Weekly Rundown: 8th - 12th June 2009
Raw 08/06/2009
ECW 09/06/2009
Superstars 11/06/2009
Smackdown 12/06/2009
Jump to The Raw Review –>
Jump to The ECW Digest –>
Jump to The Superstars Recap –>
Jump to The Smackdown Summary –>
The Raw Review - 08/06/2009
Opening Segment
Please Welcome The NEW WWE Champion
Lillian Garcia introduces Batista as the new WWE Champion and The Animal makes his way to the ring where he paces around while the fans cheer and pop for him like crazy.
He explains that he is now a 5 time Champion (I prefer ‘Booker T Champion’ if we’re talking 5 time, 5 time…) and he won it for Flair, himself, the audience and everyone else who is sick and tired of Randy Orton.
He goes on to say that this is only the beginning before Orton’s music hits and the former champion comes out to the top of the ramp, where he stands and stares at Batista before tentatively pacing towards the ring.
As you’d expect Legacy jumped Batista from behind and although he held his own for a while the numbers inevitably caught up with him.
Legacy worked Batista’s arm and shoulder viciously while the crowd (for some reason or another) chanted for Cena. The beating culminated in a steel chair being wrapped around Batista’s wrist and stamped on repeatedly before being used to bend the whole arm back to the point where it appeared to pop right out of the socket.
The damage done, Orton picked up the WWE Championship and posed before leaving with the strap while trainers and EMT’s hit the ring to assess the damage.
After the break EMT’s helped Batista to a waiting ambulance where they strapped him to a stretcher and loaded him in. He said that he couldn’t feel his arm and requested his title belt as they closed the doors and it drove away.
Match 1
Singles Match
Kofi Kingston
Vs.
William Regal
Before the match Regal told the crowd the last thing they need is a Jamaican as the United States Champion. He said they need someone with class, dignity and self respect, three things they don’t possess, and that he will be their saviour.
Both these guys participated in a great opening match last night at Extreme Rules so it was shocking to see how poor this opener was. Both superstars did their job well but the entire bout seemed to last no longer than a few minutes and had nothing what so ever about it.
To add to this the crowd were still clearly stunned by the events of the opening segment and just seemed to be getting into things when Kingston hit Trouble in Paradise and picked up a quick win.
Kofi Kingston wins by Pinfall.
Segment 2
Legacy’s Plan
Backstage Legacy chat about how they must have put Batista on the shelf before Josh Matthews enters the figurative lions den and asks Orton what his plan was.
Orton says the only thing anyone needs to know is that Batista is done. That and he is planning on using his re-match clause tonight, meaning either The Animal comes back and defends his belt or he loses it back to Orton by forefit.
Match 2
Divas Championship Match
Kelly Kelly
Vs.
Maryse (c)
Mickey James joined King and Cole on commentary for this one where she hyped her building rivalry with Maryse.
Back in the ring Maryse and Kelly Kelly didn’t do too bad, putting on quite a good match for the fledgling championship.
Kelly Kelly grabbed a few near falls but Maryse ultimately picked up the win and retained the title with her trademark DDT. After the bell she continued to attack Kelly until Mickey shot into the ring and ran her out of the other side.
Maryse wins by Pinfall and retains the Divas Championship.
Segment 3
Confirmations, Announcements and French
After footage of last night’s completely awful Hog Pen match, Josh Matthews gets confirmation of the WWE Championship match later tonight. Vickie then says that she will have an announcement later tonight that will completely change the face of Raw.
We are then shown Maryse and The Miz backstage. The Miz brings up his rivalry with Cena and Maryse tells him that she has never seen him beat Cena and until he does they have nothing to discuss.
Match 3
Six Man Tag Team Match
Santino Marella, Goldust & Festus (w/Hornswoggle)
Vs.
Chavo Guerrero, ‘The’ Brian Kendrick & Jamie Noble
This match didn’t last too long either although what there was of it was very entertaining.
The majority of the bout was fast paced back and forth action (even Festus seemed to have quickened his pace a little.)
Santino grabbed the victory with a roll-up after Kendrick’s plan to inflict some punishment on Hornswoggle backfired.
