Welcome to the longest running blog on the WNW Blog Spot…RAW IS BLOGGED!!!

I promise not to Billy Gunn this blog.

The news has been coming out that Brock Lesnar’s career in the UFC is in jeopardy due to some ailments he’s been suffering from for the past few weeks/months. I wanted to take time out to put this in perspective.

Lesnar has become a huge draw for UFC. His fight with Frank Mir drew over 1.5 million buys on PPV. His debut drew 600,000. His second fight against Heath Herring drew 625,000 and his title fight against Randy Couture scored 920,000 buys. To say this guy is a big deal is an understatement.

I won’t get into the speculation of what Lesnar has. It could be anything but I’m not a doctor. They’ve said that it’s his intestines but again, I won’t speculate.

This is a huge deal. Lesnar is a bigger star than John Cena. This story is similar to if Cena were to get hurt and maybe jeopardize his career. We all know that could lose the WWE millions of dollars. Similar to Cena, Lesnar going out, because he’s a big enough star, could lose the UFC millions.

In other news, AJ Styles has retained the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Based on what I’ve seen from the spoilers & reports, TNA is the same crap since Hogan & Bischoff’s arrival. Now, I hope they were just letting the stuff run its course and are going to have a restart at this week’s tapings. I figure that Turning Point was Russo’s last hoo-rah and the Hogan-Bischoff Era starts this week. If they don’t pick it up, when I stop writing at the end of the year, I doubt I watch wrestling period.

RAW is Blogged:
RAW is LIVE from New York City at Madison Square Garden, the Mecca of Sports Entertainment. Tonight’s guest host is WWE Hall of Famer, the Hot Rod, Rowdy Roddy Piper!

The Skinny: Try telling the WWE they have a PPV this weekend. It won’t matter.

Opening Segment: Rowdy Roddy Piper, Iron Sheik, Bella Twins
RAW opened up backstage with Piper’s Pit with Piper & Luis Something who has been on VH1 and in some movies. Piper talked about the Iron Chef and the Iron Sheik came in with the Bellas. It was supposed to be a Saturday Night Live deal because they did “Live from New York, it’s Monday Night RAW.” Um, ok.

We got the new theme song from Nickelback and new graphics for RAW. I’ll be honest, I’m a nerd when it comes to graphics. I like watching sports and their graphic changes. Like ESPN’s new BottomLine, I love it. When CBS changed their graphics for NFL games, I thought it was cool. I wish Fox had kept their “Fox Box” instead of the little upper lefthand box they use now. Anyways, the new theme was ok. It’s something I haven’t heard from Nickelback and I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not a Nickelback fan except for a couple of songs.

Match #1 – United States Championship: The Miz © vs. MVP
Miz complained that he hadn’t said one word and everybody already hated him. He mentioned the Yankees, which got a mixed reaction presumably because there are probably Mets fans in the crowd. He said they didn’t earn the World Series title, they bought it. Again, the Mets tried that same process but it didn’t work. He said that everybody hated New York and their sports teams. A “Let’s Go Yankees” chant started up. He said he didn’t buy his US title but he earned it. The crowd was hot as they reacted to everything the Miz had to say. MVP, with a Yankees hat on, would be his opponent. What exactly did MVP do to deserve this title shot? They showed Sherri Shepherd (that’s her name right?) at ringside. MVP dominated most of the match. Things were going well until he tried the Playmaker. Miz reversed this but not for long as MVP got back in control for a little bit. Miz then hit the Stroke for the victory. Well, it’s safe to say that what MVP had built up just went out the window.
Winner: The Miz

Match #2 – Chavo Guerrero vs. Santino Marella
Santino came out in a New York Rangers jersey. That’s smart considering the Rangers play in the Garden. He took that off and revealed a Giants jersey, which got boos. He took the Giants jersey off to reveal a Knicks jersey, which got even more boos. Then, he took that off to reveal a Jets jersey, which didn’t catch as many boos. Then, he revealed a Mets jersey, which split the crowd even more. After that, he showed off a Phillies jersey, which caught boos. Finally, he revealed a Yankees jersey, which seemed to get the most cheers. Chavo did most of the work until Hornswoggle came out and distracted Chavo, giving Santino the win. I don’t like this expression but……FML! If you don’t know what that means, look it up.
Winner: Santino Marella

Shortly after the match, DX’s music hit. They came out, throwing glow sticks into the crowd. All that was missing was the ecstasy. If I need to explain that to anybody, shoot me an e-mail.

In-Ring Segment: DX, Hornswoggle
Triple H started off by keeping the crowd hot. They plugged their merchandise. Triple H said they weren’t there to talk about merchandise but the match at Survivor Series for the WWE Championship. Triple H said that Cena said they would implode at SS and he didn’t even know what implode meant. He said they were a unit and as long as the title came to DX, it didn’t matter who had it. Their sights turned to Hornswoggle, mentioning he didn’t pay for his merchandise. Triple H said they would consider letting him be a member of DX. Hornswoggle came out and jumped around, doing the DX chop. Triple H told him that he needed to know one thing…are you ready? Trips did the “let’s get ready to suck it” stuff but before he finished, he got Hornswoggle & did the Pedigree. HBK then said if you’re not down with that, they’ve got two words for you. Then, they got the Hornswoggle hard board and carried Hornswoggle out of the arena. Well, that wasn’t that great, considering they’re more worried about selling the destruction of a midget instead of the match on Sunday.

After the break, the plugged Jay-Z’s new album and talked about the history of Madison Square Garden & the WWE. One thing I liked was the recap of Eddie Guerrero winning the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania 20. The anniversary of Eddie’s passing was this past Friday.

Meanwhile backstage, Jericho visited with Piper. They chatted and Piper brought in Chris Masters. Like last week, he flexed his pecs to the Black Eyed Peas song. Jericho looked disgusted and then they showed members of the Black Eyed Peas in the crowd. Listen, if Fergie isn’t with them, I don’t want to see them.

Match #3 – Diva’s Championship: Melina © vs. Alicia Fox
They brought out Judah Friedlander, who stars on “30 Rock.” I just remember him from “Meet the Parents” and I think a Dave Matthews video. After the entrances, Judah announced that it would be a Lumberjill match and all of the Divas came out to ringside. This didn’t last long. Alicia got thrown outside and the Jills beat her down. Melina ended up getting the win.
Winner: Melina

Post-match, all the Divas got in the ring and went at it. Team Mickie James cleaned house before celebrating with Judah.

In-Ring Segment: Piper’s Pit
Piper talked about all he had done throughout at the years. He said that he was the reason Hulk Hogan had no hair. He then said that he wanted one more match with Vincent Kennedy McMahon. Surprisingly, Vince made his way out to the ring. Vince started making fun of some of the things about Piper. Vince said that he was retired from in-ring competition. He mentioned how good he looked. Piper said he had been in 7,000 matches and 30 car crashes. Piper then challenged him to a fight later on as Vince made fun of Piper as Piper walked out. Um, that was one of the weirdest segments I’ve seen.

Meanwhile, RAW will be a 3-hour Thanksgiving edition next week hosted by Jesse Ventura. Yeah, just how I want to spend my Thanksgiving vacation!

Match #4 – Sheamus vs. The Ringside Helper & Jerry Lawler
Sheamus challenged somebody to come out and face him. When nobody did, he beat up the ringside helper guy. Jerry Lawler stood up to intervene and Sheamus nailed him too.
Winner: Sheamus

After the break, Matt Striker came out to fill in for King for the rest of the night.

Match #5 – Evan Bourne vs. Jack Swagger
Evan Bourne got it started off well. But, with a commercial break in the middle, this turned out to be a quick match. After the break, it was maybe 2-3 minutes before Swagger hit the Gutwrench Powerbomb to get the victory.
Winner: Jack Swagger

My problem with this was they had teased Miz & Swagger’s problems but there was no Miz or Eve in this match. It’s like, why have continuity?

Piper came out and called Vince out. Instead, he got Randy Orton. Orton took some shots on Piper. As he went for the punt, he stopped too early before Kofi Kingston’s music hit. He came out and he & Orton went at it for a while. The action spilled into the crowd and then back into the ring. Kofi pretty much beat the holy hell out of Randy Orton, all throughout the arena. He knocked the living shit out of him with a top to one of the cases they put equipment in. Kofi got up on a railing and was about to do a splash through a table before the referees grabbed his arms. He broke away from them, got back up, and hit his “boom drop” onto Orton, through the table.

They plugged the new Hulk Hogan DVD. This just dripped with irony. Vince doesn’t want to pay attention to the competition. Yet, here he is releasing a Hogan DVD with Hogan now with the competition. I realize that the DVD was already scheduled to be released but it’s just hilarious. You can’t tell me they can’t postpone the DVD’s release or something. I mean, it’s just funny as hell to me, probably not to you but in my world, that doesn’t matter, does it lol?

Backstage, John Cena sucked up to the crowd. Cena continued running his mouth and got a sheet of paper from a backstage hand. Cena said he made a mistake in that the match wasn’t a handicap match but instead a triple threat match. That’s pretty crappy when the face of your company doesn’t know what type of match he’s in. He continued making a goofy ass promo that nearly made me want to watch the Browns-Ravens debacle. Seriously, who the fuck wrote that promo? If it was Cena, he needs a good slap across the face.

Main Event: Jeri-Show vs. DX vs. John Cena & The Undertaker
Jeri-Show was out first, followed by DX. The first champion to come out was John Cena. I still wanted to punch him in the face for that shitty promo. Undertaker, by far, got the biggest pop of the night for just the druid chants. I marked out for the druids, I have to admit. Before his music even hit, an “Under-taker” chant broke out. In an odd move, HBK, Jericho, and Cena started off the match. I just always figured two guys were in the match. Things quickly changed as Show, Trips, and ‘Taker got tagged in. Undertaker & Triple H stared each other down before setting their sights on Big Show. We got some vintage Triple H with a spinebuster. I’ll be glad when I don’t have to hear Michael Cole. I mean, I might just say ‘vintage’ after I take a shit tomorrow and say “VINTAGE LUKE PARKS WITH A BIG TURD!” This was a random match. It didn’t tell a story at all, like the challengers trying to take out the champions. Or, teasing a turn of DX or Jeri-Show on each other because they can’t trust each other when a title is on the line. It was just random moves by everybody. VINTAGE SHAWN MICHAELS WITH AN ELBOW! At the end, everybody hit their finishers. Triple H took Undertaker to the outside, which allowed Cena to hit the FU on Triple H to get the pin for his team.
Winners: John Cena & The Undertaker

Afterwards, Undertaker hit a tombstone on Cena in another “Madison Square Garden Moment.” Hearing that 500 times from Cole was about as bad as “WWE Universe” and “Vintage.”

I give this RAW:
1 out of 4 ring posts

The Final Word:
Is there a PPV coming up this Sunday? If you were to watch WWE programming, you probably wouldn’t know. The guest host gimmick sucked this week. I usually like Piper but he wasn’t any good in a role that would typically fit him. The stuff with Vince McMahon? What purpose did that serve? You’re right, none at all.

Instead of building up interest for their championship match, DX treated Survivor Series as a B-Level PPV that nobody cares about. Are you telling me the only build they could have done was with Hornswoggle, then a little bit of stuff in the main event? ARE YOU SHITTING ME!? People wonder why I don’t like RAW right now. Hell, it should be obvious why I don’t like RAW right now. They don’t use the TV to build their PPVs. TNA uses their PPVs to build their TV. In WWE, they don’t do anything to make me want to see the PPV. Just from RAW alone, I wouldn’t spend my hard earned money to buy Survivor Series.

I don’t care to see the Divas team match. I mean, we get that crap every other week. I MIGHT tune in to see Kingston & Orton go at it but there’s no guarantee they’ll get enough of each other to send me away a happy customer.

Why is MVP getting a US title shot?

Why is Swagger going over Bourne clean with no mention of Miz or Eve in that angle?

I mean, does anybody really want to watch Survivor Series. They’re treating the WWE Championship match as a joke in the first place. I’m so frustrated with this crap I could puke. I surely hope whoever takes my place will get a better product than I’ve had the past year. Another PPV that hasn’t been built worth a damn.

“RAW is Blogged” Power Rankings
1. The Undertaker
2. Christian
3. Jeri-Show
4. John Cena
5. Randy Orton
6. Kofi Kingston
7. The Miz
8. DX
9. John Morrison
10. Jack Swagger
Honorable Mention:
The Legacy, Mark Henry

“RAW is Blogged” Match of the Week – Top 10 of All-Time – #8
Wrestlemania 17
WWE Tag Team Championship – TLC Match
Hardy Boyz vs. Dudley Boyz vs. Edge & Christian

“RAW is Blogged” YouTube Clip of the Week – Top 10 of All-Time – #7
Undertaker Returns at WM 20 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUR_YxaESUc

RAW – Mondays at 9PM on USA Network

Survivor Series – November 22nd – 8PM – Only on PPV!

Welcome to the longest running blog on the WNW Blog Spot…RAW IS BLOGGED!!!

I promise not to Billy Gunn this blog.

Unfortunately, too much crap went on as far as tests are concerned this week. Therefore, Billy Gunn probably got more pre-show notes than I did.

