The Raw Review – 14th September 2009
14/09/2009
Hello and welcome the all new Live Raw Review.
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On with the show!
Quick Links
Opening Segment: The Animal Returns
Match 1: Kofi Kingston & Primo Vs. Jack Swagger & The Miz
Match 2: Gail Kim Vs. Alicia Fox
Segment 3: Trish, Beth and Jericho
Match 3: Shawn Michaels Vs. Ted DiBiase
Match 4: Evan Bourne & Hornswoggle Vs. Chavo Guerrero & Carlito
Segment 4: John Cena Interviewed
Match 5: Trish Stratus & ??? Vs. Chris Jericho & Beth Phoenix
Match 6: Trish Stratus, M.V.P & Mark Henry Vs. Jeri-Show & Beth Phoenix
Main Event: Randy Orton Vs. Batista
The Raw Review
Opening Segment
The Animal Returns
Lillian Garcia introduces Batista who emerges with his arm still in a brace.
Cole and King speculate on whether the injured arm will be telling to how this announcement will go, while the titantron shows footage of Orton ‘inflicting’ the injury.
Batista thanks the crowd and his fans, then says as much as he didn’t want to return like this he’s here tonight to say goodbye.
Clearly emotional he continues to talk about leaving, until former WWE Champion Randy Orton cuts him off and emerges from the back.
Orton says he’s not happy about losing the title at Breaking Point but the news that Batista is retiring has cheered him up a bit. He tells Batista that no one cares about his long winded goodbye speech and the real reason he’s leaving isn’t injuries; it’s because of the damage he has done to him.
Batista begins to laugh and when Orton asks him why he explains that for one thing Orton is predictable and secondly he knows something that he doesn’t.
Batista then slides his brace off and attacks Orton, sending him fleeing to the outside.
The Animal then grabs the microphone and says he’s not retiring, he’s moving to Smackdown. However, guest host Trish Stratus has given him one last match on Raw; a No Holds Barred match against Orton tonight!
Great start to Raw!
Segment 2
Trish is Back!
This time Lillian Garcia introduces tonight’s guest host; Trish Stratus.
Trish emerges onto the ramp with a nice brunette look although I’d have liked to have seen her as the classic blonde.
Trish says she enjoyed Bob Barker hosting last week, especially when he almost made Jericho cry.
She says that Raw was her world for 7 years and she knows what the fans want, so she thinks she’ll make a pretty good guest host.
Trish says although it won’t please too many people Orton is still entitled to a re-match, so she’s thinking that at the next PPV it’ll be Orton Vs. Cena in a Hell in a Cell.
She wraps things up by saying the crowd will see plenty more of her tonight but for now she’s done, introducing Kofi Kingston for tonight’s first match.
Match 1
Tag Team Match
Kofi Kingston & Primo
Vs.
Jack Swagger & The Miz
Swagger and The Miz work pretty well together as a team, although I think the last thing Miz needs is to be locked into another heelish tag team so I expect this partnership will be a purely temporary one.
Swagger and Miz are both in the U.S Title picture, obviously Kofi is as he’s the champ, I just don’t quite get where Primo fits into this situation.
After being isolated for the early part of the match Primo tags in Kingston who begins to take control of the match.
However as Jack Swagger is getting pummelled in the corner The Miz snatched the U.S Title from ringside and started to leave with it, distracting Kingston.
Swagger was then able to hit the Gutwrench Powerbomb for a very quick victory, while The Miz continued to head up the ramp with a title that isn’t his.
Neither team really worked up a sweat in this one, so perhaps Trish will spring a U.S Title match on us later in the show.
The Miz & Jack Swagger win by Pinfall.
Match 2
Divas Championship #1 Contendership Match
Gail Kim
Vs.
Alicia Fox
Lillian Garcia dropped the ball again at the start of this match, introducing it as a Triple Threat match. King and Cole cleared up the confusion for the people at home but I’m sure the people in the arena must have been confused when only two participants began fighting.
Mickey James joined the announce team for this one and discussed her two potential opponents.