Fun stuff.
Santino Marella, Goldust & Festus win by Pinfall.
Match 4
Singles Match
The Miz
Vs.
John Cena
Before the match The Miz gave a little speech about how Cena has been avoiding taking him on and the people in the audience making excuses for him are all pathetic. He calls Cena the most over-rated superstar ever to step foot in a WWE ring…and I have to admit I’m struggling to come up with a better example. (If you can think of anyone drop me an email.)
Just as this match was about to begin something absolutely terrible happened; The Big Show appeared. Just when I thought that god awful rivalry had been put to bed it looks like it is just going to trundle on and on.
Cena dispatches The Miz from the ring and looked like he was setting up for an Attitude Adjustment but Show reversed and landed a Chokeslam before locking in a Camel Clutch.
Surprisingly The Miz then slid back into the ring and nailed The Big Show with a steel chair about 7 or 8 times, then hit Cena too. As Show recovered The Miz made his way up the ramp while the 7ft Show barked something about sealing his fate.
I don’t think the match ever got started, that seems to have been happening a lot recently.
Match ends in a No Contest.
Match 5
Singles Match
M.V.P
Vs.
Matt Hardy
M.V.P said that if there was going to be a WWE Championship match next week he should be involved and he’ll prove that he deserves it by beating Hardy tonight. Cole then cleared up that next week’s Raw will be a 3 hour special in which all 3 brands will have individual championship matches.
I can’t count how many times I’ve seen Hardy and M.V.P battle, so there was never going to be much new to see in this one, that being said it was still a very good match.
One advantage of the frequency in which these two men have met over the past few years is that they seem to know each other inside out which really helps their matches flow, with this one being no exception.
M.V.P eventually got the 3 count after attacking Matt Hardy’s injured hand and hitting a Drive By to seal the deal.
M.V.P wins by Pinfall.
Segment 4
Vickie’s Big Announcement
After gaining everyone’s attention with her shrill cries of ‘excuse me!’ she tells the crowd that the last thing on her mind is making them happy.
She talks about the embarrassment of the Hog Pen match (which was embarrassing for everyone involved in one way or another) and said she expected the crowd to show her a bit of sympathy but she didn’t get it.
She says that Batista will still defend his title tonight then makes the shock announcement that she quits as G.M of Raw.
Just as the crowd erupt into a frenzy of cheers Edge’s music hits and the former World Heavyweight Champion hobbles to the ring where his wife stands waiting.
He said the things he came out with last night were said in the heat of the moment and he wanted to apologise. As Vickie begins to smile Edge says that actually as she has quit she is now worthless to him because she can’t help him get to the title.
She asks what he means and he admits that he had been with her for her power all along and asks if she honestly thought he could be in love with a ’she beast’. He continues to insult her and re-iterates that he wants a divorce, leaving Vickie crying and screaming in the ring while the crowd give her the traditional ‘Na Na Na Na (x3) wheeyy, goodbye’ send off.
Segment 5
Cena *Yawn*
Backstage Josh Matthews asks Cena how he feels after what happened tonight. He said he thought he had finally shaken Show after the victory at Extreme Rules but it appears not.
He then went on to talk about The Miz being all talk and promised they would meet face to face in the near future.
Match 6
Tag Team Match
Priceless
Vs.
Primo & Carlito
If Priceless win this match they get a shot at the titles, which begs the question of why they didn’t just make this match a title bout and have done with it. If this had been for the titles there may have been a little bit of excitement surrounding it. As it was the crowd went completely flat for the majority of what was actually a very good tag match.
Having said that, they could have put 10 minutes of white noise on and it would still have been more entertaining than the Cena promo before it, so maybe I’m being slightly kind to this bout.
Both teams have strong partnership and that really adds an element to their meetings but as I said before, because they have met so many times recently this one could have done with that little added extra to really spark the fans interest in it.
DiBiase picked up the win with Dream Street after Rhodes had hung up Primo on the top rope to earn a shot at at the titles at some point in the future.
Priceless win by Pinfall.
Main Event Match
WWE Championship Match
Randy Orton
Vs.
