Monday Night Raw
October 22, 2007
Recap by Sassy
Comments by Sassy in italics.
Monday Night Raw is being broadcast from Omaha, NE, on
USA.
Ringside announcers: JR and Jerry Lawler
Ring announcer: Lillian Garcia
Backstage interviews: Todd Grisham
We open with Mr. Kennedy in the ring to let everyone know
that they can vote for him to be against Randy Orton for the WWE Championship.
WWE fans have the choice of Intercontinental Champion, Jeff Hardy, who gets a
big round of applause from the audience. Kenney compares Jeff Hardy to Hilary
Clinton. That would be enough
for me to come out of the back and beat Kennedy even more senseless than he
appears to be. The second choice is the Heartbreak Kid, Shawn Michaels.
Kennedy compares Michaels to Rudy. Kennedy is the third choice and the
audience’s least favorite. Of course, Kennedy compares himself to John F.
Kennedy. He may be closer than
we think.
Jeff Hardy makes his way to the ring through the audience. If
we were having a Presidential election, Jeff would be packing to go to the White
House. Hardy tells Kennedy that his approval rating sucks. Kennedy is having
trouble talking with the “Hardy”! chants coming from the crowd.
Jeff tells Kennedy there is one vote that he can win. Jeff
asks how many people want him to go into the ring and beat Kennedy right now. It
is an overwhelming YES vote. Jeff heads to the ring to work Kennedy over in the
ring.
We don’t know if Jeff is going to take out Kennedy because
who should show up but Randy Orton to work over the men in the ring. While
Kennedy holds onto Jeff so that Orton can work him over, Michaels comes to the
ring. Orton runs from Michaels as Jeff takes Kennedy out of the ring.
We have a women’s championship match tonight, 2 out of 3
falls.
Commercial break.
Back from commercial break, we see a video recap of what
happened before the commercial break. Tonight it will be a tag team match
between Shawn Michaels and Jeff Hardy against Mr. Kennedy and Randy Orton.
Six Person Tag Team Match
Mickie James, Paul London & Brian Kendrick
Vs.
Melina, & The World Tag Team Champions, Lance Cade
& Trevor Murdoch
Audience favorites: James, London & Kendrick
My favorites: James London & Kendrick but I do like
Trevor Murdoch
Winners: James, London & Kendrick. London pins
Murdoch when Murdoch shoves James out of the way and gets hit with a clothesline
by Cade.
We know James can beat Melina hands down in the wrestling
ring. Cade and Murdoch are very
good but they don’t have the highflying abilities of London and Kendrick. All
six people in the ring have wrestling ability when they choose to use it.
We now see the finalist of the Diva Search.
Officer Eve, Officer Brook and Officer Lena – this gets
more and more ridiculous.
Commercial break.
Back from commercial break, we are backstage with Jeff Hardy
and Shawn Michaels arguing about their tag team match.
Cody Rhodes is backstage with Shelton Benjamin and Charlie
Haas. Cody has the latest edition of WWE magazine. Shelton and Charlie make fun of the number of times Cody has
been beat up by Holly. Cody has a match with Shelton tonight. Cody says he
respects Hardcore Holly but he doesn’t respect Shelton Benjamin. Shelton
manages to make a dig at Cody’s father.
Jonathan Coachman and William Regal are backstage. Coach
wants Regal to set up a match between Coach and Hornswoggle. McMahon is out of
the country but Regal doesn’t think it’s a good idea because Hornswoggle is
a midget. Coach says that if Regal gives Coach this match, Regal will be doing
the entire McMahon family a favor. Regal agrees to make the match. Coach says
that Coach shouldn’t be in a match with Hornswogge. Coach says it should be Hornswoggle versus Umaga. Regal walks
off.
Commercial break.
Back from commercial break.
Cody Rhodes, weighing 232 lbs., from Charlotte, NC
Vs.
