The Raw Review - 8th February 2010
08/02/2010
Hello and welcome the Raw Review.
Use the quick links below to jump to a specific match or segment.
If you’re following the event with us live keep refreshing as updates will come through sporadically depending on match and segment length.
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On with the show!
Quick Links
Match 1: Christian Vs. Sheamus
Segment 2: First Legacy… Now this?
Match 2: DX Vs. The Straight Edge Society Vs. The Miz & The Big Show
Segment 4: The Miz-Show / ShowMiz Interviewed
Match 3: Gail Kim Vs. Jillian Hall
Match 4: Cody Rhodes Vs. Randy Orton
Main Event Match: Ted DiBiase Vs. John Cena
The Raw Review
Opening Segment
NASCAR-isma
Tonight’s show begins much in the same way the last NASCAR related Guest Host episode did.
A stock car is shown shooting around an empty space outside the arena, before shooting down a tunnel towards ringside.
After blazing through a curtain (accompanied by a rather convenient camera cut) the car pulls up and none other than… Hornswoggle emerges as the driver.
Cue the jokes from King.
Kelly Kelly then introduces Carl Edwards, who emerges from the back with a Bella Twin on either side (who else?)
He does what is apparently his trademark backflip from the turnbuckle (I’ve never seen any NASCAR, so I don’t know) then begins to talk.
In less than one second it’s clear to see he has more personality than both of the previous NASCAR guest hosts rolled into one.
After a cheap pop about the Superbowl (Congrats Saints!) Edwards makes mention of L0gano and Busch, which draws huge boos and hisses from the crowd.
He says the difference between them and him is that he has a friend here in the WWE; John Cena.
WWE Champion Sheamus decides to make an appearance at this point, demanding Edwards make him the last participant to enter the Elimination Chamber at No Way Out.
Sheamus claims Raw is his show and if Edwards has any sense he’ll do what he tells him to, but before Carl can respond some more music hits the speakers.
This time it’s… Christian?!
Christian makes his way down the ramp while the commentary team speculate why he is here.
Once in the ring Christian explains that he isn’t too pleased that Edge didn’t consider the ECW Championship last week when choosing what title to go for at Mania, but it all made a lot more sense with the announcement from Vince McMahon that ECW was soon to be extinct.
Sheamus calls Christian a ‘Lame Duck Champion’, prompting him to respond with a joke about Sheamus’ ridiculously pale skin.
Sheamus says his comments don’t matter because in a few weeks he’ll be unemployed, but Christian explains that actually in two weeks time everyone on the ECW roster will become a free agent and be eligible to join Raw or Smackdown, and his peeps on Raw sound like they have missed him.
Christian says he’d like to ‘dip his toes in the water’ tonight and face Sheamus, and Edwards agrees, booking the match for… right now!
Vote for your Favourite Superstar Now!
Match 1
Singles Match
Christian
Vs.
Sheamus
When ECW’s replacement ‘nXt’ was first announced, I expected it to focus on up and comers, much like the New Talent Initiative did already.
I didn’t expect it to be made up completely of guys we’ve never heard of, but that looks like being the case if all the current ECW roster are being moved up onto the ‘big two’.
I can’t say as I’m completely happy with the concept, but I think it’s great news for the people being ‘wasted’ on ECW, Christian being the most obvious along with guys like Shelton Benjamin and William Regal.
Christian and Sheamus put on a good match and the ECW Champ came close to what would, I suppose, be considered an upset given the titles they are currently holding, but in the end it was the WWE Champion that picked up the win.
I’m hoping Christian will end up on whatever Brand Edge is on, but we don’t even know which one that is at the minute.
Sheamus wins by Pinfall.
Segment 2
First Legacy… Now this?
Backstage Triple H is hanging out in the locker room when HBK enters.
He apologises for acting a little crazy recently and says that he realises every cloud has a silver lining.
He says that DX have never been to WrestleMania together (at least this ‘version’) so it’d be nice for that to happen.
Triple H dashes his dreams by telling him that he’s going to win the WWE Championship at No Way Out, prompting Shawn to lose his temper and make the statement that it’s all about Triple H now.
Segment 3
More Cracks
Elsewhere backstage Ted DiBiase is preparing when Cody Rhodes enters and asks him if he is proud of himself.
Ted says he’s very proud of qualifying for the Elimination Chamber and Cody whines about having the more difficult opponent in John Cena.
Ted tells him to stop whining, then says that he’s just plain better than him.
The two begin to bicker until Randy enters, and asks DiBiase if he thinks he’s better than him too.
Ted says they’ll find out at No Way Out and Orton says they will be able to test Cody’s theory tonight as DiBiase is facing Cena tonight.