Batista (c)
Segment 6
Game On!
I had the feeling this was going to be more of a segment than a WWE Championship match and it turns out I was right.
Things kick off with Orton (and the WWE Title Belt) joining Priceless in the ring after the previous match. He informs the crowd that Priceless are now number 1 contenders then says he hopes that Batista doesn’t use the earlier attack as an excuse not to show up tonight, then shows the footage.
He explains that if Batista fails to show up the title will be awarded to him by forfeit, telling the referee to ring the bell and get on with things.
Batista’s music hits but The Animal fails to show up and the referee begins a 10 count. Backstage we see an ambulance arriving at the arena and the referee stops his count.
Triple H then appears out of the back of the ambulance with a Sledgehammer in hand and makes his way to the ring. Priceless grab steel chairs and flank their leader before heading up the ramp to cut The Game off, but both fail miserably and are dispatched with the Sledgehammer.
Triple H arrives at ringside and drops the Sledgehammer before brawling with Orton, gaining the upper hand instantly and beating him inside and outside the ring.
Orton threatened to use a steel chair on a few occasions but Triple H managed to prevent it each time, on the last instance using the chair to beat the hell out of the guy who put him on the shelf at Backlash.
The fans chanted for a Pedigree and Triple H happily obliged, driving Orton down onto the steel chair then posing and crotch chopping over his fallen body as Raw went off the air.
The ECW Digest - 09/06/2009
Opening Segment
ECW Still Has An Original
After clips of Dreamer’s ‘epic’ victory at Extreme Rules the show gets under-way with interim G.M Tiffany introducing the NEW ECW Champion.
She explains that by winning the title last night he has earned a new contract which he will sign tonight. Dreamer says that for the past 5 months it has seemed like this day would never come, but because of the support he got from the fans he believed he would be able to do it and he has.
He thanks the fans and says this is the greatest highlight of his career (something I highly doubt, but I admit it’s a step up from eating human hair and drinking barbicide which he was doing when he first came to the WWE.)
As he is about to sign the contract Christian comes out and hands him a box of tissues in jest, before thanking Swagger for getting involved in their business and costing him the title without him even being pinned.
Christian then said he is glad Dreamer is still around and he will be coming after his title, the two shook hands and Dreamer once again went to sign the contract.
This time Swagger interrupted proceedings and began complaining as usual. He said Dreamer shouldn’t have been involved in the match at all as his contract had already expired. He says his lawyers and his agent are happy to represent Christian too in a case to have Dreamer stripped of the belt.
He then gave Dreamer the option to forfeit the title and Christian said he should ‘do the right thing’ like he was about to, turning and drilling Swagger before the two dumped him out of the ring.
Dreamer signed the contract and climbed the turnbuckle to celebrate. Seconds later Christian seized the oppertunity and powerbombed him from the corner through the table to end the segment.
Segment 2
Stand Back? New Partner?
Backstage Tiffany is talking to a member of the backstage team in front of a fallen light. He explains that someone bumped into it and it was about to land on him when a ‘guy in green’ pushed him out of the way before dashing off. No doubt a non too subtle hint that ‘Hurricane’ Helms is almost back in competitive shape.
Tiffany then bumped into Christian and asked him why he had put Dreamer through the table. He says he got caught up in the moment and it was payback for the Dreamer DDT last week. Tiffany says that as Christian has taken Dreamer out of the main event, she has no choice but to partner him with Swagger instead.
Match 1
Singles Match
Tony Atlas (w/Mark Henry)
Vs.
Evan Bourne
Atlas looks like he is in amazing shape and I’ve got a feeling he’ll actually put on a better match than his ‘client’ Mark Henry usually does.
Despite losing the match to a Shooting Star Press, Atlas looked really good for his age and I’d be more than happy to watch him compete in a few more matches, rather than wasting the talent he has stood at ringside cheer leading.
After the match Henry seemed enraged and made a bee-line for Bourne, beating him down and hitting him with a World’s Strongest Slam.
Evan Bourne wins by Pinfall.
Match 2
2 on 1 Handicap Match
Vladimir Kozlov
Vs.