RAW is Blogged:
RAW is semi-LIVE from Sheffield, England with this week’s guest host: Ricky Hatton.

The Skinny:
Ricky Hatton hosted RAW and it’s amazing to see how a top-notch boxer can turn into a beer-belly idiot.

Opening Segment: Ricky Hatton, Jeri-Show
Hatton came out and talked about his memories from Sheffield. They showed one of his previous fights with Lawler going “boom” every time the knockout punch came. I kind of wish they’d let an MMA guy host RAW. That way, they could show all of the knockouts whoever hosts has had. Then again, what MMA guy would be stupid enough to stoop to WWE’s level? Jeri-Show came out and we got the usual tall guy, small guy standover from the Big Show. They continued their crap from previous weeks so Hatton made Jeri-Show against DX.

Match #1 – Alicia Fox vs. Kelly Kelly
One word to sum this match up: sloppy. They attempted moves that are out of their skill set and looked horrible. Alicia won with an axe kick.
Winner: Alicia Fox

Match #2 – Sheamus vs. Local Jobber
Seriously, we got no name for the local guy. They couldn’t playoff William Regal and call him Bobby Regal or something? If you’ve seen a Sheamus squash match, you didn’t miss anything here.
Winner: Sheamus

Meanwhile backstage, we had some horrid comedy featuring Hatton with the Bellas, Santino, & Chavo. Chavo challenged Santino to a match but Hatton instead accepted. YAHOO!

Match #3 – Jack Swagger vs. Evan Bourne
During the match featuring promising stars, The Miz came out to distract Swagger. After the distraction, Bourne hit a spinning kick, then the Shooting Star Press for the victory.
Winner: Evan Bourne

People wonder why I don’t recap stuff like the previous match. Well, just look at it. They’ve got their future stars in the ring and could certainly showcase them in a legitimate way. However, Bourne needs outside interference to even get a win. And when he gets the win, they put Swagger over as being a clutz, further devaluing him. It would be like this past weekend, when the Falcons beat the Redskins, yet the announcers jump on the Redskins bandwagon, putting them over as the team that should have won but are too much of a bunch of idiots to win. PATHETIC!

In-Ring Segment: The VIP Lounge with Kofi Kingston, Legacy
MVP & Mark Henry were down for the VIP Lounge with special guest, Kofi Kingston. They weren’t talking for long before Legacy came out. Orton said they should go back to the hood where they came from. Apparently, if you’re black and you work in WWE, you’re subject to racial angles regardless of where you came from or what you actually did. Moving on, there was actually a match between Orton & Henry.

Match #4 – Randy Orton vs. Mark Henry
Orton was in control for the early part of the match. As Henry started a comeback, Orton reversed a choke slam into an RKO for the victory.
Winner: Randy Orton

Match #5 – Ricky Hatton vs. Chavo Guerrero
Why me? What did I do to deserve a product that was good when I first started to a weekly dose of Chavo Guerrero comedy when I’m about to leave? This was awful.
Winner: Ricky Hatton

Continuing on the Farewell Tour from Hell, DX and John Cena were backstage with Hornswoggle doing comedy for the Survivor Series match. Horny was dressed as Cena. When DX left, he changed back into their gear.

You know, shit like this won’t sell a match. It’s almost as if the match itself is a joke and just a filler. I’ll never get the WWE.

Main Event: DX vs. Jeri-Show
Super Cena was on commentary for this match. He tried extra hard to sell the match for Survivor Series. I wasn’t buying what he was selling though. Jericho & Big Show worked over HBK for most of the match. Triple H then got the hot tag, tried a Pedigree on Show but he reversed it into a spear. The finish saw Show hit Jericho with the KO punch, Trips & Show end up on the outside, and HBK get the pin on Jericho for the win.
Winners: DX

I give this RAW:
2 out of 4 ring posts

The Final Word:
This show sucked. Hatton didn’t seem over as one would think or at least he didn’t seem over to me.

The top angle on RAW is based on what a damn midget is doing and who he’s impersonating. It’s one thing to push a match as the greatest of all-time when it’s not but it’s another thing to push a comedy angle for the main title. United States title? Fine. Women’s title? Who cares. But the angle around the WWE Championship should not be a bunch of comedy bullshit.

Survivor Series in essence is a throw-away PPV. I used to be interested when the teams actually meant something. Nowadays, I could care less because it’s a bunch of random superstars paired together. The days of “Smackdown vs. RAW” or the Alliance vs. Team WWF, I cared about those. Now, I don’t care at all.

“RAW is Blogged” Power Rankings
1. The Undertaker
2. Christian
3. Jeri-Show
4. John Cena
5. Randy Orton
6. Kofi Kingston
7. The Miz
8. DX
9. John Morrison
10. Jack Swagger
Honorable Mention:
The Legacy, Mark Henry

“RAW is Blogged” Match of the Week – Top 10 of All-Time – #8
Wrestlemania 21
Shawn Michaels vs. Shawn Michaels

“RAW is Blogged” YouTube Clip of the Week – Top 10 of All-Time – #8
DX Mocks The Nation – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nD5FrCVfg3s

RAW – Mondays at 9PM on USA Network

Survivor Series – November 22nd – 8PM – Only on PPV!

Welcome to the longest running blog on the WNW Blog Spot…RAW IS BLOGGED!!!

I promise not to Billy Gunn this blog.

HULK HOGAN IS IN TNA!!!

I received a text from a buddy with that news and it caught me by surprise. Hulk Hogan in TNA? Are you kidding me?

I know this will be dissected by everybody for the next couple of weeks so I won’t continue to beat a dead horse. I will throw my two cents worth in though.

This will definitely change the wrestling landscape. I don’t think Eric Bischoff will be able to replicate the exact success he had when he took over WCW. He can’t give away results to RAW. He can’t steal a lot of talent away from WWE because he’s already got a nice size of talent already on the roster.

Can he push the right guys to make people want to watch the product? Yes.

Can he challenge the WWE after a few months of the ball rolling? I believe so.

I think we’ll see a greater amount of success from Bischoff than we ever saw in the tenure of Vince Russo. Bischoff won’t have the billions of dollars to use than he did with Ted Turner. He doesn’t have the network capabilities to go on whenever he wanted to. I think with Hogan, he’ll need to keep Hogan from holding down the younger superstars like AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels.

TNA has a stout roster with young guys. I think their longevity is greater than the WWE’s. I can name you at least 6 or 7 potential main eventers right now on TNA’s roster. AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, Lashley (cause technically he didn’t get a good run), Homicide, Matt Morgan, Elijah “Pope” Burke, Nigel ‘Desmond Wolfe’ McGuiness, and Robert Roode. On WWE’s roster, there’s guys with potential but they haven’t been built enough for anybody to take them seriously.

It’s going to be an interesting next few months!

RAW is Blogged:
RAW is LIVE from Worcester, Massachusetts with guest hosts Ozzy & Sharon Osbourne!

The Skinny:
The Ozzman cometh and maketh RAW somewhat enjoyable.

Opening Segment: Ozzy & Sharon Osbourne, The Miz, The Legacy, The Big Show, DX
The show started off with Ozzy’s “Crazy Train” and then he welcomed us to the show. They recapped all the times that Ozzy had been on WWE TV. Ozzy said he didn’t remember those appearances and Sharon said they hoped to make it a night to remember. The Miz then made his way down. Miz then said that he was a bigger star than the Osbournes. Sharon kept doing a “really” line that became very annoying. Miz said that he got screwed last week and he wanted the referee to overturn the decision. Ozzy asked who the hell Miz was. Sharon hit another “really” before Legacy came down. They talked about giving Orton the car last week and DiBiase said that he paid for most of it. Rhodes said they deserved retribution against Kofi Kingston tonight in a handicap match. Sharon hit another “really” and the Big Show made his way out to the ring. Show complained about being assaulted by the entire RAW roster and demanded an apology. Ozzy apologized but Show said wanted one from the roster or else. DX then made their way out to the ring. They started off by burying Show, Legacy, & Miz by calling them ratings killers. I guess that helps get them over? Then, they plugged Ozzy’s new book, followed by their own. Triple H whispered in Ozzy’s ear and he made a match between Miz & Evan Bourne for the United States title. HBK said the only way Legacy would get to Wrestlemania was to buy tickets, which furthered buried them. Whispering in Sharon’s ear, HBK got her to make a match between Kingston & Randy Orton. Big Show said he could play the game too although he instead got a triple threat match between John Cena, Chris Jericho, and Show himself.

Match #1 – United States Championship: The Miz © vs. Evan Bourne
This was actually a good match despite it being very short. Bourne got in some offense and looked good. However, this match didn’t last long at all. Bourne tried to hit a shooting star press but Miz moved. Then, he hit the Stroke for the victory. I was hoping for some involvement from Swagger but I guess that’s too much to ask.
Winner: The Miz

Backstage, Josh Matthews interviewed Sheamus, who got little-to-no reaction. He said that Ozzy’s career should have been over and after his match with Noble, Noble’s career will be over. Michael Cole then said that Sheamus had run through the ECW roster. Well shit, why not bury ECW even more?

Match #2 – Sheamus vs. Jamie Noble
I personally wish Sheamus would come out to “I’m Shipping up to Boston” by Dropkick Murphys. Lawler said he had a unique look and seemed as though he had never seen the sun. Well, most Irish people are pale to a degree. I guess Lawler’s never been to Ireland. Sheamus pretty much dominated the entire match. He gave him a Rock Bottom-type back breaker and then a bicycle kick. Before he got the 3-count, he pulled Noble off the canvas. Sheamus continued the beat down but was DQed.
Winner: Jamie Noble

He ended up knocking Noble off the top turnbuckle to the outside of the ring. Noble laid outside of the ring, whimpering after Sheamus hit a powerbomb on the floor. They ended up carrying Noble out of the arena on a gurney.

They showed a factoid that RAW was watched by more males last week than any show on the CW, NBC, or some other cable network. Yeah, where’s the Monday Night Football rating? I’m sure it kicked the living piss out of RAW last week.

They recapped the events from last week involving Kofi Kingston & Randy Orton. But on his way to the ring, Kofi was interviewed by Josh Matthews. Kofi said he didn’t regret anything and Matthews stared in amazement, like he almost saw a woman naked in person for the first time.

Match #3 – Randy Orton vs. Kofi Kingston
For some reason, I thought this match wouldn’t happen because it’s too soon in a feud to have a 1-on-1 encounter. Sure enough, before the match got going, Legacy came down & got involved. So, Ozzy made a 6-man tag match out of it.
Winner: No Contest

Match #4 – The Legacy vs. Kofi Kingston, MVP, Mark Henry
If you’ve seen one 6-man tag, you’ve seen them all. Legacy controlled most of the match but Kofi got the hot tag and went nuts. He hit his move set. When Orton tried to go for the RKO on Mark Henry, Kofi hit him with a dropkick. Rhodes jumped off the top rope & Henry caught him, then hit a World’s Strongest Slam for the win.
Winners: Mark Henry, MVP, Kofi Kingston

This was the point in the show that my cable went out. What pisses me off is there was no storm or any bad weather. I guess a satellite decided it wasn’t gonna take this shit anymore.

Match #5 – Last Divas Standing #1 Contender’s Battle Royal
My cable came out about half way through the battle royal when the ones left were Eve, Alicia, and Kelly Kelly. Jack Swagger had come out to watch and distracted Eve, which caused her to be eliminated. The last ones left were Alicia & Kelly. Kelly tried to take out Alicia but she threw Kelly over the top rope to get the win & future title shot.
Winner: Alicia Fox

Apparently, I missed the “RAW’s Got Talent” competition. Shit! Now I won’t be able to sleep tonight!

Meanwhile, Chris Jericho caught up with the Osbournes. He kissed up to Ozzy and then got down on the fans. He turned his attention to Ozzy & Sharon and said he’s better than them. He said if they crossed him, that would be the worst sin they could commit. They acted like they didn’t know who he was.

Elsewhere, DX was giving Hornswoggle a legal lesson while he was hanging from a hook. They said if he imitated them again, it would be big trouble. Horny did the crotch chops and Cena came in and rescued him. Cena said Horny was the reason they were all fighting each other. They joked around and stuff and Cena ended up saying they all beat each other all the time, which was actually funny because the Bellas were watching. They continued to joke and pointed out that the odds were against Cena. HBK complained that everybody was stealing their material. Well, I hope they’re not selling the PPV based on this match as it was treated as a big ass joke.

Main Event – John Cena vs. Chris Jericho vs. The Big Show
DX was at ring side for commentary during this match. They were pure comedy during the introductions. HBK apparently got a degree from the University of Budapest. This match was pretty much Jericho & Show dominating Cena most of the time. Cena tried to make a comeback but that was stopped. Show took out Jericho, giving Cena another chance at a comeback. After a little offense from the Big Show, Cena took him out, and then took out Jericho. When Cena got Jericho up for the FU, Show hit a phantom punch to knock Cena out. Jericho got the pin and he & Show shook hands after the match.
Winner: Chris Jericho

Post match, Show & Jericho were putting offense on Cena when DX got in to help out. They were dealt with quickly and Jericho hit a Code Breaker on Triple H. Jeri-Show stood and celebrated as the show went off the air.