Shelton Benjamin, weighing 248 lbs., from Orangesburg, NC
accompanied to the ring by Charlie Haas
Audience favorite: I’m not sure
My favorite: Codey
Rhodes
Winner: Cody Rhodes after a roll up and a pin,
reversing the roll up by Shelton, after outside interference by Haas.
Cody Rhodes has the ability to be a great wrestler.
Shelton Benjamin has the same ability, but he tends to not impress the
audience as much as he used to. It could be character or the storyline, but
Shelton seems to be less impressive in every match he appears.
We all know that Haas isn’t there for the pleasure of standing outside
the ring and he jumps in to work over Cody after Cody has won the match. Cody is
double teamed by Shelton and Haas but Hardcore Holly is in the ring and to
Cody’s rescue. It appears Holly has had a change of heart regarding Cody.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this the first time we have seen Charlie
Haas since his suspension for being on the Signature Pharmacy client list?
We are reminded again about the women’s championship match,
the match between Hornswoggle and Umaga and the four-man tag team match.
Commercial break.
Back from commercial break.
Harry Smith being billed as D.H. Smith, son of British
Bulldog Davey Boy Smith, is in the ring and says he will dedicate tonight’s
match to his father.
D.H. Smith
Vs.
Carlito, 220 lbs., from the Caribbean
Audience favorite: I’m not sure
My favorite: I’m not sure
Winner: D.H. Smith after a power slam, a pin and a
three count.
We had been hearing that Smith would be making his debut
in WWE. I understand that Carlito comes from a wrestling family in Puerto Rico.
This should be an interesting match. Smith, obviously, has been
practicing his wrestling moves and he is quite good. I think Carlito is just as
good in the ring but Carlito tends to prefer to fight dirty. I thought Smith did
a great job but why is Carlito putting over Smith?
We go backstage to a face off between Candice Michelle and
Beth Phoenix.
We see Umaga and Coach making their way backstage to the
ring.
Commercial break.
Back from commercial break, we see last week’s mischievous
Hornswoggle taking Coach for a run through the backstage and ring area of the
WWE arena.
Umaga, weighing 350 lbs., from the Isle of Samoa
accompanied to the ring by Jonathan Coachman
Vs,
Hornswoggle
Audience favorite: Hornswoggle
My favorite: Hornswoggle
Winner: There wasn't a match, so there was no winner...
Hornswoggle does not appear down the entrance ramp, he comes
out from under the ring. He stands outside the ring and Coach waves him into the
ring. Hornswoggle refuses to get in the ring and instead runs up the entrance
ramp and away from the ring.
Then we hear Triple H’s music and Triple H enters the
arena, although he is not in wrestling attire. Triple H gets up on the ring
apron anyway and then enters the ring and we have a not really a match. Umaga
shoves the referee out of the way and we have numerous refs enter the ring in
order to break up the pair. We have more officials enter the ring and Umaga is
knocked to the floor, but he drags Triple H out with him. I can’t count the
number of people out here that can’t seem to break these two up. They fight
around the outside of the ring with everyone getting taken to the floor at least
twice. The audience certainly enjoyed every time Triple H managed to break
free and dive on Umaga. And as they fight their way up the entrance ramp, we
go to
Commercial break.
Back from commercial break, we see the brawl before the
commercial break and then we see Umaga backstage trashing everything in sight.
There is an army of security and referees – none of them very large, by the
way – trying to hold him back.
JR and Lawler are reminding the WWE fans they can vote for
the type of match between Umaga and Triple H at Cyber Sunday.
Then Lawler tells us we get to meet the three Diva Search
finalists. Todd Grisham introduces the Divas that are left to choose from. They
are Brooke, Eve, and Lena.
We are now backstage with Orton and Kennedy, tag team
partners this evening. Orton says that the only reason he came out tonight was
not to save Kennedy, it was to beat up Jeff Hardy and that tonight Kennedy is
his tag team partner. Orton said that Kennedy won’t be up against him at Cyber
Sunday because people don’t like Kennedy and when people don’t like you,
they don’t vote for you. Kennedy says tonight he might feel like he needs to
make a statement and that Orton may have more to worry about tonight than a
super kick. Orton tells Kennedy he does not want to make an enemy out of him.