Luke Hawx & Chris Lewie
Here we go again. When will this Job-a-thon ever end? The sooner WWE realise that it isn’t that people are building a hatred for Kozlov but more they don’t CARE about him, the better.
As for the ‘local talent’ in this one, a bit of a mixed bag. Luke Hawx is a fairly well known competitor on the Independent circuit and was quite a big name in the now defunct XPW promotion, wrestling under the name of ‘Altar Boy Luke’.
He trained under Vic Grimes and was a member of MTV’s Wrestling Society X. He has also worked for WWE a number of times, losing to Chuck Palumbo 1 on 1 and to the Big Show as part of a 3 man team.
Chris Lewie on the other hand is a local guy with next to no background and sadly I doubt this match will be the making of him.
As you can imagine the match didn’t last too long, Kozlov dispatching them with minimal effort.
Vladimir Kozlov wins by Pinfall.
Segment 3
Team Talk
Backstage Christian and Swagger have a little team talk. Swagger told Christian as much as they don’t want to partner together he didn’t become the All American American by accepting defeat and basically he can rely on him to do his part.
Main Event Match
Tag Team Match
The Hart Dynasty (w/Natalya)
Vs.
Christian & Jack Swagger
Before things began Natalya crowed on the microphone about how two future champions are taking on two former champions, great stuff.
Tension between Swagger and Christian built throughout the match, beginning with blind tags from both men and then Swagger pushing his partner from the apron to make a tag.
While this was going on The Hart Dynasty took advantage of the situation, gaining the upper hand at every turn and grabbing a handful of near falls.
After taking a serious beating from both men Christian managed to avoid a Moonsault from Tyson Kidd and looked to be heading to his corner to make a tag. Just as Swagger went to tag himself in, Christian moved his hand and slapped his partner around the face, continuing the match and gaining the upper hand.
Just as Christian looked like hitting the KillSwitch, Swagger grabbed him and hung him up over the top rope, leaving The Hart Dynasty to hit a Hart Attack and pick up the win.
After the match all three men began to pick the bones of the former ECW Champion, until Dreamer hit the ring with a kendo stick in hand and cleared them out, saving the man who had driven him through a table less than an hour beforehand.
The Hart Dynasty win by Pinfall.
The Superstars Recap - 11/06/2009
Opening Match
Diva Tag Team Match
Beth Phoenix & Rosa Mendes
Vs.
The Bella Twins
I’ve seen very little of the Bella Twins wrestling as a team, but what I have seen has been quite enjoyable mainly because of how well they work together and the symmetry they display.
Rosa started the match giving Nikki and Brie the chance to show off their skills, however it wasn’t long before Beth was tagged in and things began to turn in her favour.
The Bella’s managed to hold their own for quite a while and even looked like they might pick up the win but thanks to a referee distraction from Rosa, Beth managed to recover and pick up the win seconds later.
Fun diva’s action that was very well wrestled.
Beth Phoenix & Rosa Mendes win by Pinfall.
Match 2
Singles Match
Evan Bourne
Vs.
Zack Ryder
I’m actually really warming to Ryder’s character, probably because he reminds me of 2Cool and the Attitude Era.
He’s also more than competent in the ring and I really hope they give him a chance to run with the character and let it develop, rather than just keeping it the same and canning it when the fans lose interest.
It wasn’t a perfectly wrestled match but it was entertaining and I’d rather see this than Ryder beat some jobber or Bourne take on Mark Henry again any day of the week.
Another good sign for these two guys is how long the match ran for, as it seems like quite a bit of time was invested in letting them go out there and show what they can do, something they did brilliantly while keeping the fans engaged the whole way through.
Bourne picked up the win with the Shooting Star Press in a match that really could have gone either way.
Evan Bourne wins by Pinfall.
Main Event Match
Singles Match
Chris Jericho
Vs.
John Morrison
This was another great match and despite the lack of what most people would consider ‘main event talent’, tonight’s Superstars has been one of the best since it launched in terms of match quality and entertainment value.
The fans have warmed to Morrison amazingly since his face turn and he clearly has a bright future ahead of him in the WWE, demonstrating why in this match.