I give this RAW:
2 out of 4 ring posts

The Final Word:
I thought this RAW wasn’t that good. The comedy segment I missed wasn’t that funny when I finally watched it. Ozzy did a fine job but Sharon was a little annoying.

They setup the main angles well but I’m still clueless when it comes to Miz & Swagger since they never did anything together.

I thought they didn’t do a very good job of continuing to push guys they started to push a while back, like MVP.

“RAW is Blogged” Power Rankings
1. The Undertaker
2. Christian
3. Jeri-Show
4. John Cena
5. Kofi Kingston +1
6. Randy Orton
7. The Miz
8. DX
9. John Morrison
10. Jack Swagger
Honorable Mention:
The Legacy, Mark Henry

“RAW is Blogged” Match of the Week – Top 10 of All-Time – #9
Wrestlemania 24
Career Threatening Match
Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels

“RAW is Blogged” YouTube Clip of the Week – Top 10 of All-Time – #9
Kurt Angle & the infamous Milk Truck Incident – http://youtube.com/watch?v=wwzjPb36p6M

RAW – Mondays at 9PM on USA Network

Survivor Series – November 22nd – 8PM – Only on PPV!

Welcome to the longest running blog on the WNW Blog Spot…RAW IS BLOGGED!!!

I promise not to Billy Gunn this blog.

Bragging Rights is in the books and it was actually a good event.

I think Morrison & Miz got a sizeable amount of time and they started off the show great. I didn’t expect Miz to go over with the way things were going. I figure they did this as a way to get him over some more with the fans.

I also didn’t expect Team Smackdown to pull out the match but I understand why. Smackdown has gotten a wrap as the B-show but it has been the A-show since the draft. With Big Show in the match, I should have known he would cost his team the match.

The Fatal 4-Way was good but I would have expected the title to change hands with the health of the Undertaker. The Batista heel turn was good but a little sickening, in a good way though. It’s been long ever due and the next thing that needs to happen is a Cena heel turn.

Of course, Cena went over & won the title. Would you expect otherwise? They did some good booking decisions in the match but I still don’t like Cena coming back & winning like he did. I felt sure they’d have Orton last the time & go into an overtime period.

Brand Blog Writers Challenge:
Luke Parks (RAW): 2-3 at Bragging Rights, 39-44 overall
Paul Smith (ECW): 2-3 at Bragging Rights, 43-40 overall
Chris Jacks (Smackdown): 1-4 at Bragging Rights, 39-44 overall

As you can tell, Paul & I had a successful night at Bragging Rights. I was hoping that the team match would go my way but I’m not complaining too much. We all 3 got the Cena-Orton match right, got the Morrison-Miz & World Heavyweight Championship wrong. We all picked Morrison, who surprisingly lost. I had Punk, along with Chris, and Paul had Batista.

Let not your heart be troubled America, I will pull this out. I’ve got Paul in my sights and hope to leave Chris in the dust!

Before we get to RAW, I want to thank my fellow colleagues Chris Jacks & Paul Smith for their support last week after my resignation announcement. I’ve enjoyed working alongside them since their arrivals at WNW. I guess Paul said it best when he deemed me the Godfather of the WNW Blog Spot. I do feel like the wily veteran that can still give it a go. I’ve enjoyed reading their perspective of the show they cover and it gives me a new look on things to happen on the other brands & what other fans like me think.

As for my replacement, I received a number of e-mails concerning who it would be and who I would want it to be. I honestly don’t know who it will be and Richard has let me know we would worry about that when the time came closer. I do hope it’s somebody that has the same passion for the business I do. I love professional wrestling and will always consider it to be a part of me. However, the time is right to step aside. Anybody that currently writes for WNW would be a good choice but it’s not my decision. I won’t publicly endorse one particular writer over another.

I think that whoever it is needs to have an understanding about what comes with this job & how people won’t always agree with you! But, I think that’s the beauty of this job. Like I said last week, I always enjoyed reading people’s comments & e-mails and the reasons they felt like they did. The fierce debate, which would start sometime on Tuesday & last until Thursday, was always fun to watch unfold.

RAW is Blogged:
RAW is LIVE from Buffalo, New York with guest hosts NASCAR drivers Kyle Busch & Joey Logano. Get your racing jokes ready!

The Skinny:
A new creative direction was issued by our guest hosts this week and it looks to be promising…kinda.

Opening Segment: Jeri-Show, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch
Big Show & Chris Jericho started off the show. All during their time making their way down to the ring, Cole & King bitched about getting beat at Bragging Rights. King said he had a sleepless night last night while Smackdown had a huge party. For some reason, I have to call “bullshit” on that one. Big Show said he was still a member of the RAW roster. Jericho thanked Show for stopping DX and their “jocularity.” Before Show could talk, Jericho said that they would have won either way. Show said that his actions at BR were for him. Because Smackdown won Bragging Rights, Big Show talked with Teddy Long and is the next opponent for the Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Championship. They started arguing and were interrupted by Busch & Logano who were doing burnouts in the parking lot. Then, they drove the cars into the arena to a huge ovation. Their theme music was “Fuel” by Metallica. Major props on the Metallica music! They were escorted to the ring by the Bella Twins, all dressed in racing uniforms. Busch said that he’s a man’s man and that he supported Big Show. Logano on the other hand didn’t agree with Show and Show said that Busch should teach Logano some respect. Busch ran down Logano and insulted the city of Buffalo. Busch said before we know it, we’ll be singing “O Canada” and Jericho said there was nothing wrong with that. Logano then made a match between Big Show & Triple H. Jericho bragged about winning championships and Busch made a match between Kofi “Johnson” Kingston. Yeah, he screwed that one up. Kofi came out to his Jamaican music despite him being no longer Jamaican.

I think the opening segment was fine. Busch & Logano seemed to be trying not to screw up but it happens. I don’t slight them for it cause they’re not used to giving promos.

Match #1 – Kofi “Johnson” Kingston vs. Chris Jericho
Jericho tried to escape and keep from having to get involved. Kofi took control and ended up taking a dive to the outside & it looked like he might have landed on his head. Jericho took a few cheap shots as we headed to yet another commercial break. If it’s one thing that can kill the momentum of a match while you’re watching it on TV, it’s a commercial break. After the break, Jericho continued to dominate. He had Kofi in a headlock that seemed to last forever! Jericho tried the running bulldog but Kofi reversed it, sending Jericho into the corner. Kofi then went on the attack. Kofi hit the “Boom Drop” which led to Jericho attempting the Walls and Kofi countering. The match picked up when Kofi hit a cross-body, Jericho reversed for a near-fall, which got the crowd hyped. Jericho attempted the Walls again but Kofi rolled him up for a near fall. Jericho hit the Code Breaker but Kofi got his leg on the rope. After Jericho got done arguing, Kofi hit the Trouble in Paradise for the win.
Winner: Kofi Kingston

After the match, Randy Orton came out & threw Kofi off the entrance ramp.

After the break, Josh Matthews asked Orton why he attacked Kingston. Orton said that if not for Kingston, he’d still be champion. Legacy came up and presented Orton with his very own NASCAR race car with his picture on the front. Orton said it was awesome and Legacy said he was their leader. They said it was only a matter of time before the title came back to Legacy as Orton continued to make love to the car with his eyes.

Meanwhile, Busch & Logano argued over a race with Eve. Jack Swagger, the All-American American, came in. Swag-Daddy said that he wanted a title shot against John Cena. Logano & Busch said they’d pick Cena’s opponent and Swagger hit on Eve. The Miz then came in mocking Swagger & hitting on Eve. Like a user in the Live Blog said, Miz played the role of the only guy who beat Smackdown last night. He said that he deserved to face Cena because he’s The Miz and he’s awesome.

Elsewhere, Melina & Santino were getting their pictures taken by the photographers.

In other news, Sheamus is coming to RAW. I guess he got bored on ECW?

Match #2 – Melina & Santino Marella vs. Chavo Guerrero & Jillian Hall
During the Melina-Santino entrance, they had some audio difficulties. This was your basic comedy match. Santino got some action in. Hornswoggle came out in DX gear and distracted Chavo. Melina went for her flip power bomb finisher but it got botched. Instead, she went into her reverse DDT/leg drop to get the win.
Winners: Melina & Santino

After the match, they celebrated with Hornswoggle. Then, a guy in a suit gave Hornswoggle a “cease & desist” notice from DX. Hornswoggle looked sad.

In-Ring Segment: The Legacy, John Cena
Just as Justin Roberts was about to announce the new WWE Champion John Cena, yeah I hate it too, the Legacy came out. Rhodes started off by saying the champ is not here. DiBiase said that just because Orton couldn’t face Cena, they could bring the title back to Legacy. DiBiase then challenged Cena and said they weren’t leaving. Cena then came out to a huge ovation. He talked about the match and then went into obnoxious mode. He said people wanted to tune in to see who his next opponent would be but found Legacy. He did some more bad comedy before stating he had been talking with Busch & Logano and found Legacy some opponents for the night. MV-Henry then came out as their opponents.

Match #3 – The Legacy vs. MVP & Mark Henry
Legacy worked Mark Henry most of the match. MVP then got control and started working on Rhodes. He hit Ballin’ as Mark Henry took out Cody Rhodes. MVP then rolled up DiBiase to get the victory in a short match.
Winners: MVP & Mark Henry

After the match, Orton’s music hit & he came out. Orton complained about not getting a title shot. He said he deserved a rematch. He also said that he would go to the Board of Directors to get a shot. Kofi Kingston came on the screen and said nobody cared what Orton wanted. Orton challenged him to say it to his face and Kofi said he was…because he was standing on top of Randy’s car. Kofi talked about how durable the cars were. He rolled a big crate into the side of the car. He then keyed the car too. He then took a crowbar to the hood of the car. He then pulled out a bucket of paint and poured orange paint onto the car! As he got down to say his final word, he slipped & cracked the windshield but played it off. He told Orton he never looked better and slung the bucket away, which got paint onto his clothes.

This was a strong segment, minus the few minor slipups. I think it’s great Kofi is finally getting a shot and the Jamaican accent was holding him back.

They showed some of the members of the Buffalo Bills on screen and they surprisingly didn’t get booed.

Match #4 – Evan Bourne vs. The Miz
Eve was the guest ring announcer…why, I don’t know. This match was a quick one. At one point, Jack Swagger walked down to the ring, which distracted Miz. He started flirting over the mic with Eve. Miz ended up outside the ring and Bourne jumped out on top of them. Bourne got back in the ring to win the match by count out.
Winner: Evan Bourne

Next week, Ozzy & Sharon Osbourne are the guest hosts of RAW.

Match #5 – Jamie Noble vs. Sheamus
Before the match, Logano & Busch said that Noble was tough in the ring. Then, they announced his opponent was Sheamus. It should be a rule that if you’re an Irish wrestler, you must have Irish music for your entrance. Then again, if Sheamus pulls a Kofi & drops the accent, Ima be pissed! The crowd was quiet for this match. Sheamus pretty much destroyed Noble.
Winner: Sheamus

Main Event – The Big Show vs. Triple H
Chris Jericho came with the trophy to support his partner, The Big Show. HBK came out with Triple H. Triple H got on the mic and said the match had been changed to a Lumberjack match. The lumberjacks were pissed off about Big Show turning his back on the show. Jericho walked out on his partner and HBK said that the match was also a No DQ match. They also had a special referee in John Cena. The match started off with Trips pulling down the ropes, sending Big Show to the outside before we went to commercial break. Instead of being a big beat down of the Big Show, Show actually got some offense in. Chris Masters got destroyed before Triple H attempted his comeback. Big Show hit a big splash and Cena stopped his count. Primo & Chavo hit dueling dropkicks. Swagger, Miz, and Mark Henry all hit splashes on Show. Borune hit a shooting star press. Santino got chokeslamed. Kofi hit the Trouble in Paradise. Cena then hit an FU. HBK threw Triple H a Smackdown t-shirt, who then put it on Show. HBK then hit a Sweet Chin Music to the enjoyment of the crowd. Triple H hit a pedigree to finish off the match.
Winner: Triple H

After the match, Logano & Busch came out. They announced that after discussion with Hornswoggle, they decided on a Triple Threat match for the title between Cena, Triple H, and Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series.

I give this RAW:
3 out of 4 ring posts

The Final Word:
I thought this was a decent RAW coming off of Bragging Rights. I like some of the new directions they’re going, specifically with Kofi Kingston & Randy Orton.

However, the title picture isn’t any different except with the addition of Shawn Michaels. One can only hope that Kofi will be elevated for a title shot. What happened to the push for MVP?

I think they did an ok job with getting things going. The guest hosts were about as good as can be.

“RAW is Blogged” Power Rankings
1. The Undertaker +1
2. Christian -1
3. Jeri-Show
4. John Cena +4
5. Randy Orton
6. Kofi Kingston
7. The Miz +2
8. DX -1
9. John Morrison -4
10. Jack Swagger
Honorable Mention:
The Legacy, Mark Henry

“RAW is Blogged” Farewell Tour
Since I have about 10 more blogs left for “RAW is Blogged” I’m going to do the “Top 10″ Matches of the Week and Clips of the Week. It’s my countdown of my all-time favorite moments & matches in WWE history as part of my Farewell Tour.