Cody begins to smile and Randy asks him what he is so happy about, especially as he was the one who cost him the WWE Championship at The Royal Rumble.
Cody apologises and Orton says he knows his heart was in the right place, but tonight they’ll be facing each other in a match.
Match 2
Unified Tag Team Championship Elimination Match
DX (c)
Vs.
The Straight Edge Society (w/Serena)
Vs.
The Miz & The Big Show
For some bizarre reason Teddy Long has made his way to ringside for this match, looking about as miserable as a fat kid who just dropped his ice cream.
Before the match C.M Punk ritualistically insulted the crowd, but decided to go one further tonight, saying there isn’t anyone worth saving.
He then explains that there is a ‘celebrity’ in the crowd; Jared.
Fans in America (and fans of South Park) will know Jared as the big fat guy who ‘ate himself thin’ on just Subway sandwiches.
Everyone else won’t have a clue who he is, and trust me, you’re not really missing much.
Punk asks him to be his ‘head of propaganda’ but Jared refuses. Punk says they are going to make an example of him, but before they can do anything DX’s music hits and they make their way out to the ring.
When we return from commercials the match is in full swing, with three active Superstars in the ring.
I expected it to be 2 legal men, but I guess this way works a little bit better.
Michael Cole also explained around this point that it was an ‘elimination style’ match, so we’re going to see two pinfalls before this one is all said and done.
After a rollercoaster of a 3-way competition, in which the upper hand must have switched at least half a dozen times, Shawn Michaels slid off the back of C.M Punk’s GTS attempt and struck with a Sweet Chin Music, eliminating The Straight Edge Society.
The Straight Edge Society are Eliminated by Pinfall.
I have to admit, I’d backed Punk and Gallows for the win here, so to see them eliminated first came as quite a surprise and pretty much killed the match for me.
At this point I kind of expected DX to keep the belts, because I thought if they were going to drop them the creative team would have had them eliminated first, perhaps by way of a miscommunication between the two.
It turns out I was half right.
Triple H looked to be heading towards a clear win when Shawn tagged himself in and the two began to argue.
From behind The Miz struck Michaels (sending him into The Game) before rolling him up for the win.
After the bell DX had a little argument and HBK walked to the back on his own, leaving his disgruntled partner in the ring.
The Miz & The Big Show become the NEW Unified Tag Team Champions by Pinfall.
Segment 4
The Miz-Show/ ShowMiz Interviewed
Backstage Josh Mathews catches up with the NEW Tag Team Champions.
Big Show says that in one attempt they have done what Jeri-Show could never do; Beat DX.
Show puts this down to the respect he gets from his partner.
The Miz says that they are on the way to owning all the gold in the WWE, because they’re The Miz-Show, and they’re AWESOME!
Show questions the name ‘Miz-Show’ and says that he prefers ‘ShowMiz’ (like Showbiz), which The Miz agrees to as they leave.
Segment 5
The End for HBK?
Elsewhere HBK is shown storming through the backstage area looking for Carl.
Instead he finds Teddy Long, who he begs to trade him to Smackdown.
Teddy asks him about DX, but he says he doesn’t care.
He says he wants Teddy to take someone out of the Smackdown Chamber so that he can take their place, win the title and give Taker a re-match at WrestleMania.
Teddy refuses on the grounds that the other Superstars have earned their spots, which pushes HBK to the edge.
Triple H appears and drags him off Long, asking him if his obsession has gone far enough for him to throw away DX and his career.
Shawn rather sombrely replies that his career is over, before hitting Teddy with some Sweet Chin Music.
Match 3
Divas Match
Gail Kim
Vs.
Jillian Hall
I’d barely filled in the information about this match when the closing bell rung to signal a victory for Gail Kim.
Maryse had joined the commentary team for this match, but she barely got to say anything.
Afterwards she got into the ring and trotted out much the same thing she did last week, saying she hopes they have a good match before speaking in French for a while.
As this was so completely dull, I’ll use the time to draw you’re attention to this:
The voting in the WWEBlog Awards For Theatrical Achievement (W.A.F.T.A’s) is well under-way amongst the WWEBlog staff and a select few guest judges, but we’re giving you all the chance to get involved too!
Simply click the banner below and it’ll take you to the People’s Choice Voting Page, where you can cast your vote for the Superstar/team you feel most deserving of an award for their work throughout 2009.
We’ve extended the date for voting too, (Mainly because with all the Rumble stuff going on we’ve not had time to get it ready to go live) so hurry and register support for your favourite Superstar/Team now!
The People’s Choice Award 2009
Gail Kim wins by Pinfall.
Segment 6
Eat Fresh!