In my opinion the Intercontinental Championship could be better utilised on someone further down the card, as I personally think Jericho is (and has been for a long long time) main event material.
His promo’s have become a little stale recently but in-ring he is brilliant and it’s slightly shocking that the 2008 Superstar of the Year isn’t even considered to be in the top tier of his brand.
This match went back and forth the whole way through and it looked like Morrison might have things all tied up, scoring two near falls in a matter of minutes, the second with a ‘Flying Chuck’.
Jericho to his credit managed to kick out and fought on, looking for the Codebreaker and Walls of Jericho albeit unsuccessfully.
After avoiding Morrison’s Starship Pain, Jericho once again went for the Walls of Jericho only to have it reversed into a pinning position. Jericho in turn managed to reverse this into a roll up of his own, grabbing the tights for extra leverage and grabbing what some would call an upset victory.
A great episode of Superstars topped off with some good old fashioned heelish behaviour.
Chris Jericho wins by Pinfall.
The Smackdown Summary - 12/06/2009
Opening Segment
Mr. World Heavyweight Championship In The Bank
C.M Punk heads to the ring with his World Heavyweight Championship after the footage of how he won it from Jeff Hardy just seconds after he had won it from Edge.
Punk says although a lot of people see it as stealing the title, he doesn’t and he is proud to have won the title, regardless of how he did it.
He explains that he won the right to take the title how he did at WrestleMania and although it wasn’t the most popular decision in the world, it was the one that was right for him.
He says the title means the world to him and he promises to bring respect, honour and integrity to the title belt but before he can finish his speech Jeff Hardy’s music hits and the 5-minute champion makes his way to the ring.
Jeff points to Punk in a sort of ‘what do you think?’ way and the fans reply by booing a little and then chanting ‘Hardy’.
Jeff says he isn’t out here to complain but he doesn’t think Punk earned it in the way he claims he has. The crowd agree with him and Punk tries to explain himself.
He says that he had decided to cash in that night regardless of who won the match and it was just unfortunate that Jeff was the one that suffered.
Jeff said he thought that Punk was selfish and asked him if he respected his fans, before demanding his title re-match tonight. Punk looked willing to accept before Edge also came to the ring and said he was the one who deserved a re-match.
Jeff tells Edge it is nothing to do with him, and Punk agrees. Edge refuses to leave and says Jeff got lucky, before telling them he has held the title longer than both of them combined.
He then turns his attention solely on Punk, saying he has finally worked out what he wants; to be Edge. He tells him that he’ll never succeed at this and then stakes his claim firmly on the first title match against Punk.
Jeff, clearly tired of talking, attacks both men before hitting Punk with a Twist of Fate and a Swanton Bomb.
Teddy Long then appears and says Edge and Jeff will meet tonight to decide the Number 1 Contender and who will meet Punk on Monday night’s ‘3 for all’ event.
Segment 2
Jericho Gets a Break
Backstage Jericho is waiting for Teddy Long in his office. The Intercontinental Champion asks the General Manager why he is denying him the chance to go for the World Heavyweight Championship tonight.
Teddy says he isn’t and Jericho reels off a laundry list of achievements before telling Long to ‘make things right’ and put him in the match. Long says he is having a hard time coming up with a good argument before putting him in a match against Punk to see if he is worthy.
Match 1
Singles Match
Dolph Ziggler
Vs.
The Great Khali (w/ Runjin Singh)
Strangely J.R began this match by singing Ziggler’s praises and asking his broadcast partner Todd Grisham to explain to him why Khali is ‘Great’.
Khali demonstrated to J.R exactly why by dominating Ziggler for almost the entire match.
Despite hitting very little offence Ziggler picked up an unlikely victory. He demonstrated good ring smarts by rolling out of the ring to avoid a Punjabi Plunge, then grabbing Runjin Singh “by the sideburns”(to quote J.R) and using him as a human shield before sliding back into the ring at a count of 8, causing Khali to lose by count out.
Dolph Ziggler wins by Count Out.
Match 2
Diva Tag Team Match
Michelle McCool & Layla (w/Alicia Fox)
Vs.