“RAW is Blogged” Match of the Week – Top 10 of All-Time – #10
No Mercy ‘99
Terri Invitational Tournament Final – Ladder Match
Edge & Christian vs. Matt & Jeff Hardy

“RAW is Blogged” YouTube Clip of the Week – Top 10 of All-Time – #10
Austin Returns to Help Team WWF – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxHvDTowDWQ

RAW – Mondays at 9PM on USA Network

Survivor Series – November 22nd – 8PM – Only on PPV!

Welcome to the longest running blog on the WNW Blog Spot…RAW IS BLOGGED!!!

I promise not to Lance Cade this blog.

So the time has come that I need to make a “major” announcement.

The time has come for me to step down from my post as the lead writer for the Wrestling News World Blog Spot. This will go into effect after the last RAW of 2009.

I started writing for WNW in July of 2006. It’s be an unreal 3 ½ years. When I started writing for WNW, I didn’t realize what following I would develop from our readers. I also didn’t know that I would take over the flagship blog of the web site. I was fresh out of high school and I started writing about TNA Impact and Smackdown. When Richard Gray presented me the opportunity to write about RAW, I jumped at the chance. Finally, my time had arrived and I was doing something that I loved.

As with all good things, they must come to an end. Over the years, the product I loved to write about hasn’t gone the way I would have liked. We lost Chris Benoit in a tragedy. I got to experience the worst ECW/WWE PPV in history. At the same time, I got to experience the old TNA at a PPV not long after the signing of Kurt Angle. It’s been a wild ride over the time I have written for Wrestling News World.

I’ve received numerous compliments & complaints. Hearing from the fans and their passion that was equal to mine was always exciting. Even when I didn’t agree with what was said, I just appreciated them reading my opinions.

I knew this time would come. I didn’t want to be like that old crafty veteran who didn’t know when to hang it up. I know that over the past few weeks, I haven’t gotten rave reviews on my work. Contrary to what might be said, this has nothing to do with Shane McMahon’s resignation from WWE.

I’ve let Richard Gray know that I’m resigning over the weekend. I’m going to finish out the year doing “RAW is Blogged” and “Excess.” After that, I’m stepping aside to let someone else cover RAW. I will stay on as a news reporter whenever the Grays need me.

I want to thank Richard & Ryan for giving me a shot at writing for their wonderful site. I want to thank the Superstars of WWE & TNA for their work in and out of the ring. They have a thankless job and put together a tremendous effort to entertain us fans. I want to thank the readers of Wrestling News World for supporting me and my blogs through the good & the bad. You’ve been a guiding force in the wrestling world and I hope that you’ll support the next writer of “RAW is Blogged!”

RAW is Blogged:
RAW is LIVE from Jacksonville, Florida, just down the road from me, with tonight’s guest host: SNOOP D-O-DOUBLE-G!!!

The Skinny: Snoop hosted RAW and the action was off the fahizzle, dizzle.

Opening Segment: Snoop Dogg
Snoop came out in a pink Cadillac, along with some crappy lines from Michael Cole and the Bella Twins & Eve. The Bellas must have been downgraded to just eye candy which is fine by me. Snoop came out and talked about how he loved WWE & RAW so much. He even said that RAW would win at Bragging Rights. He talked about Triple H against John Cena and Randy Orton against Ted DiBiase. He also mentioned that Chris Jericho would face Shawn Michaels. He hyped up the crowd and then introduced DX.

In-Ring Segment: DX, Team RAW
DX came out to a HUGE pop with glowsticks in hand. Jerry Lawler said he almost felt sorry for Team Smackdown. Maybe they’ll fair better than your run for Memphis mayor…OOOHHH!!! Sorry, just had to. Triple H said that by law, when Snoop Dogg came out, a white guy had to talk badly. So, Shawn Michaels stepped up to the plate and delivered a few good lines. They then highlighted Team Smackdown. Whenever Kane came up, they reminded us of the Katie Vick incident. They also made fun of Drew McIntyre and people not knowing who he was. They cracked jokes on Eric Escobar for sleeping his way to the top, which brought on jokes about Trips sleeping with Stephanie. I have to admit, that was funny. Then, they looked at Team RAW, who came out. Team RAW is comprised of Mark Henry, The Big Show, Kofi Kingston, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, and DX. They walked by each of the members and talked about their accomplishments. When they got to Cody Rhodes, they insulted him and he said that he was going his own way on Sunday. He said that he might beat Smackdown all by himself. Big Show laid down the law to the rest of Team RAW. Mark Henry told Big Show not to start any S-H and there wouldn’t be any I-T. Get it? That spells “shit.” You know, S-H-I-T. Swagger ran his mouth. Then, an accent-less Kofi Kingston talked in perfect English and told everybody to stick together. Triple H highlighted this and asked Kofi wasn’t he supposed to be Jamaican. HBK then said that Team RAW would compete in a 5-on-5 tag match later on. Trips said that if one of their guys got pinned…whoever pinned them would take their place.

Match #1 – Team RAW vs. Scrub Central
MVP, Primo, Chavo Guerrero, Chris Masters, and Evan Bourne came out to be the opponents against Team RAW. Now, you can see why I called them “Scrub Central.” Despite there being 10 guys involved in the match, it was a quick match. Cody Rhodes was working over the guys from Scrub Central, then Jack Swagger tagged in & got the win.
Winners: Team RAW

Afterwards, everything broke down and everybody on Team RAW attacked each other. Well, at least they kept some storyline consistency instead of having these guys get along like nothing was wrong.

Meanwhile backstage, Josh Matthews asked Ted “I’m Turning Face Soon” DiBiase about his actions against Orton last week. Orton was pissed and said that DiBiase better not fight back in their match later on. If he does, Orton would throw him out of Legacy.

Oh yeah, in the midst of your chaotic life…Wrestlemania tickets go on sale in 19 DAYS!!!

Match #2 – Ted DiBiase vs. Randy Orton
This was reminiscent of when Raven used to hit his boys in Serontonin with kendo sticks after a loss. Orton basically beat the hell out of DiBiase until finally he got DiBiase to get up. Orton continued to push DiBiase and finally, DiBiase pushed Orton down. Orton backed into a corner while DiBiase stood with a look on his face as if he was about to cry. Orton stood up, they stared each other down, and Orton hit an RKO for a victory. The crowd loved everything DiBiase did…except taking the fall.
Winner: Randy Orton

Then, they highlighted the life of the late, great Captain Lou Albano. I’m gonna miss that guy.

After the break, they plugged Snoop’s new single & album. I wouldn’t have a problem with the guest hosts if they all didn’t plug some shit. Hornswoggle walked in, followed by Chavo. Chavo wanted some love. Jillian wanted a title rematch. She then did a horrible version of “Gin & Juice.” Santino came in dressed as Charlie Brown. Snoop ended up telling them all to get their asses out of his office. He got Eve to hand him a bag of what was thought of to be marijuana. They cut to a “Technical Difficulties” screen with Michael Cole & Hornswoggle. When they came back on, it turned out to be scented candles. This was somewhat funny but a little too contrived.

Match #3 – John Cena vs. Triple H
They’ve done this “Last Appearance” crap enough for me to really think Cena is going to Smackdown. One can only hope he’ll go for my last 2 ½ months of doing RIB. Michael Cole mentioned Cena had been on RAW for 5 years…has it been that long!? They hyped up that Cena & Triple H were two of RAW’s best. Throughout the match, they continued to hype this could be Cena’s last appearance on RAW. Triple H controlled most of the match as the women & children continued to chant “CENA!” After the commercial break, they continued to battle. Trading punches, Cena eventually hit a fisherman suplex. Cena tried to lock in the STFU but ended up not finishing the deal. So, Triple H hit a Pedrigree but for a two-count as Cena grabbed the ropes and they went to commercial again. After the break, Triple H was back in control. He reversed Cena into a Sharpshooter, which Cole called a Figure Four at first. King highlighted they had been wrestling for 18 minutes, which was just over a 1/4th of what they would do on Sunday. King should check out CM Punk & Samoa Joe’s trilogy. They didn’t exactly wrestle the entire 60 minutes. Part of it was lying down on the ground. Cena hit the 5-Knuckle Shuffle. He got Trips up for the FU but Triple H reversed and hit a VINTAGE high knee. Trips ended up hitting a Pedrigree and Cena kicked out! Cena then hit an FU but Triple H kicked out. They countered a few times before Triple H hit the Pedigree for the win. By that logic, Cena will win this Sunday.
Winner: Triple H

After the match, they shook hands. I wish Cena would have swerved us and nailed Triple H with an FU. The crowd chanted and clapped for Cena. He saluted the crowd like this really was his last night on RAW. ONE CAN ONLY HOPE!!

Match #4 – The Miz vs. Marty Jannety
Prior to this match, they setup the Morrison-Miz match for Bragging Rights. I didn’t even see this lol. Miz was going to go against a jobber but Snoop said that instead, he would face Marty Jannety. Jannety made his way down to the ring. This wasn’t an impressive bout. They did get a “MARTY” chant going during the match. Cole mentioned that Jannety hadn’t lost it. I have to disagree. Ricky Steamboat was more impressive. Miz hit the Stroke for the win.
Winner: The Miz

Match #5 – Divas Championship: Jillian vs. Melina
What I want to know is what the hell did Jillian do to deserve a title shot in the first place? I’m going to miss Mickie. She was my baby. The story in this “match” was Chavo continued to try & distract the referee & Melina. Therefore, Snoop-Swoggle came out and took care of Chavo, which helped Melina get the win.
Winner: Melina

After the match, Chavo got into it with Snoop-Swoggle. Snoop came to the ring and faced off with Chavo. Then, Snoop-Swoggle got behind Chavo and Snoop clotheslined Chavo down. Snoop & Chavo squared off and Snoop speared Chavo. Wow. The rest of the Divas came out to celebrate. The funniest stuff was watching Snoop-Swoggle dance with Eve.

They flashed over to Michael Cole, who was attempting to dance.

Next week’s hosts will be NASCAR drivers Kyle Busch & Joey Logano. Get your redneck racing jokes ready now!

Main Event – Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels
Prior to the match, Jericho cut a promo on how his team was a well-oiled machine and they would embarrass RAW. He then brought out Cryme Tyme, who came through the crowd. Kane was up next to come out through the crowd. Dolph , Drew, & Eric Escobar also came out with Kane. Before Jericho could get anything out, DX’s music hit and the rest of Team RAW came out.
Winner: No Contest

Triple H said that they all found common ground in that they didn’t like Jericho. He said they may have walked onto the show but they were going to get thrown off. ENTER EXCUSE ME! Vickie said she wouldn’t allow this to happen. She said the fight would have to wait until this Sunday. She then ordered Team Smackdown out of the arena. They stood there but Triple H said they didn’t work for Vickie. All hell broke loose and they brawled to end the show.

I give this RAW:
3 out of 4 ring posts

The Final Word:
I liked this go home edition of RAW. Maybe it was the week off that helped.

They pushed Bragging Rights as a big deal instead of it being just another “B” level PPV. I hope/wish they will use the team match as a way to “invade” the other shows. I wouldn’t mind if ECW got involved in some capacity.

I don’t think Cena will lose on Sunday. It’s just too predictable however. The team match should be good but I’m not sure if the young guys will get over like they should. Overall, I thought this was a good RAW. Snoop did a good enough job to not get in the way but to get his points across.

“RAW is Blogged” Power Rankings
1. Christian
2. The Undertaker
3. Jeri-Show
4. Randy Orton
5. John Morrison
6. Kofi Kingston
7. DX
8. John Cena
9. The Miz NEW
10. Jack Swagger
Honorable Mention:
The Legacy, Mark Henry

“RAW is Blogged” Match of the Week
No Way Out ‘09
World Heavyweight Championship – Elimination Chamber
Triple H vs. Edge vs. The Undertaker vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Big Show vs. Vladimir Kozlov

“RAW is Blogged” YouTube Clip of the Week
John Cena Throws Edge in the water – http://youtube.com/watch?v=LnrUnwQYaJI

RAW – Mondays at 9PM on USA Network

BRAGGING RIGHTS – October 25th – 8PM – Only on PPV!

One quick note, for those that are unfamiliar with my blogging style, please feel free to check out some of my Ring of Honor related blogs (Oh c’mon, I mean, I have to plug my blog, even if just a little bit).

Chris Jericho opens the show backstage, saying that he’s the best in the world at what he does.  He hypes the upcoming Bragging Rights PPV, and the inter-promotional tag match.  He says that as part of the Unified Tag Team Champions, he has the right to pick which show to represent, and he’s been named the captain of Smackdown.  He says that he’s going to put together a team to embarrass, humiliate and beat the Raw team at Bragging Rights.  Someone (apparently Nancy O’Dell), interrupts Jericho and says that they don’t start Raw with him, they start Raw with DX.  DX’s music hits and HHH is on his way down to the ring.

Hunter calls the time keeper into the ring, and makes him run around in a circle before handing him the microphone.  Hunter does the regular DX opening spiel, but he says in the middle of it that Michaels is not here tonight, he apparently called Hunter before the show to say that he had to stay home tonight.  Hunter says that he’s going to call Shawn at home and badger him on live TV.  Hunter gets Michaels answering machine, which is some horrible version of his theme song.  Michaels cuts in and acts embarrassed about his outgoing message.  Hunter asks HBK where he is.  Michaels says that his daughter got sick and he had to stay home with her.  Hunter hocks some merchandise, a new book about DX, before saying that he’ll let Shawn go and they’ll get back to the show.

