOOS!
The audience hears Nature Boy Ric Flair’s entrance theme
and the audience turns to watch the entrance ramp. Flair does not appear but Y2J
Chris Jericho does – to some very loud jeers from the live audience. Jericho
comes to the ring with a mic and tells Michaels that they will never hear
Flair’s music again because of HBK. Jericho calls Michaels a phony and says
that is what Batista thinks. Jericho accuses Michaels of loving only himself and
says that Michaels enjoyed retiring Flair just like Michaels thrived on screwing
Brett Hart, the same way Michaels enjoyed super kicking his old partner, Marty
Jannetty, and throwing Jannetty through a plate glass window. Jericho accuses
Michaels of giving Vince McMahon the stipulations for Flair’s retirement and
Michaels responds with a kick to Jericho’s jaw. The audience liked it.
Commercial break.
Jim Ross informs the audience that next week The King of the
Ring returns next week on Monday Night Raw in a three hour program.
Match to Determine #1 Contender
for the
WWE
World Tag Team Championship
Santino Marella, weighing 247 lbs.
&
Carlito from the Caribbean, weighing 220 lbs.
Vs.
Paul London
&
Brian Kendrick
Audience favorites: I’m not sure
My favorites: London & Kendrick
Marella faces off with London as the bell rings. London &
Kendrick are a very good tag team although they are smaller than quite a few of
the wrestlers on the Raw roster. I haven’t been able to decide whether Marella
has any talent or not but Carlito can do a very good job in the ring when given
a chance. Hardcore Holly and Cody Rhodes are backstage watching the match on a
monitor. I don’t see any smooth moves by Marella and Carlito has been making
his mark as a heel in the WWE ring. London & Kendrick are fast and efficient
and for a minute I thought London had the win. Kendrick goes flying over the top
rope and lands hard on the mat outside the ring, London delivers a kick that
sends Marella out to the floor, Carlito nails London with the backstabber, goes
for the cover and gets the three count.
Time:
4 minutes
Winners
Carlito
with a backstabber
&
Santino
Marella
#1
Contenders for the WWE World Tag Team Championship
It wasn’t a long match but it was certainly fast paced
thanks to the flying London & Kendrick. After the match, Marella hands
Carlito a mic. Carlito goes off in Spanish and no one, including me knows what
he says. Marella takes the mic and then he rattles off in, I guess, Italian. I
didn’t get that either. Marella addresses Holly & Rhodes and tells them
they are up against two International Superstars and they will lose their
titles. Marella then says that they are wieners. Carlito corrects Marella and says they are WINNERS.
Commercial break.
WWE
Women’s Championship Match
Mickie James from Richmond, VA
Challenger
Vs.
The Glamazon Beth Phoenix from Buffalo, NY
Champion
Audience favorite: Mickie James
My favorite: Mickie James
This should be interesting. James is a high-flying wrestler
while Phoenix tends to be more of a brutal opponent in the ring.
Phoenix begins the match by throwing James around but James
comes back with a few smacks of her own. Phoenix slams James back first into the
turnbuckle and goes for the cover. She gets a two count. Phoenix slingshots
James off the top rope and again goes for a cover but doesn’t get the three
count. Phoenix has James in the chicken wing but she manages to get out of the
hold. James slams Phoenix head first into the top turnbuckle twice. James
continues to work on Phoenix. The referee has to nearly pull Phoenix off of
James in the corner as she delivers kicks to the midsection. James comes off the
top rope and slams Phoenix to the canvas, goes for the cover but only gets a two
count. Phoenix goes for another submission move, James counters with a roll up
and gets the three count. And we have a new Women’s Champion!
Time:
5 minutes
Winner and
New
WWE Women’s Champion
Mickie
James
With
a roll up pin
That was a surprise! Not that James won the match but that
she won the title on Monday Night Raw. These
two women did a great job in the ring even though it wasn’t necessarily a long
match. And the Women’s
Championship Match was scheduled on Monday Night Raw?
Why was this match not a part of Wrestlemania XXIV?