Melina & Eve Torres
This match didn’t last too long at all but was pretty good while it did.
All four divas put in good performances, especially Layla who up until this point I hadn’t been overly impressed with.
Alicia Fox was the eventual undoing of Melina and Eve, distracting the Womens Champion long enough for Michelle to hit the Faith Breaker and grab the win.
Michelle McCool & Layla win by Pinfall.
Match 3
Tag Team Match
The Worlds Greatest Tag Team
Vs.
John Morrison & R-Truth
Before the bell rang R-Truth got a little more time on the microphone. He said The Worlds Greatest Tag Team getting back together was like Vanilla Ice and M.C. Hammer getting together to do a rap song; no one wants to hear that, and no one wants to see them.
Benjamin and Haas started well, working together to wear down R-Truth, isolating him in their corner as much as possible.
J.R and Grisham talked about how Haas and Benjamin aren’t technically reunited as a tag team and this is the reason they aren’t being introduced as a team at the start of matches, but I’m going to keep using their team name because it’s that damn good.
Truth eventually managed to get the tag to Morrison, who came in and began to dominate both members of the opposing team.
After hitting the Flying Chuck on Haas it looked like things might be over, but Benjamin managed to get back into the ring and break the count. After Truth had taken care of The Gold Standard, Morrison hit Haas with a Moonlight Drive/Starship Pain combo to pick up the victory.
John Morrison & R-Truth win by Pinfall.
Match 4
Champion Vs. Champion Match
Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho
Vs.
World Heavyweight Champion C.M Punk
Despite the championship connotations implied, neither belt is on the line in this match.
Jericho came to the ring still carrying Mysterio’s mask, then cut a promo about how he has achieved everything he had set out to do whereas 99.9% of the fans are failures.
He holds up Rey’s mask and says he feels that he has done Rey a favour, setting him free from his masked prison. Now he can walk down the street freely, not having to look over his shoulder and wonder if someone has recognised him for who he truly is.
Jericho then says that rather than thanking him, Mysterio has disappeared like a coward. So tonight he plans on exposing C.M Punk, guaranteeing that he will prove his is better and win the match.
Slightly different to his usual rants and therefore a little bit more entertaining.
This wasn’t a bad match, with momentum swinging back and forth throughout. Punk almost landed a GTS just before the commercials but Jericho was smart enough to avoid it and roll to the outside to compose himself.
A little while later Jericho gained the upper hand by drop-kicking Punk off the apron to the outside, then locked on a sleeper to wear him down.
Punk eventually broke free and things went back and forth some more before Jericho hit a Codebreaker and looked to have it wrapped up. Punk wisely used the ropes to break the count and seconds later finally hit a GTS to pick up the victory.
C.M Punk wins by Pinfall.
Main Event Match
#1 Contenders Match for the World Heavyweight Championship
Jeff Hardy
Vs.
Edge
Punk joined the commentary team for this match, I assume to add excitement, something I doubt he will achieve.
Both men were reported to be carrying injuries from the match at Extreme Rules and as a result this was a much slower paced match than you’d expect from Edge and Jeff.
Punk wittered on about not seeking acceptance from the crowd and tried to justify his decision of cashing in the briefcase while both guys in the ring played on their sore spots.
This was and wasn’t a good match at the same time.
Let me explain: it was good in the sense that both guys really pushed how beaten up they had been at Extreme Rules and to say they were meant to sell these injuries, they put on a very good match. However, it was bad in the sense that both men (Edge in particular) honed in on an injured body part and then worked on it the whole match; something I personally don’t enjoy watching for too long.
Jeff hit the Twist of Fate and headed to the top rope to look for a Swanton, but due to his injured legs he couldn’t get up there fast enough and Edge rolled to the outside.
On the outside Edge threw Jeff into the Champion, angering Punk so much that he attacked Edge, causing Jeff to lose by D.Q.
Back into the ring somewhat of a 3 way brawl erupted, with Punk being the last man standing.
Backstage Teddy Long decided to make the match on Raw a Triple Threat Match for the World Heavyweight Championship.
Edge wins by Disqualification.
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