Hunter attempts to get back to Bragging Rights when JeriShow’s music hits and Big Show and Jericho make their way down to the ring.  Hunter tries to get the Big Show to promote his new book, but Jericho takes it and throws it down.  Jericho says he’s been named the captain of Team Smackdown (again).  Jericho throws out some statistics about how long Smackdown has been on the air, before saying that Smackdown is the better show because Jericho is on it.  Hunter runs down Smackdown, to the delight of the crowd.  He says that Smackdown is a great show, but it’s nowhere near the league of Monday Night Raw.  Jericho says they’ll see at Bragging Rights who has the better show, but it’s obvious to him who has the better team.  Jericho says that even though Big Show is on the Raw roster, he wants him on his team.  Hunter makes some gay jokes, which lead to Big Show insisting that he’s the one that carries the team.  This leads to some dissent between Show and Jericho while Hunter laughs.  This all culminates with Big Show saying he doesn’t want to be on Jericho’s team; instead he wants to be on Team Raw.  Hunter says that’s great, but unfortunately they don’t have any spaces open.  Hunter says he’s talked to the guest host and that he’s got to earn his spot in a match against Chris Jericho.  After the commercial break, we’re finally ready to get to the wrestling (21 minutes into the show).

Match #1: Big Show vs. Chris Jericho

Jericho and Show shake hands to start things off before locking up.  Show immediately backs Jericho into the corner, before letting off and doing it again.  Jericho works his way behind Show and locks in a waistlock, but Show hits a butt bump that sends Jericho into the corner.  Jericho tries to chop Big Show, but Show turns it around and hits Jericho with a monster chop of his own.  Jericho buys some time on the outside of the ring, but it doesn’t last long as Show palms Jericho’s head and brings him into the ring over the top rope.  Show tries to shake Jericho’s hand again, but Jericho is angry and he slaps Show’s hand away before shoving him.  Show grabs Jericho around the neck and shoves him back into the corner.  When Show turns around, Jericho tries for the codebreaker, but Show catches Jericho and places him on the top turnbuckle.  Show tries to calm Jericho down, but Jericho slaps him across the face.  Show slaps Jericho back, and sends him down to the floor, where Jericho sells his knee.  Jericho tries to sneak back into the ring before the ten count, but Show catches his foot, pulls him back to the outside, and gets in the ring.  Jericho ends up counted out, and both men look disappointed walking to the back.

Winner: Big Show by count-out

So, I really have to say that this match went a lot better than I thought it would.  I liked the dynamic of Big Show trying to keep a calm head and even going so far as to try and keep Jericho calm.  Jericho blowing up at Show and hitting him with chops and slaps was pretty funny, if only for how unbelievable some of his offense looked.  These are chinks in JeriShow’s armor that could eventually lead to their demise.  I didn’t even have a problem with the relatively slow pacing in this very short match, just because it was pretty obvious that Big Show didn’t even want to fight, and most of his offense was reactionary to Jericho’s offense.  Fun little match between these two, that I hopefully leads to something, and isn’t just all for nothing.  B.

Michael Cole and the King talk briefly about their guest host, Nancy O’Dell, before changing the subject to their special correspondent tonight, Maria Menounos (sp?)

Maria is backstage with Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase.  She asks how they feel since this is their first appearance on Raw since their match against DX at Hell in a Cell.  Ted says he feels fine, and Cody says that he’s ready to compete.  Maria asks them if they feel like they deserve to be a part of Team Raw at Bragging Rights.  Ted says they do believe they should both be on Team Raw, but Maria says that’s not possible.  There’s going to be a triple threat match later with Cody, Ted and a third participant with the winner getting a spot on Team Raw.  Ted asks who the third opponent is, and Maria replies, “John Cena” before walking off.

Match #2 Divas Championship Match: Mickie James (c) vs. Jillian Hall

Things start off with some quick chain wrestling before Mickie connects with a Thesz press and a dropkick.  Mickie and Jillian trade quick reversals, before Mickie sends Jillian into the corner.  Mickie charges Jillian in the corner, but Jillian ducks, turns it into a powerbomb, covers Mickie and gets her feet on the ropes.  One, two, three, new Diva’s champion.  Jillian grabs the mic after the match and tells everyone to grab their cameras.  She says that the only thing that would make the moment better is if she could sing her new favorite song.  Jillian sings some song by Lady Gaga to a ton of heat from the crowd before she’s interrupted by Nancy O’Dell

Winner and NEW WWE Diva’s Champion: Jillian Hall by pinfall

Anyone who reads my normal blog knows that I don’t rate squashes, but this one wasn’t even a squash.  Still, it was honestly too short, and not a good enough match for me to waste more than a couple of sentences on it.  Incomplete.

Nancy asks Jillian to stop, she says she hates to cut the celebration short, but she contacted the other GM’s over the weekend and made a Diva’s trade.  She says that Jillian is safe, but she has to defend her title against Raw’s newest acquisition right now.

Match #3 Divas Championship Match: Jillian Hall (c) vs. Melina

Jillian doesn’t want to let go of the title, but she eventually does.  Jillian goes for a clothesline, but Melina ducks it and hits a badly botched standing leg drop.  Melina hits her Code Red-type maneuver and once again we have a new Diva’s champion.

Winner and NEW WWE Diva’s Champion: Melina by pinfall

I just explained my policy above.  SQUASH.

Back from commercial, Hunter is talking to a cardboard cutout of HBK, discussing their possible teammates for Bragging Rights.  Michaels is apparently on the phone, and his music hits, prompting Hornswoggle to come into the room dressed up like HBK.  Hunter tells Swoggle that he needs to leave the room before Michaels turns on the TV and sees it.  Horny superkicks the cardboard cutout of Michaels before giving Hunter the DX crotch chop and running from the room.  This is why we watch wrestling people!

Santino is backstage with Nancy O’Dell and special correspondent Maria.  Santino says that he should be the voice over guy for Entertainment Tonight.  Beth Phoenix comes in and is very angry about being traded to Smackdown.  She says that O’Dell needs to get on the phone and fix things.  Maria makes a joke about Beth and ends up being choked by Phoenix.  Santino (who apparently has the authority to make matches) makes a match that will feature Maria and Phoenix.

Match #4: John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Ted Dibiase

Legacy, predictably, look to double team Cena at the outset of the match, but Cena quickly goes to work, taking down Cody, then Ted.  Cena turns around into a dropkick from Rhodes and Legacy immediately goes to work, double teaming and stomping away at Cena.  It isn’t long before Cena is able to hit a double clothesline to take out both members of Legacy.  Cena even almost connects with the AA on Dibiase, but Ted fights out, Rhodes comes in, and the fight is back on.  Rhodes goes for a pin and Dibiase looks hesitant to break things up.  Legacy continue to pound away at Cena, but just like superman, Cena refuses to stay down.  Legacy hit a double suplex, and Rhodes and Dibiase take turns stomping away at Cena.  Rhodes connects with a second rope bulldog, and a snap mare that sets Cena up for a big boot from Dibiase.  Rhodes and Dibiase let Cena stand up before hitting a double dropkick.  Dibiase chokes Cena on the bottom rope (which warrants no warning from the referee), and Rhodes bails to the outside, where he chokes Cena against the ropes.  Dibiase goes for a body slam, but Cena is able to fight out and send Rhodes to the floor with a clothesline before falling victim to a lariat from Dibiase.  Dibiase sends Cena to the floor, and we’re off to commercial.  Back from commercial, Cena is wailing away on Dibiase before falling victim to another lariat.  Dibiase goes for a pin and Rhodes is in the ring to break things up.  Cena launches Rhodes over the top rope to the outside, but Dibiase is waiting with a dropkick.  Dibiase charges Cena in the corner, but Cena moves and Ted’s shoulder connects with the ring post.  Rhodes is in with a running neckbreaker, and he stomps away at Cena, trying to score a quick pinfall.  Cena hits a suplex out of nowhere, and he tries for the pin, but Dibiase is in to break things up.  Dibiase and Rhodes go for another double suplex, but Cena fights back and hits a double suplex on Rhodes and Dibiase.  Cena clotheslines Rhodes over the top rope and begins going to work on Dibiase.  Cena hits a belly-to-belly suplex on Dibiase before hitting a back drop on Rhodes.  Cena locks in the STF on Ted, but Orton runs out to ringside to distract Cena.  Rhodes rolls up Dibiase from behind and scores the pin.  Orton makes his way into the ring and Legacy argue amongst themselves while Cena smiles and makes his way up the ramp.

Winner: Cody Rhodes by pinfall

This match was pretty much the epitome of a Cena match, the only real difference is that he didn’t end up winning this one (but he still came out on top!).  Cena eats a lot of boring offense (seriously, Orton is starting to rub off on Cody and Ted in all the wrong ways, way too many stomps and punches), fights back, eats some more offense, fights back, eats even more offense, final rally, end of the match.  I liked the tension they’re teasing between all three members of Legacy, but it seems like they’ve been teasing that for a while now, I wish they’d just go ahead and turn Dibiase face.  The final few minutes of this match were OK, but Cena just does not put on exciting matches when he’s the most senior member in the ring.  This was a slow-paced, awkward mess of a match.  D+.

After the match O’Dell is on the TitanTron.  She says that it looks like Dibiase and Rhodes aren’t getting along very well, so later tonight, they’ll take on a team that definitely isn’t getting along.  Later tonight it’ll be John Cena and Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase.

Match # 5: Jack Swagger vs. MVP

This match is a qualifier for Team Raw and Bragging Rights.  Swagger tries to go for his gut wrench powerbomb early, but MVP fights it off and takes Swagger down with a flying lariat.  MVP beats on Swagger in the corner, but Swagger fights back with a kick to the midsection before sending MVP shoulder first into the ring post.  Swagger continues to work over the shoulder with shoulder blocks and various arm submissions.  MVP surprises Swagger with a belly-to-belly suplex and hits a facebreaker before hitting the ballin’ elbow.  Swagger hits a single arm DDT and follows it up immediately with a gut wrench powerbomb.  Swagger pins MVP and we have a new member of Team Raw.

Winner: Jack Swagger

This match needed at least five more minutes.  It really boggles my mind that WWE is competent enough to put together matches with good talent, but incompetent in that they don’t give those matches nearly enough time to develop.  This one could have been really good, but as it was, it was cut off at the legs due to lack of time.  B-.

Backstage, Legacy are arguing some more when Randy Orton breaks things up.  Orton says he won’t team with John Cena and he won’t be shown up by Nancy O’Dell.  Orton says that he won’t allow himself to be tagged in and it’ll be a handicap match.  Orton asks if that’s understood.  Ted says that Cody’s thinking about what’ll happen if he’s able to pin both Dibiase and Orton in the same night.  Rhodes says he’s actually thinking Dibiase is probably thinking he can redeem himself by pinning Orton tonight.  Orton says if either of them are thinking those things, they better keep thinking.

Match #6: Kofi Kingston vs. Evan Bourne

We get another Bragging Rights qualifier here between two of Raw’s high flyers.  This match is already in progress when we get back from commercial and Kingston has the advantage with a front face lock.  Bourne fights out with an arm drag that he quickly turns into a pinning predicament.  Kingston goes for a cross body, but Bourne catches Kingston with a spinning heel kick to Kingston’s head.  Bourne locks in a half Boston crab, but Kofi is able to fight out and hit a pop up European uppercut.  Kingston goes for something in the corner, but Bourne ducks and Kingston crashes and burns.  Kingston connects with the S.O.S. but Bourne is able to kick out of the pin attempt.  Bourne connects with a spinning kick and a big knee before going up top.  Bourne comes off the top, but Kofi catches him with the trouble in paradise.  Kofi pins Bourne, and there’s only one more slot open on Team Raw.