Because WWE treats the Women’s Champion with the same complacency as
WWE treats female wrestlers – if you don’t have your photo on the cover of
Playboy, you just don’t count.
Commercial break.
As we return from commercial break, and what did I say? –
Mickie James is at the top of the entrance ramp and is surrounded by, you got
it, Maria and Ashley. When Todd
Grisham asks Mickie how it feels to be the new Women’s Champion, Mickie kisses
Todd and he ends up on the floor.
Mike Adamle is backstage with Raw General Manager William
Regal who is warming up for his match tonight.
Adamle asks Regal why he decided to take on the very best in the world.
Regal says that he did it because he wanted to show everyone that he
could beat the best.
Y2J Chris Jericho appears and wants Regal to make the match
between Batista and Shawn Michaels a triple threat match with Jericho in the
middle. Regal says that Jericho can be in the middle of that match.
Jericho can be the special guest referee. Jericho says that he doesn’t
want to referee, he wants to wrestle. Regal tells Jericho that tonight he can
wrestle Umaga and he will be defending his WWE Intercontinental Championship.
Commercial break.
JTG, from Cryme Tyme, weighing 230 lbs.
Accompanied to the ring by his tag team partner
Vs.
Trevor Murdoch, from TX weighing 250 lbs.
Accompanied to the ring by his tag team partner, Lance
Cade
Audience favorite: JTG of Cryme Tyme
My favorite: Trevor Murdoch
JTG is the smaller member of Cryme Tyme and Trevor does a
good job of taking him down and keeping him down at the beginning of the match.
Murdoch goes up to the top turnbuckle and delivers a cross body block but
Murdoch’s momentum rolls him completely through, JTG grabs the advantage, goes
for the pin and gets the win.
Time:
1 minute
Winner
JTG
of Cryme Tyme with a cross body block
After the match, Cade enters the ring and stares down Murdoch.
Cade slaps Murdoch on the shoulder and exits the ring, heading out of the arena.
Randy Orton is heading to the ring.
Commercial break.
Randy Orton from St. Louis, MO, weighing 245 lbs.
WWE Champion
Vs.
William Regal from Blackpool, England, weighing 240 lbs.
Audience favorite: William Regal
My favorite: William Regal
It’s nice to see that Orton gets the same reaction in
England that he gets in the states. The
British don’t like him either. I
know it isn’t going to happen but - GET HIM REGAL!
The audience is chanting “Let’s go Regal” and we all
know that Regal is one dirty fighter when he needs to be. Regal goes from
fighting dirty to showing everyone he hasn’t forgotten his wrestling. Regal is
full of counters for everything that Orton does. The fans love it. I think the
audience spent most of their match getting to their feet. Orton goes out to the
floor and gets against the guardrail. That
may not be a safe place for him to be. The ref goes out to check on Orton and
then both of them get back in the ring. Regal twice has Orton pinned but Orton
gets a foot up on the bottom rope. As
the ref backs Regal up, Orton is up off the canvas and catches Regal with an RKO.
Time:
6 minutes
Winner
Randy
Orton with an RKO
The fans weren’t happy with this win and neither was I.
Regal may not be in the ring often but when he is, he does do a good job.
Commercial break.
WWE
Intercontinental Championship Match
Umaga from the Isle of Samoa, weighing 350 lbs.
Vs.
Y2J Chris Jericho, weighing 226 lbs.
WWE Intercontinental Champion
Audience favorite: YJ Chris Jericho
My favorite: I’m not sure
It will be interesting to see how Jericho hangs onto his
title. From the look of what is going on in the ring, Jericho needs to get
himself disqualified and in a hurry. I don’t know how Jericho powered out of
the last pin attempt but he did. Umaga picks Jericho up and throws him over the
top rope and we go to
COMMERCIAL BREAK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MATCH!