Kennedy does not look concerned.
Santino Marella, weighing 227 lbs., residing in Patterson,
NJ
accompanied to the ring by Maria
Vs.
Ron Simmons, weighing 260 lbs., from Warner Robbins, GA
Audience favorite: Ron Simmons
My favorite: Ron Simmons DAMN!
Winner: Ron Simmons after a blatant low blow by
Marella
Marella makes a big deal about Stone Cold Steve Austin being
in the latest WWE magazine. He also mentions that Marella is not in the issue.
We see the Save Us 222 promo again. Marella blames Austin for the promo
interrupting him and he continues to trash talk Austin.
Simmons is back in the ring…it’s about time! Maybe HE
can stop Marella from spending all of his time on a mic. As the match
progresses, I am surprised that Simmons is letting Marella whoop on him like
that. Simmons can do better than that.
Todd is backstage with Triple H. Triple H says it doesn’t
matter what type of match he has against Umaga because he will beat him at Cyber
Sunday. Triple H may wish he’d kept some of that weight he lost when he was
out. Umaga is a big boy.
We see Candice Michelle coming out for her match.
Commercial break.
Back from commercial break.
Women’s Championship Match
Pinfall, submission or count out – 2 out of 3 falls.
Candice Michelle from Milwaukee, WI
Vs.
The Glamazon Beth Phoenix from Buffalo, NY
Audience favorite: I’m not sure
My favorite: Beth Phoenix
Winner: Beth Phoenix who retains the Women’s
Championship Title.
Beth Phoenix is an attractive woman but she can wrestle, she
has strength and is tough. For
those of you who are not aware, Candice Michelle slipped on the top turnbuckle,
cracked her clavicle and will be out of action for a few weeks. The word was
that Candice was knocked out and if you saw the match, she did look out of it
when she hit the mat. Candice did
do a good job until the slip – and that’s not an insult, it could happen to
anyone – and was a trooper after the fall. She did get hauled out on a
stretcher, which was probably a good idea especially after Beth had to grab
Candice’s arms and haul her back out to the center of the ring to get the pin.
Not Beth’s fault -- she had to do something to finish the match.
Commercial break in the middle of the match!
We see Orton with his title belt heading for the ring and we
go to
Commercial break.
Back from commercial break.
The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels from San Antonio, TX
&
Jeff Hardy, weighing 225 lbs., from Cameron, NC
The Intercontinental Champion
Vs.
Mr. Kennedy, weighing 243 lbs., from Green Bay, WI
&
Randy Orton, weighing 245 lbs., from St. Louis, MO
The WWE Champion
Audience favorites: Jeff Hardy and Shawn Michaels
My favorites: Jeff Hardy and Shawn Michaels
Winners: Jeff Hardy & Shawn Michaels after Jeff
pins Kennedy for a three count. Orton re-enters the ring and attempts an RKO on
Jeff but is taken out by Michaels with sweet chin music.
This audience is really into Jeff Hardy and I don’t
blame them. He is absolutely the
highest-flying member of the WWE roster. He
is very good in the ring and he can electrify the audience without ever touching
a mic. Hint, hint, those of you
that would rather talk, take a clue from Jeff Hardy. Jeff did his usual great
work in the ring. He should be
tired if he does get the match at Cyber Sunday. Michaels looked good tonight
too. Orton will have his hands full
if either of these men gets a shot at the title.
I generally don’t guess correctly, but Jeff deserves a
shot at the title. And Orton doesn’t deserve the title. I can’t think of a better World Champion than Jeff Hardy.
Michaels and Kennedy are good but Jeff is better than both of them.
WWE SMACKDOWN / OCTOBER 19
Wrestling Bodyslam . Com