Winner: Kofi Kingston by pinfall

This was a fun little match between these two guys, but it was more of a sprint, and I’d like to see a marathon.  I realize that time on Raw is a precious commodity, but I think that this match deserved a lot more time than it got.  Maybe if they cut one of the Divas matches (since we’ve seen two and there’s supposedly another one coming up), or they could have cut time from John Cena vs. Legacy.  I just can’t stand that the guys who get the least time to wrestle, are the best actual wrestlers on the program.  For what it’s worth, the three minutes we got of Kofi vs. Bourne was better than anything else that’s been on the show tonight thus far, the only thing that wasn’t good was the length of time this match was given.  B+

Hunter is backstage again, still talking to HBK.  Nancy O’Dell comes to the back and asks if Maria is ready for her match tonight.  They use this time to hock DX merch again, and Hunter says that if you got it, you got it.  Maria complains that Hunter only taught her two kicks and how to put him in a headscissors for 15 minutes.  Chavo is randomly there all of a sudden, and he asks Hunter what’s up between DX and Hornswoggle.  Chavo says he knows there something going on there, because last week, Horny helped him out and gave him the crotch chop, and this week he’s dressing up like HBK.  Hunter says he doesn’t like that little troll any more than Chavo does.  Chavo says he doesn’t believe him, and he says while he’s thinking, why wasn’t he asked to be on Team Raw?  Chavo says he’s more talented than Big Show, can fly higher than Kingston, and is better looking that Rhodes.  Hunter asks Maria to kick, and she connects with Chavo’s groin.  Before the segment ends, they close up on the cutout of Michaels, as HBK on the phone says, “if you’re not down with that…”

Match #7: Alicia Fox, Beth Phoenix and Rosa Mendes vs. Kelly Kelly, Gail Kim and Maria Menounos

Gail Kim and Alicia Fox start off, and Gail tries to end things quickly with a roll up.  Gail tags in Maria, who comes in a throws Fox around the ring by her hair.  Fox tries to get Maria over to her corner, but Maria counters with a roll up.  Fox fights out and is able to tag in Phoenix, and now it’s Phoenix and Maria.  Maria hits Phoenix with a kick and a slap before tagging out to Kelly Kelly, who comes in and eats a spinning backbreaker.  Phoenix tags in Mendes who falls victim to a couple of forearms and a back handspring elbow.  Mendes rushes the face corner, but Maria is able to hang her up on the top rope.  Kelly hits a step up leg drop, and pins Rosa for the win.

Winners: Gail Kim, Maria Menounos and Kelly Kelly

Well, it wasn’t a squash, but it damn sure wasn’t worth any real discussion. Incomplete.

Justin Roberts is in the ring and he welcomes out the new US Champion, The Miz.  Miz comes out with a mic, and tells the people in the arena to show some respect.  Miz asks if he’s bragging too much, then tells the fans to get used to it.  He says that in two weeks, at Bragging Rights, he’s going to be in a match against his former partner, Intercontinental Champion John Morrison.  Miz says that the people may remember that he was the talent of their former tag team, and Morrison was nothing more than hair and abs.  Miz says that in ten years time, Miz will be the face of Raw, because he’s the Miz, and he’s awesome.

Main Event: Randy Orton and John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase

Before Cena makes his way out to the ring, Legacy and Orton make their way out.  Orton has the mic and he says that he’s already called next week’s guest host (Snoop Dogg) to let him know that next week will be Cena’s last on Raw.  Orton says that next week, Cena will have to take place in one of the biggest matches of his career, but he just leaves it at that.  Orton bails to the floor as Cena makes his way into the ring, and it looks like Cena and Dibiase will be starting things off tonight.  Cena takes Dibiase down with a belly to back suplex, and he tries to keep Dibiase down with a waistlock.  Dibiase fights out and sends Cena into his corner, where he’s beaten on by Rhodes while Dibiase distracts the ref.  Dibiase and Rhodes use quick tags and double team maneuvers to try and put Cena away early.  Cena and Dibiase trade punches in the middle of the ring, and Dibiase gets the advantage with a quick powerslam.  Rhodes comes in and locks in a modified camel clutch, but of course Cena is able to fight out, standing up and hitting a belly to back suplex.  Cena surprises Orton with a tag, and now Orton is forced to enter the match.  Orton and Rhodes square off, with Orton falling victim to a quick roll up.  Cena laughs as Orton falls victim to another roll up, and small package from Dibiase.  Orton tags Cena back into the match, and he and Cena have a stare off, before Cena ducks a clothesline from Dibiase, connects with a belly to back suplex and hits the five knuckle shuffle.  Orton makes the blind tag, and he comes in and starts beating on Cena before Cena can hit Dibiase with the AA.  Orton beats Cena down in the corner, but he leaves himself open for a roll up from Dibiase.  The ref counts three, and this one’s over.  Orton is absolutely enraged as he yells at Legacy.  Orton turns around just in time to eat an AA from Cena.  Raw ends with Cena standing proud, and Legacy looking to be in shambles.  Before we go off the air, Cole and Lawler fill us in and let us know that his opponent next week will be Triple H.

Winner: Ted Dibiase and Cody Rhodes by pinfall

Well, this match was a lot better than the triple threat earlier tonight, if only because it was fun to see Legacy get one up on their mentor.  Cena was still Cena, and not exactly awe-inspiring with his multitude of belly-to-back suplexes.  Orton was pretty fun as the slimy heel doing his best to try and stay out of the match, and Legacy was good in their roles of hungry young guys trying their best to get a pin.  I like that Dibiase got the pin on Orton, as that sets up his inevitable face turn really well, and I look forward to their relationship slowly deteriorating over time (although hopefully they don’t hold it off too long).  This was still a pretty short sprint of a match, and I would have liked to see a little more interaction between Legacy and Orton, but it was pretty good for what it was, and I can appreciate the booking of it.  B.

Report Card

In Ring Action: Maybe I’ve just been spoiled rotten by Ring of Honor, but I was really less than impressed with the actual wrestling tonight.  Some matches were given way too much time (the Diva’s Championship segment comes to mind), and some were given way too little time (Bourne vs. Kingston and Swagger vs. MVP).  The Raw writers need to do a better job of balancing their time between boring wrestling that goes on far too long, and good to great wrestling that gets little time.  C.

Out of Ring Action: When did Raw turn into a big crazy variety show?  Skits with Hornswoggle dressed up like HBK, and Hunter talking to a cardboard cutout of Shawn Michaels are not why I watch wrestling, and it kills me that the Shawn Michaels cut out got more screen time than more of the guys who actually wrestled.  I haven’t been watching Raw recently, but how far to the bottom of the barrel are they willing to go when they have someone like Nancy O’Dell (really, who the hell is this woman?) pulling guest hosting duties.  There were far too many backstage segments and skits, and they weren’t even very good.  That’s a problem.  C-.

Overall: Well, this show was good for something, reaffirming why I’m not a regular Raw viewer.  I can’t understand why WWE is so keen to spend so much of their time on unfunny skits and segments, but they’re unwilling to surrender time to people who actually have a decent shot at putting on a good match.  I really want to like Raw, because looking at the talents that the show has, it should be a no-brainer to be putting on exciting, consequential matches.  But tonight, all we got was a bunch of build for a one time team, and a bunch of boring diva segments.  C.

OK, so there it is, the first (and potentially last) Blog of Honor: Raw Edition.  I hope you guys had fun, and hopefully some of you were inspired to check into the regular Blog of Honor.  I know Luke usually includes a YouTube link in his blogs, So I think I’m going to do the same here.

YouTube link of the week:  Kota Ibushi vs. El Generico vs. Nick Jackson vs. Jigsaw

This is a match from the second night of Chikara’s annual King of Trios tournament.  These three guys do more in ten minutes here, than I saw on the whole of Raw tonight.  Anyone who’s a fan of high-flying, fast-paced wrestling, should do themselves a favor and check this out.

Welcome to the longest running blog on the WNW Blog Spot…RAW IS BLOGGED!!!

I promise not to Lance Cade this blog.

Hell in a Cell is in the books and the two major titles both changed hands. The weirdest thing was having the World Heavyweight Championship start the event off. I didn’t agree with that card decision. I thought a mid-card title match should have started the event off.

I also thought the placement of the WWE Championship match was weird. Overall, the order of the card was weird.

I didn’t expect both major titles to change hands. I figured one might and maybe a mid-card title would change.

My streams didn’t work too well so I probably missed some critical stuff.

I don’t like DX & Legacy ending the night. They might have done that to do the bolt cutter stuff but that’s a stupid reason.

Brand Blog Writers Challenge:
Luke Parks (RAW): 3-4 at HIAC, 37-41 overall
Paul Smith (ECW): 6-1 at HIAC, 41-37 overall
Chris Jacks (Smackdown): 2-5 at HIAC, 38-40 overall

As you can see, Paul Smith cleaned house. I didn’t count the McIntyre-Truth match because I didn’t even realize it had been added to the card. Chris Jacks relinquished his lead to Paul though. I’m still in last. But, let not your heart be troubled, America, I WILL COME BACK & WIN!

RAW is Blogged:
RAW is LIVE from Wilkes-Barre, PA with special guest host BIG BEN ROETHSLIBERGER!

The Skinny: Big Ben hosted an entertaining Monday Night RAW!

Opening Segment: Big Ben
Ben came out to the Monday Night Football theme but got booed from the Eagles fans. He announced a Diva Bowl, which Lawler & Cole just laughed hysterically about. I mean, you could have told them that they were about to get laid by 2 Playboy Playmates. The face Divas came out in Steelers jerseys while the heels came out in plain white jerseys. Gail Kim was the referee.

Match #1 – Diva Bowl: Steelers vs. Scrubs
Throughout the match, Cole & Lawler made references to football penalties, which is annoying since I’m a football coach. The rules weren’t expressed in the beginning. Apparently, it was a combination of a Battle Royal and regular match. Mickie ended up picking up the win for her team.
Winners: Steeler Faces

Just as the match was ending, the new WWE Champion Randy Orton made his way out. Guess how we found that out if you didn’t watch or know about the event? Cole said it during the intro to the Divas match. Yeah, that’s one hell of a way to break the news to people there’s a new champion…after all that build up too.

In-Ring Segment: Randy Orton, John Cena
Orton said that he became a 6-time WWE Champion at Hell in a Cell. Orton said that he didn’t cheat at HIAC. He mentioned that Cena would interrupt him, which brought out a “CENA” chant from the women. Cena then made his way out to the ring to a loud ovation from the women & children in attendance. Cena started off by sucking up to the crowd by saying that Orton didn’t give a damn about what they thought. Then, he sucked up to Orton by congratulating him on the win and how he walked in & walked out the champion. He then sucked up to the crowd, calling them the WWE Universe for about the 10th time so far in the night, by saying they were on their feet the whole time. He then said Cena-Orton had become “THE” rivalry. Please God, no not again. He said he wanted another match for the WWE Universe. I guess they didn’t call them that enough last night. He then said he wanted an Ironman Match for the title. He said once this match was over, they were done for good. Orton said why on earth he would do that because if he lost, he wouldn’t get a rematch. He then said he agreed that it needed to win. He said if Cena won, he got the title. If Orton won, Cena would leave RAW. Oh God, do it & let Orton win! Cena then agreed to the match. Orton said it would be on his terms and then they shook on it to make it official.

This was a good segment, minus Cena’s typical bullshit. They should have started the show off with this instead of that Diva crap. If they don’t end the feud here, I swear I may go insane.

They then plugged Big Ben’s foundation.

Match #2 – Jack Swagger vs. Primo
Swagger got on the mic before the ring and pointed out that he didn’t get pinned. He also said he would go undefeated for the rest of the year. That’s one hell of a goal. Primo then came out with some nifty swirling pyro. TAKE THAT RANDY ORTON! You don’t get the raining pyro anymore but Primo gets some! Swagger pretty much dominated the entire match except for a few spots. He ended up getting the win with the Gutwrench Powerbomb.
Winner: Jack Swagger

Meanwhile, Santino was dressed as a referee backstage. He was very annoying here. Alicia ended up slapping him and the Divas brawled some more. King & Cole laughed their asses off at this display of A+ comedy.

Elsewhere, The Miz was with Ben. He wanted a title shot. Ben gave him the shot against Kofi but if Miz lost, he would have to stand in the middle of the ring and say “I’m the Miz and I’m awful.”

Match #3 – Chavo Guerrero & Chris Masters vs. MVP & Mark Henry
Cole said that Chavo had a miscommunication with Masters last week. Suuuure! Chavo looked semi-impressive in this match. After weeks of being buried, maybe they’re building him back up? That was shortlived as MVP his Ballin’ for the victory in a quick match. Mark Henry looked to have gotten hurt in the match.
Winner: MVP & Mark Henry

After the match, Chavo & Masters argued. As Masters was going to put the Master Lock on Chavo, Hornwsoggle came in and saved Chavo. Chavo then hit a DDT on Masters. Hornswoggle then hit multiple DX crotch chops.

In-Ring Segment: Big Ben, Jeri-Show, Steelers O-Line, DX
Ben came out but before he could start talking, Jeri-Show came out. They wanted to know where Ben’s offensive line was. On cue, the members of the Steelers O-Line came out. They did a little huddle and were about to run a play before Jeri-Show bailed. DX then came out and the players went nuts. Jeri-Show was made that they had ruined a Sportscenter moment. HBK says JS has yet to face DX. Show told HBK to go home. Then, Ben made a match between DX & Jeri-Show. After the segment, DX & the players all did the DX crotch chop & pyro stuff.

I really enjoyed this segment, mainly because I’m a former offensive lineman and the players looked like they had a lot of fun. It’s always cool to see “outsiders” have fun like that, yet not be annoying at the same time.

Match #4 – United States Championship: The Miz vs. Kofi Kingston ©
If Kofi is going to be announced from Ghana, why is he still wearing Jamaican gear? The battled back & forth for a while. The match took the usual commercial break to ruin the momentum. When it came back, Kofi was in control. Kofi hit a Trouble in Paradise, I guess Trouble in the Desert now, but didn’t get the win. They did a “boo” “yay” exchange. Miz reversed a crossbody from Kofi for a near fall. Miz kicked out of the SOS. Kofi tried to jump up to the top rope but slipped. Miz then hit the SCF for the victory.
Winner: The Miz

I think the timing is wrong from that. I mean, why the hell give it to Miz the night after Kofi defended it like that? Why not let it change hands on the PPV? I’ll never understand WWE booking.