Back in the ring, Jericho has Umaga in the corner but it
doesn’t last for long. Jericho manages to pull down the top rope, sending
Umaga out to the floor. Jericho delivers baseball slide that sends Umaga into
the guardrail but then Jericho goes out after Umaga and Jericho receives a heavy
clothesline. Umaga rolls Jericho back into the ring. Umaga goes for the cover
but Jericho gets a shoulder up. Umaga attempts a squash, Jericho gets a foot up
and crotches Umaga. Jericho takes two kicks to the face. Whether he wins or
loses, you have to admit Jericho took a beating in this match. Umaga backs
across the ring to deliver his famous squash against the ring post but Jericho
rolls out of the way, goes up to the top and comes off to nail Umaga in the back
of the head. Both men are down and the ref starts the count. He gets to five
before both men are back to their feet. Umaga goes for a splash, Jericho rolls
out of the way and delivers a low drop kick before trying for the walls of
Jericho. He can’t lock it in and
Jericho is against the ring post again. Umaga delivers a Samoan drop and goes
for the cover but Jericho kicks out. Umaga has Jericho by the throat and goes
for the Samoan Spike, Jericho ducks out of the way, Umaga charges, Jericho moves
again and Umaga hits the top turnbuckle, Jericho goes for a roll up and uses the
ropes to get the three count.
Time: 4 minutes before commercial break,
8 minutes after commercial break,
12
minutes total.
Winner
Y2J Chris Jericho with a roll up
and
a little help from the ropes
Retains
the WWE Intercontinental Championship
We all knew that Jericho wasn’t going to win by
overpowering Umaga and Umaga certainly doesn’t wrestle in any match he
participates in.
Commercial break.
Hacksaw Jim Duggan from NY, weighing 270 lbs.
Vs.
Paul Burchill from England, weighing 237 lbs.
Accompanied to the ring by Katie Lea
Audience favorite: Hacksaw Jim Duggan
My favorite: Hacksaw Jim Duggan
The bell rings and Burchill attacks Duggan while his back his
turned. This appears to be that
squash match that WWE has to have, but didn’t we have a one-minute match a
little earlier this evening? Burchill slams Duggan’s face into the mat, goes
for the cover and gets the three count.
Time:
1 minute
Winner
Paul
Burchill
Commercial break.
Grisham is backstage with Triple H. He asks Triple H how he
is going to face JBL when he has never been in a match against him before.
Triple H says he isn’t going to come out right before his match and tell
anyone what his game plan is going to be. The was basically a plug for Triple
H’s new DVD.
Then the audience hears about the next WWE pay per view,
Backlash.
Main
Event
The Game Triple H from Greenwich, CT, weighing 255 lbs.
Vs.
John Bradshaw Layfield from New York City
Audience favorite: Triple H
My favorite: Triple H
Commercial break before the match begins (which is better
than in the middle of the match!)
The match has already begun when we return from commercial break and both men are down on the canvas. I haven’t been impressed with anything JBL has done since he has been away from the ring although he does draw quite a bit of heat wherever he goes. Triple H still has the ability to get the fans on their feet. I am not sure why JBL’s weight is never announced when he is involved in a match these days. We spend a few seconds trying to intimidate each other with jaw action before locking up again. And then we go back to jaw action. Triple H tries for a pedigree but JBL sends Triple H up and over onto the canvas. As JR has pointed out, this is more of a brawl than a wrestling match. Nice face buster by Triple H and then he delivers a clothesline that sends JBL over the top rope and out to the floor. Triple H goes out to the floor after JBL and they battle up the entrance ramp. Orton appears to attack Triple H and Orton takes Triple H back into the ring to beat on him. Triple H manages to deliver a spine buster but as he goes for a pedigree, JBL delivers a boot to Triple H’s head. Now we have Orton and JBL beating on Triple H in the middle of the ring. The ref rang the bell when Orton appeared but since both men were out of the ring at the time, I don’t know if anyone has won the match. JBL sets up Triple H for the famous Orton kick to the head and as Orton charges, JBL delivers the clothesline from hell to Orton and then JBL picks up the WWE Championship belt. As Triple H gets to his feet, JBL sends him back to the mat with a clothesline and again holds up the belt.
When the beat down of Triple H was going on in the ring, the
audience was chanting for “Cena” but Cena did not show up.
WWE SMACKDOWN / APRIL 11
Wrestling Bodyslam . Com