This could well be the lamest segment since the whole ‘Guest Host’ concept was cooked up.
I’m actually a little embarrassed that I have to type it up.
Backstage Jared and Carl Edwards are standing in front of a huge Subway promotional display.
Santino enters and plugs Subway even more, then Jared gives him a ‘Footlong Nation Appreciation’ cash card.
Santino tells Edwards that he wants revenge over Swagger for injuring him prior to the Rumble, so Edwards books a match between them for Superstars on Thursday.
Boy, I can’t wait for that!
Kofi Kingston is next to enter and he proposes that Edwards book all the entrants of the Elimination Chamber in random singles matches next week, to stop them ‘getting rusty’.
Edwards agrees and asks if he should choose the opponents now, or leave it to next week’s host.
Santino says he should leave it as he’s sure next week’s host will be someone associated with ‘class, civility and above all else human decency’.
Cut to…
Jerry Springer!
Yeah, that’s right, Springer’s hosting Raw next week and it looks like we’re in for a ‘wacky’ episode.
Didn’t the Springer show stop being good like 10 years ago?
Match 4
Singles Match
Cody Rhodes
Vs.
Randy Orton
Rhodes angered Orton from the get-go in this match, slapping his mentor’s hand away as he waved his finger in his face.
Rhodes then scored a quick 2 count, prompting a rather vicious period of offence from The Viper.
However, as this match came to a head the Legacy story took yet another turn as Sheamus hit the ringside area, distracting Orton who had been in control up to that point.
Rhodes took advantage of this and hit the Cross-Rhodes to pick up the 1..2..3, before exiting the ring.
Sheamus slid in the other side and struck Orton with a Pump Kick, then began to set up for the Celtic Cross until Rhodes re-entered the ring with a chair and ran him off.
What’s happening here? I can’t work it out.
The King speculated that Sheamus and Rhodes might be in cahoots, but that seems a little bit too obvious now.
Cody Rhodes wins by Pinfall.
Main Event Match
Singles Match
Ted DiBiase
Vs.
John Cena
I thought DiBiase might have a chance of winning tonight, what with Cena supposedly battered and bruised from the attack at the hands of Batista.
However, this didn’t really end up even being a match.
Cena hit the ring at pace and knocked DiBiase to the outside, where he blasted him into the steel steps and locked on the STF.
The referee eventually tore them apart and Cena grabbed a micraphone.
In the ring he called out Batista, but The Animal (or ‘Dave Bataster’ as Cena called him) didn’t show.
After commercials Cena says that come to think if it, Batista’s actions seemed a lot like a ‘business decision’ and when he thinks of business decisions, he thinks of Vince McMahon.
He calls out Vince, who wastes no time making his way out to the top of the ramp, flanked by ten security guards (watch their faces, you’ll probably see them on nXt very soon.)
Cena tells him that ten guards aren’t going to be enough to stop him and next time he should probably consider a tank.
He says this can go one of two ways, either Vince can get in the ring without his security, or he can send them in, let them get beaten down, then get in the ring with a much angrier man.
Vince enters the ring and says that he is the supreme alpha male, then brags about how he had Batista attack Bret.
He then says that he had nothing at all to do with The Animal’s attack on Cena.
Cena questions why he would attack him and Vince speculates that maybe it’s just because he doesn’t like him.
Vince adds that he doesn’t like Cena either, but he knows he’s good for business.
Cena says the problem with Vince is that it’s all about the money but for him it’s about the love for the business, and that’s why the fans cheer for him.
Cena goes on one of his shouty rants about winning the title at No Way Out and going to WrestleMania before finally bringing it back around to Bret Hart.
Cena says that Bret wants another ‘moment’ and has told him that he’d like to wrestle another match… at WrestleMania… against Vince.
Vince says that Bret doesn’t want any of him, but then accepts the match after some goading from Cena.
Wow, Bret Vs. Vince at Mania! That’s blown my prediction right out of the water.
Cena thanks Vince for making the decision and tells him that there’s just one person he has to inform now, then heads to the back.
McMahon talks about Bret being ‘up in his igloo’ in Canada, then says he doesn’t want any of him at Mania because he might get embarrassed… like last week.
A clip plays of last week’s final segment.
Afterwards Vince begins to talk some more trash but Bret emerges through the crowd and jumps him.
The security rush the ring and pull them apart, then once out of harms way Vince tells Bret he’s changed his mind and WILL NOT face him at WrestleMania because he ‘deserves to be screwed!’
Bret goes on a similar rampage to the one following the 97 screwjob, smashing up the technical area and wrecking the announce table as the show goes off the air.
Match ended in a No Contest.
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