After the match, Miz got on the mic and highlighted his win & kissed the belt.

They showed a video highlighting Cena’s contributions to the Make-a-Wish Foundation. There’s no denying Cena is a stand-up guy.

Did you know that WWE will create more hours of original programming than HBO & Showtime combined? Yeah, I didn’t think you cared either.

Meanwhile, Santino & Hornswoggle were visiting with Ben. Santino kept messing up Ben’s last name so Hornswoggle slapped him & Santino got it right. Man, that’s so funny.

Main Event: Jeri-Show vs. DX
Jeri-Show controlled the action early. HBK got a tag but Jeri-Show ended it with a hard Irish whip into the corner. Show got HBK in a modified torture rack and the beating continued for HBK. HBK got locked in the Walls of Jericho and nearly made the tag but was pulled away twice. Big Show got tagged in and HBK battled back & finally got the tag to Triple H. Trips & Jericho battled for a little bit before Show cleared the house. He ended up getting tossed out and HBK & Trips threw Show over the barrier. Jericho then bailed when he was surrounded by DX. Big Ben & Company came out and blocked Jericho’s exit. DX came & got Jericho, HBK hit a Sweet Chin Music, and Trips got the pin.
Winners: DX

After the match, the players got in to celebrate with DX. They did the crotch chop & pyro again to end the show.

I give this RAW:
3 out of 4 ring posts

The Final Word:
I really liked this show. Maybe it’s because I’m a former football player or I like Big Ben. I enjoyed the overall show and they got Ben just enough involvement to make him a fan favorite at the end of the night.

I’m not pleased to see another saga of Cena-Orton but I guess we need to have it. I was surprised by the US title change. I didn’t expect that to happen.

The Divas match wasted a lot of time. I thought we could have done without that. No Legacy appearance in some capacity?

Overall, I liked this show. They did enough to keep my interest throughout the night.

“RAW is Blogged” Power Rankings
1. Christian – continues his 11-week reign
2. The Undertaker
3. Jeri-Show
4. Randy Orton +2
5. John Morrison +2
6. Kofi Kingston +2
7. DX +2
8. John Cena -4
9. The Legacy -4
10. MVP & Mark Henry
Honorable Mention:
The Miz, Jack Swagger

“RAW is Blogged” Match of the Week
No Mercy ‘09
World Heavyweight Championship – Ladder Match
Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels

“RAW is Blogged” YouTube Clip of the Week
Hornswoggle Revealed as Vince’s Kid – http://youtube.com/watch?v=WwedCr56W0U

RAW – Mondays at 9PM on USA Network

BRAGGING RIGHTS – October 25th – 8PM – Only on PPV!

Welcome to the longest running blog on the WNW Blog Spot…RAW IS BLOGGED!!!

I promise not to Lance Cade this blog. In other word’s, I promise not to completely screw this up…like Cade did with his push with Chris Jericho. This also goes back to the video from Botchomania when Edge said he didn’t want to “Billy Gunn this assignment.” I didn’t realize I needed to explain this each week.

It’s been a very busy week as I’ve had assignments out the ying yang. Therefore, there are no pre-show notes or thoughts.

RAW is Blogged:
RAW is LIVE from Albany, New York with this week’s guest host: Reverend Al Sharpton.

The Skinny:
The Rev hosted RAW but we didn’t get righteous.

Opening Segment: The VIP Lounge with Mark Henry, Jeri-Show, & Rev. Al Sharpton
Things started off with MVP & Mark Henry in the VIP Lounge. Before MVP could introduce Sharpton, Jeri-Show came out. Jericho & MVP sparred on the mic about who could introduce Sharpton the best. He finally came out to a chorus of boos, something I expected. They plugged Sharpton’s future work concerning education and he talked about how we needed to close the gap. Well Al, could you start by making parents accountable? Jericho interrupted and said the crowd didn’t deserve to see Sharpton. MVP carried Sharpton through his announcement for the Unified Tag Team Championship match. He said they didn’t deserve the right to vote either. Sharpton said he would educate Jericho on empowerment. Sharpton asked for the crowd’s input and ended up making the match.

Match #1 – Unified Tag Team Championship: Jeri-Show © vs. MV-Henry
I would call Henry & MVP the Kool-Aid Brigade as my colleague Kendra Bunyon did but that would be too funny. This was surprisingly a longer match than I expected. Jericho & MVP work well together. Big Show & Henry suck. The last time I saw that much soft & fluffiness was in a bag of marshmallows. MVP had two very close near falls that resulted in the fans raining down boos. Jericho ended up hitting the Code Breaker for the victory. This was a really good match, minus Slow & Kool-Aid.
Winners: Jeri-Show

Backstage, Primo was talking to Sharpton when Hornswoggle came in while Chavo was chasing him. Santino & Chris Masters came in to talk as well. Sharpton ended up kicking everybody out of his office. Think of something you like. Now, think of the worst possible infliction of bodily harm you can do to yourself, say jamming some nails into your skin. The latter is what I wanted to do while watching this segment.

Elsewhere, Josh Matthews talked with Randy Orton. Orton said he’s not responsible for what happens when the cage door closes.

They plugged Sharpton’s education stuff again. While I don’t want to devote a generous portion of this blog to politics, I do think if parents were held accountable for their little minions & how they acted/performed, it might help improve things. Plus, it never hurts to actually wait to have kids until you’re able to take care of them. I’m talking to you mothers who were knocked up at an early age.

Match #2 – Rosa vs. Mickie James
They’re smart, sexy, and powerful! They’re the RAW commentators! Mickie was out for a match against Rosa, who was accompanied by Alicia Fox. This match was horrible. Rosa looked pretty awful trying to execute moves. Mickie got the win after the Mick Kick. I guess they’ve banned her from using the implant DDT?
Winner: Mickie James

In-Ring Segment: Legacy, DX
Legacy discussed how they were the underdogs this Sunday. They also talked about being locked in the cage this Sunday. They continued before HBK interrupted them & said they were “boring.” They traded barbs amongst each other. Triple H said they were like butts. Trips compared himself & HBK to the Incredible Hulk. They said they liked when the monster comes out and why wait ’til Sunday? They went down to the ring but Legacy left. Triple H said they wouldn’t be able to run this Sunday.

They bragged about being watched more than The Jay Leno Show. Well, considering hardly anybody watched NBC anymore and Monday Night Football had a good game on, SHUT UP WWE! I mean, that’s like entering a basketball tournament. You don’t beat the top team in the event but you beat a team of scrubs that suck more than Michael Cole’s commentary. I hate those damn factoids.

Match #3 – Jack Swagger vs. Evan Bourne
In true TNA fashion, Swagg-Master had the US title around his waist. What kills me is they act like losing to Evan Bourne is a huge embarrassment. They let Bourne get a little offense in before Swagger hit a powerbomb for the win. I wish Bourne had stayed on ECW.
Winner: Jack Swagger

After the match, The Miz came out. He said he’s made the bigger impact since coming to RAW. So getting destroyed by John Cena is making a bigger impact? I guess the Detroit Lions made the biggest impact in the NFL last year by going 0-16.

Match #4 – Santino Marella & Hornswoggle vs. Chavo Guerrero & Chris Masters

Winners: Chris Masters & Chavo Guerrero

After the match, Masters locked the Master Lock on Hornswoggle. Chavo got in the ring and punched out Masters.I know people will wonder why I didn’t recap this match. Probably because it sucked.

Meanwhile, Jillian sang for Sharpton. The Bellas joined him and he sang some James Brown & danced. This is supposed to make WWE legitimate?

Main Event: John Cena vs. Jeri-Show & Randy Orton
For the first time all night, we were greeted with the magnificence known as John Cena. The deck was stacked against Cena so you know how that goes. Chris Jericho was his first opponent. They battled for a little bit before Jericho locked in the Walls. The ref counted until 5 but Jericho didn’t break the hold, thus giving Cena the victory. More punishment was doled out by the Big Show who also got DQed. As Orton got in, Cena pointed to the Cell and it began to lower down to the ring. The funniest part was as it was going down fairly quickly; Cole kept asking if it was moving. I guess Cole needs contacts or something. They ended up climbing to the top of the Cell. Cena hit an FU on the top of the Cell.
Winner: No Contest

I give this RAW:
3 out of 4 ring posts

The Final Word:
This was a decent show. They built the main angles going into the PPV this weekend. The DX-Legacy stuff looks solid now. The US title picture looks a lot better with some promising stars. I just wish they would stop with the stealing the belt crap.

Cena & Orton built their feud well but why buy a PPV if the face continues to have the upperhand? Cena has already beaten Orton & taken the title. Why would I want to buy the PPV now? Orton should have had the upperhand exiting RAW so people would be intrigued as to whether or not Cena would keep the belt. But, it’s gonna be like this for a while so get used to it.

They also had some crappy comedy, which didn’t make me laugh. Coming into the show, I was worried we’d hear a bunch of BS from Sharpton but he was ok in his role. He had a limited role but it wasn’t too bad.

“RAW is Blogged” Power Rankings
1. Christian – continues his 10-week reign
2. CM Punk
3. Jeri-Show
4. John Cena
5. The Legacy +1
6. Randy Orton +1
7. John Morrison -2
8. Kofi Kingston
9. DX
10. MVP & Mark Henry
Honorable Mention:
The Miz, Jack Swagger

“RAW is Blogged” Match of the Week
Invasion
Team WWE vs. Team ECW/WCW

“RAW is Blogged” YouTube Clip of the Week
The Rock Makes fun of Lesnar & Triple H – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGLf3wzbjfs

RAW – Mondays at 9PM on USA Network

Hell in a Cell – October 4th – 8PM – Only on PPV!

Welcome to the longest running blog on the WNW Blog Spot…RAW IS BLOGGED!!!

I promise not to Lance Cade this blog.

As most of you have heard, Linda McMahon stepped down last week as the CEO of WWE to run for the US Senate in Connecticut. She’ll be facing Chris Dodd, the incumbent Democrat.

Now as most of you know, I do follow politics & current events. I was told last week to “keep my political bias” out of the blogs.

Listen, here in America, unless I missed something, we still have freedom of speech & freedom of the press. If I want to make a joke about the president, I will. It’s not like I dedicated 9/10ths of the blog to bashing the president. Jeeze people, ONE FREAKIN’ LINE!

Anyway, I think it’s a good idea for Linda to step into the political arena. Whoever faces Dodd should have a good chance to get the win. If you remember the bailouts of the banks & other companies in the US, Dodd placed a provision in the bill that allowed for the companies to pay executive bonuses with taxpayer dollars. These companies need our money to stay afloat and they take the money & pay people who got them in their mess? That doesn’t make any sense.

Dodd also received good deals on his mortgages from the same companies we bailed out in the housing industry. Interesting.

Whether Linda wins is totally up to her and the people. She’ll first have to win the Republican primary early next year then the actual election in November of 2010. Whether they use WWE programming to make a push for her will be interesting to see. After all, regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, it’s no secret that MSNBC was used in the Obama campaign. He also purchased a 30-minute infomercial on the big 3 networks: ABC, CBS, and NBC, during the campaign, which some experts suggest put the final nail in the coffin of the opposition. The previous two statements are facts, not something I conjured up out of bitterness.

If any of the readers on WNW care to e-mail me to discuss politics, feel free to do so. I’m pretty well versed in the subject so if you take the challenge, be sure to have facts to back up your opinion.

RAW is Blogged:
RAW is LIVE from Little Rock, Arkansas with special guest host: Cedric the Entertainer. For some reason, I didn’t think this would go well.

The Skinny:
Cedric the Entertainer hosted RAW but it wasn’t very entertaining.

The show started off with Cedric getting out of his limo with the Bella Twins. Weren’t they traded to ECW a few months ago? Then, an array of different people got out, from a grandma to football players. What the hell?

Match #1 – Triple H vs. Cody Rhodes
On Lillian’s last night, Triple H made his way out to face Cody Rhodes. He & HBK listed off their accomplishments from Hell in a Cell in what turned out to be a very good promo. DiBiase ended up getting involved, taking out HBK. He then hit Trips with a chair. Before Legacy could do any further damage, HBK got in with the sledgehammer to even the odds.
Winner: Triple H by DQ

Promo Segment: Cedric, Santino, Chavo
This segment sucked and it was too long. Cedric came out and got the 2nd generation stars of Legacy wrong. Michael Cole said he got a “standing ovation” yet Primo would have gotten a bigger reaction. He called Cowboy Bob Orton “Bob Thornton.” He got the DiBiase & Rhodes combination wrong. Santino finally came out. He tried to tell some jokes but that fell flat. Then Chavo came out complaining about the guest host stuff. He said the hosts were the reasons for his losses to Hornswoggle. He challenged Cedric to a match and Santino accepted.

Meanwhile, the Miz thought that the United States Champion should be from the US. I guess the European Champion should have been from Europe? Tell that to Triple H.

Somewhere in here, they aired a “Did you Know” piece about RAW beating some networks. What? No bragging about beating Monday Night Football? Oh yeah, it’s the regular season now so they crush WWE.