At one point King praised Mickey James for being one of only two people to hold both the Womens and Divas championships, stating that even Trish Stratus hadn’t achieved that. More than likely because the hideous Divas Championship wasn’t around back when she was competing.
In the ring Gail Kim showed why she should rightfully be the #1 contender, if not the champ but purely for storyline purposes it was Alicia Fox who picked up the win with an Axe Kick Booker T would have been proud of.
After the match Fox hurled some abuse at Mickey but she didn’t rise to the bait.
I’m sure there are millions of people around the world now looking forward to Mickey James Vs. Alicia Fox, sadly I’m not one of them.
Alicia Fox wins by Pinfall and becomes the #1 contender for the Divas Championship.
Segment 3
Trish, Beth and Jericho
Backstage Beth Phoenix asks Trish how she can have a #1 Contendership match without her involved.
Jericho then appears and talks some trash about Trish, who returns the favour and says that she’s glad he’s found a new ‘partner’ in the form of The Big Show.
Beth interjects, sticking up for Jericho by saying he’s in the ring every week and hasn’t taken the easy way out by retiring to a 2nd rate country like Canada, claiming it’s easy to talk trash when you don’t have to back it up.
Trish says she will back it up tonight by finding herself a partner and taking them both on in a match tonight!
After Beth leaves Jericho tells Trish he’d take on Bob Barker any-time, any place.
Match 3
Singles Match
Shawn Michaels (w/Triple H)
Vs.
Ted DiBiase (w/Cody Rhodes)
Before the match Cody and Ted mocked DX before crowing about their victory last night, reeling off a list of legendary superstars and tag teams that have failed to make the team of Triple H and HBK tap out.
DiBiase said that while their victory might have shocked the world, it didn’t shock them as they always knew what they were capable of.
He said last night was just the beginning and they will continue to fight DX until they are finished and out of their lives. Cody followed up by explaining that they were no longer known as the offspring of Dusty Rhodes and The Million Dollar Man, but rather their fathers that are now known as the parents of Legacy.
DX are shown watching in the back as the show cuts to a break.
As the match got under way with DiBiase controlling things, the inevitable ‘You Screwed Bret’ chant fired up and echoed around the arena.
DiBiase dumped Michaels to the outside where Rhodes looked to inflict more punishment behind the referee’s back, but the presence of Triple H was enough to make him think twice.
After a slight comeback from HBK he was able to lock in the Figure 4, but while Rhodes distracted the referee DiBiase raked his eyes and was able to break free and resume control of the bout.
DiBiase attempts to lock on the Million Dollar Dream but Michaels quickly heads to the turnbuckle and breaks the hold before reversing a Piledriver which sends DiBiase sailing over the top rope.
Michaels hits a pair of Inverted Atomic Drops and begins to mount some momentum, hitting the Top Rope Elbow Drop and setting up for the Sweet Chin Music.
Rhodes realises his partner is in trouble and pulls Michaels around the ringpost causing the DQ.
Triple H sprints around the ring and takes out Rhodes before he can do any damage, then begins to punish the youngster by driving him into the announce table and steel steps.
HBK recovers and goes after DiBiase, taking him out into the crowd where they brawl in scenes reminiscent of last night.
The brawling continues with DX largely in charge then things cut to a commercial just as one of the cameramen gets totalled by Cody Rhodes.
Shawn Michaels wins by Disqualification.
Match 4
Tag Team Match
Evan Bourne & Hornswoggle
Vs.
Chavo Guerrero & Carlito (w/Rosa Mendes)
Yet another match in the ongoing Chavo Vs. Hornswoggle saga… is someone in the writing team really thinking that this is the way to hold the crowd?
The most upsetting thing about this match is that Carlito looks like being dragged down by the whole situation, that is unless Chavo finally bucks the trend and gets a win over his pint-sized rival.
As you’d expect Bourne spent most of this match in the ring, with Hornswoggle popping up now and then to help out.
Despite the context of the match Bourne looked very impressive, as did Carlito and Chavo.
The ‘big payoff’ of this match saw Bourne knock down Chavo, tag in Hornswoggle then take out Carlito. Hornswoggle then climbed to the top rope and began eating Carlito’s apple which he had stolen earlier.