Match #2 – Evan Bourne vs. The Miz
This was a quick match. Bourne got in some good offense. Miz also looked good in this one. Miz hit the Skull Crushing Finale for the victory.
Winner: The Miz

In-Ring Segment: Contract Signing
I’ve always hated contract signings. It’s somewhat a stupid thing but it’s not as bad as the “Pose Down” between Triple H and Scott Steiner a few years ago. Orton told King to get out of the ring. Cena was in a different mode this week. Instead of being intense, he tried to be funny. He claimed that he didn’t know what Orton had said. He then sucked up to Orton, in true Cena fashion. He then faked giving Orton the title belt because he had never been in a Hell in a Cell match. He signed the contract & said that this was Orton’s last chance. He then cracked a few more jokes on Legacy. Orton eventually brought out Jeri-Show but MV-Henry evened the odds. Cedric then made a 6-man tag match among all of the people involved.

Match #3 – Mickie James vs. Beth Phoenix
Alicia was at ringside to watch the match. DAMN SHE LOOKED GOOD! This was a quick match. Alicia got involved enough to cost Mickie the match.
Winner: Beth Phoenix

After the match, Alicia hit the Scissors Kick on Mickie.

Match #4 – United States Championship: Kofi Kingston © vs. Jack Swagger
It wasn’t long before they got started and Miz came out. Miz got the title but before he could leave, Swagger took it & left. You know, I hate storylines where someone steals a belt that’s not their belt. IT’S STUPID AND IT’S TNA!!!
Winner: No Contest

Match #5 – Chavo Guerrero vs. Cedric the Entertainer
Santino was introduced as the special referee. This sucked. They had other people dressed in Cedric’s outfit, helping him win. Somebody big beat down Chavo. Then Hornswoggle hit the Tad Pole Splash. Cedric then got the pin. Woopty doo.
Winner: Cedric the Entertainer

We had a good bye speech from Lillian Garcia. She was very emotional and I thought of how much I’m going to miss her.

Main Event: Randy Orton, Jeri-Show vs. John Cena, MV-Henry
The stipulation in this match was whoever lost would face the other team’s tag team in a gauntlet match. If Cena lost, he would face Jeri-Show. If Orton lost, he would face MV-Henry. Henry & MVP have similar ring gear now. This was a decent match. It was your typical 6-man tag but Mark Henry got the hot tag. Orton hit an RKO on Mark Henry to pick up the victory.
Winners: Randy Orton & Jeri-Show

I give this RAW:
2 out of 4 ring posts

The Final Word:
This show sucked. They barely did anything to continue the build for Hell in a Cell except for the two main RAW matches.

I’m tired of the guest host concept. I liked it when it was Shaq or Bob Barker or even the WWE Legends. However, to put these second-rate stars over as Superstars like Piven, Cedric, Freddie Prinze, etc. is stupid. I don’t know if I missed it but it’s just used to plug their upcoming garbage.

What I hate is the continuation of the stupid comedy that nobody finds funny anymore. I wouldn’t have a problem if it was off-the-cuff, spur-of-the-moment comedy. However, it’s not like that. It’s like they find the dumbest shit to pull off and don’t even execute that well. I get that Santino is supposed to be a comedy guy but he’s getting on my nerves.

I hate to toot my own horn here but I must. All of my friends & the people I know consider me a funny guy. I just say stuff, using the current situation, people involved, etc. and make people laugh. The idiots on the creative team sit & try to come up with something funny when it’s really not. I rank it right up there with guys I’ve gone to school with some that weren’t that funny. Instead of just going with the flow, they feel the need to find something that people laugh at, and then run it into the ground. If not that, they sit & think of stupid stuff to say. To me, it comes natural to say something funny.

John Cena proves this point well with the same obnoxious promos he cuts and gets on everybody’s nerves. He’s gotten on my nerves for far too long.

“RAW is Blogged” Power Rankings
1. Christian – THE ELITE
2. CM Punk – THE NEXT ELITE

3. Jeri-Show
4. John Cena
5. John Morrison
6. The Legacy
7. Randy Orton
8. Kofi Kingston
9. DX
10. Kane
Honorable Mention:
Dolph Ziggler

“RAW is Blogged” Match of the Week
Vengeance 2002
WWE Championship
The Rock vs. The Undertaker vs. Kurt Angle

“RAW is Blogged” YouTube Clip of the Week
Kurt Angle Mocks John Cena – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0kGv6eUXDA

RAW – Mondays at 9PM on USA Network

Hell in a Cell – October 4th – 8PM – Only on PPV!

Welcome to the longest running blog on the WNW Blog Spot…RAW IS BLOGGED!!!

I promise not to Lance Cade this blog.

As promised, I’m going to give my thoughts on the Jeff Hardy situation. I’m sure you’ll hear all of us on the Blog Spot beat this subject to death.

First off, Jeff has had a long history of dealing with drugs and not having anything done about it. That was his initial problem the first time he left WWE and spent some time in TNA. It’s not exactly a state secret.

Jeff had already failed some drug tests and been suspended. When I initially heard the report, I felt like they couldn’t bring him back unless he was totally clean. Let’s face it, if you’re trying to portray a PG-level company, you can’t have drug users or people who were arrested for drugs on your roster.

This further illustrates that the WWE Wellness Policy is somewhat of a joke. It’s caught some guys and by now, I would think most of the roster could, if they wanted to, beat the system. This creates a giant problem if the WWE wants to continue to push its family friendly environment. Nobody thought of them as legitimate drug testers and they started gaining a little traction over the past few years. However, with Hardy’s arrest and Mysterio’s test failure, one beings to wonder.

Moving forward, how can anybody on the current WWE roster defend Jeff’s actions? Before the die-hards jump my ass, I’ve played ball & had teammates that did questionable behavior. I didn’t defend them but I also didn’t condemn them. I believe it was Chavo Guerrero who said Jeff was a “classy” guy. That may be true at the arena but what about when he’s home or on the road by himself?

I realize they want to defend their fellow colleague. I get that. However, you look stupid defending a guy who was arrested with a large quantity of drugs in his car. It’s ridiculous.

The best thing to do would be to keep your mouth shut. Jeff Hardy was probably caught up in the moment & decided to make a brash statement on Twitter. I’m sure now he probably wishes he hadn’t said anything.

WWE needs to make the right moves in handling this situation. It’s going to come up. Superstars will be asked about it. Their PG future will hinge somewhat on how they handle this. Whether they’re judged as a good company that handled it right or a bad company that tried to sweep it under the rug, it’s totally up to them.

Brand Blog Writers Challenge:
Luke Parks (RAW): 5-2 at Breaking Point, 34-37 overall
Paul Smith (ECW): 4-3 at Breaking Point, 35-36 overall
Chris Jacks (Smackdown): 5-2 at Breaking Point, 36-35 overall

As you can tell, Chris Jacks & I had a really good showing at Breaking Point. We both got the Khali-Kane match wrong and I picked DX instead of Legacy. Because Paul Smith picked Silly Willy Regal to win the ECW title, Chris & I got that one right. I continued my success by picking Kofi Kingston while my British counterparts chose The Miz. Other than that, we all got the other matches right.

I gained some ground on the Brits but Chris pulled ahead into sole possession of 1st place. I’m still in 3rd but I’m not far behind. I think a good showing in the last few PPVs will get me the win, so let not your heart be troubled, America, I WILL WIN!

I didn’t watch Breaking Point. I did follow the results after the show. I thought it was good. Good but not great.

RAW is Blogged:
RAW is LIVE from Toronto, Ontario with this week’s guest host: TRISH STRATUS!

The Skinny: Trish hosted RAW and looked great, all in the same night!

Opening Segment: Batista, Randy Orton
We started off the show with Batista, which pissed me off because I wanted Trish first. Batista said he had had a rough year & that he came back to say goodbye. It wasn’t long before Randy Orton made his presence felt. Orton was mad about losing his title and told Batista to save his good bye speech. As Orton continued to talk, Batista said that he knew something Orton didn’t know. He took off his cast & took down Orton. Batista got on the mic & said he was there to announce that he was going to Smackdown. He said he had talked to Trish & got a match for later in the evening, a No Holds Barred match.

Promo Segment: Trish Stratus
Trish came out, LOOKING EXTREMELY GREAT, & talked about her time in the WWE. She said that she thought she would be a good host. She cut right to the chase & made Cena-Orton, for the 849th time, at Hell in a Cell for the title in a Hell in a Cell match. She said that we would see plenty of her during the night. I’m glad cause she was looking GREAT! The only problem was King’s unnecessary chatter & gawking. I want to gawk myself but in peace.

Match #1 – Kofi Kingston & Primo vs. Jack Swagger & The Miz
I have to say that Primo’s music sucks. This match was so short I’ve had sneezes that lasted longer. The finish came when Miz took Kofi’s title, thus distracting Kofi and allowing Swagger to get the pin.
Winners: Jack Swagger & The Miz

Match #2 – #1 Contender’s Match – Gail Kim vs. Alicia Fox
Mickie was on commentary for this match. Damn she looked good. Gail got a huge pop when she made her way out. This was actually a good match. They both hit some good offensive moves. Alicia finally hit the axe kick to pick up the victory.
Winner: Alicia Fox

Did you know that RAW was watched by more show on ABC, CW, and Fox last week? I didn’t know that either. Considering all new shows premiere next week and how Monday Night Football is back for the regular season, good luck trying to fool people with those bullshit factoids.

Meanwhile, Trish was backstage lighting some candles. Beth Phoenix came in, looking sexy in a silver top that made me go nuts, complaining about not being in the #1 Contender’s match. Chris Jericho came in and insulted Trish some. Trish then made some jokes about Big Show & Jericho holding hands. Beth then defended Jericho & made fun of Trish & Canada. Trish then said that she would find her a partner to take on Beth & Jericho later on.

Match #3 – Ted DiBiase vs. Shawn Michaels
It’s taken some time but Legacy’s theme has grown on me. They talked about how they did something historic last night by making DX tap out. Well, they only made one guy tap out sooo. This was actually a good match. There were plenty of “You Screwed Bret” chants. DiBiase got some good offense, even locking in the submission from last night. Michaels was going for Sweet Chin Music when Rhodes pulled him on the leg. Then all hell broke loose. The brawl between all 4 started, with Rhodes & Triple H against each other and DiBiase & HBK going at each other. It was good.
Winner: Shawn Michaels by DQ

Match #4 – Hornswoggle & Evan Bourne vs. Chavo Guerrero & Carlito
What did Evan Bourne do to deserve this crap? What did I do to deserve this? Bourne took out Carlito. Hornswoggle spit the apple in Chavo’s face, then hit a tadpole splash for the win. WTF!?
Winners: Hornswoggle & Evan Bourne

After the match, Chavo said Hornswoggle won & he gives up. TOOK LONG ENOUGH!

We got Cena’s same promo, except this time he mentioned Hell in a Cell. Wonderful.

Match #4 – Trish Stratus, MVP & Mark Henry vs. Chris Jericho, Big Show, & Beth Phoenix
Trish got a nice pop and MVP got a mixed reception. I don’t know if he started doing it last night but he’s gone sleeveless. Jericho got a good pop on the way out. They still claim that Beth wasn’t with the company during Trish’s time. Um, wasn’t it Beth who helped Trish with Trish’s problem with Mickie? And didn’t Trish compete a few months ago as John Cena’s tag team partner, where he had a huge boner? Yeah, these commentators are stupid. Before the match got going too much, Big Show came down & attacked MVP. Mark Henry came down to even the odds. So Trish said it would become a 6-person tag match. During the match, Cole mentioned that Batista wanted to go to Smackdown for some competition…way to throw your own brand under the bus you idiot! Towards the end of the match, Big Show tripped up Trish but Beth couldn’t get the pin. Trish hit Stratisfaction for the victory…LIVE ON MONDAY NIGHT…and Cole didn’t finish the sentence.
Winners: Trish, MVP, Mark Henry

Main Event – Randy Orton vs. Batista
If you were to believe Michael Cole & Jerry Lawler, they would have you thinking that this rivalry was bigger than Stone Cold & The Rock. This was a quick match. Cena came out and nailed Orton. Batista hit a spinebuster & Batista Bomb to get the win. So basically, that sucked.
Winner: Batista

I give this RAW:
3 out of 4 ring posts

The Final Word:
Considering what it’s worth, I thought this RAW was alright. They immediately started the build for Hell in a Cell which is good.

I hope the Hornswoggle-Chavo stuff is done for good. I didn’t too much care for the Batista-Orton crap. I am glad Batista is gone. All in all, it was a decent show.

“RAW is Blogged” Power Rankings
1. Christian
2. CM Punk +1
3. Jeri-Show +2
4. John Cena +2
5. John Morrison -1
6. The Legacy +2
7. Randy Orton -5
8. Kofi Kingston +2
9. DX -2
10. Kane NEW
Honorable Mention:
Dolph Ziggler

“RAW is Blogged” Match of the Week
Fully Loaded 1999
WWE Championship – First Blood
The Undertaker vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin

“RAW is Blogged” YouTube Clip of the Week
Mr. Kennedy Returns to RAW – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ski0Z1VNeCs

RAW – Mondays at 9PM on USA Network

Hell in a Cell – October 4th – 8PM – Only on PPV!