Chavo then climbed up to the 2nd rope and got a face full of apple before losing the match to a Tadpole Splash.
After the match Chavo asks what he has to do, then tells Hornswoggle he wins because he gives up.
I hope to god that means this is over, but it’s possibly the single biggest destruction of a decent wrestler I’ve ever seen.
Even Mike Awesome>That 70′s Guy wasn’t as damaging as this.
Evan Bourne & Hornswoggle win by Pinfall.
Segment 4
John Cena Interviewed
Josh Mathews introduces the new WWE Champion and asks him about his match last night.
Cena rambles on about how he promised not to quit and subsequently didn’t, while Orton talked about the WWE Championship being his life yet gave it away at the first sign of trouble.
He went on to talk about their re-match at Hell in a Cell where he promises the fans will see a more intense, more brutal and more savage side of him.
It sounded a lot like the fans were booing throughout the segment and King seemed to back that up afterwards by saying you never know what reaction you’re going to get from a Canadian crowd.
Michael Cole then announced that at Hell in a Cell DX and Legacy would meet again.
Match 5
Mixed Tag Team Match
Chris Jericho & Beth Phoenix
Vs.
Trish Stratus & M.V.P
Anyone expecting even a little surprise surrounding who Trish’s partner would be, feel free to feel completely disappointed.
As expected M.V.P filled the spot, so it looks like he and Henry are going to continue feuding with Jeri-Show for the foreseeable future.
Trish and Beth kick things off with The Glamazon starting off the stronger. It wasn’t long before Trish fought back and although she looked a little rusty, she still out performed 75% of the current Divas on the roster.
As Trish went for an Elbow Drop/Cover, Jericho dived into the ring and attacked her. M.V.P jumped in and took Jericho over the top rope before the two of them began brawling on the outside.
The Big Show appeared and attacked M.V.P, causing the disqualification, then Mark Henry ran down to even the odds.
Trish was announced as the winner but refused to accept it, instead booking a 6 person tag team match… right now!
Trish Stratus & M.V.P win by Disqualification.
Match 6
6 Person Mixed Tag Match
Trish Stratus, M.V.P & Mark Henry
Vs.
Jeri-Show & Beth Phoenix
When the action returned from the commercials Jeri-Show had already managed to isolate M.V.P in their corner and continued to do so very effectively while Beth Phoenix shouted abuse from the apron.
When M.V.P was suitably beaten Beth begged for the tag, only for him to recover and catch her foot.
M.V.P toyed with the idea of attacking her but instead chose to tag in Trish and the pair of them hit a double ‘Ballin.
Things broke down from here, with all 4 guys taking each other out of the equation on the outside. In the ring Beth looked to have the upper hand after a trip from The Big Show, but Trish was able to turn the tables and hit Stratusfaction to pick up another win over Phoenix, the last coming in December 08 when she tagged with Cena.
Trish Stratus, M.V.P & Mark Henry win by Pinfall.
Main Event Match
No Holds Barred Match
Batista
Vs.
Randy Orton
Before this match it was announced that next week’s guest host will be… drumroll please… Cedrick the Entertainer.
Smackdown’s main event must be in a pretty dire situation if they are having to rush Batista over there as soon as possible.
I can’t think of anyone on the Smackdown card that Batista could feud against at this stage, Punk is tied up with Taker, Jericho has his hands full with the tag titles and the next biggest heels I can think of are Kane and Dolph Ziggler.
This match started off with Orton immediately seeking a steel chair, although Batista didn’t give him the chance to use it.
From there things seemed to be going in Batista’s favour, with the Animal looking as sharp as ever (i.e moderately sharp).
Orton decided leaving would be the best plan but just as he made it to the top of the ramp Cena’s entrance music fired up and the new WWE Champ shepherded him back to the ring with a big Clothesline.
Batista then hit the Spinebuster and Batista Bomb to pick up a victory in his last match on Raw, wrapping up a pretty decent episode with a great guest host.
Batista wins by Pinfall.
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