Weekly Rundown: 9th – 13th March 2009
Raw 09/03/2009
ECW 10/03/2009
Smackdown 13/03/2009
The Raw Review - 09/03/2009
Opening Segment
‘Coming up on tonights show’ & HBK replies to Taker
A video replays the events of last week’s Raw and then teases a look at the attack on Triple H from Smackdown’s main event, promising it later in the show, as well as an interview with Randy Orton from his home in St Louis, Mo.
We are also informed, just minutes after being led to believe the attack on Triple H was one of the worst there has ever been in the WWE, that Triple H will in fact face Rhodes and DiBiase tonight in a 2 on 1 match, leading me to believe this ‘beating’ can’t have been that bad.
Shawn Michaels opens Raw properly this week by replying to the amazing promo delivered by The Undertaker on Smackdown last week. Shawn told the fans that he had sent Taker a little present last week in the form of a HBK WrestleMania highlights package, and while he has a lot of respect for Taker he is in no way afraid of him.
Unsurprisingly The Undertaker replied in exactly the same way, interrupting Shawn’s promo with a WrestleMania highlights package, before appearing behind him in the ring.
The two had a verbal confrontation in which HBK said he shouldn’t have to qualify to face anyone at WrestleMania and The Undertaker again pulled an amazing promo out of the bag , despite fluffing his lines and seemingly forgetting what Pay Per View the two were set to fight at.
Basically both men said they were going to win the match at Mania, Taker referring to his past success as evidence and HBK concluding the promo by reminding The Undertaker that he had never beaten the Showstopper, and assuring him that he never would.
Match 1
JBL Vs. C.M Punk (c) for the Intercontinental Championship
I can’t help but feel that this is somewhat of a fall from grace for JBL, but fair play to him for being prepared to drop down to the I.C level rather than hover around the World Title picture with no real chance of re-gaining it.
As for the match itself, I wouldn’t say it was a car-wreck, but understandably it wasn’t a contender for match of the year either. It didn’t really feel like the two had gelled but despite this it was still an enjoyable match, partially down to the finish where JBL raked Punk’s eyes to prevent being hit with the GTS, then landed a big Clothesline from Hell to pick up the victory and the title.
JBL wins by Pinfall and becomes the NEW Intercontinental Champion.
Segment 2
JBL, the G.M and the Orton Interview pt 1
Backstage JBL thanks General Manager Vikki Guererro for the opportunity and she informs him that as she did something for him, he has to return the favour and do something for her. Before we can find out what this ‘something’ is Edge appears and asks to be alone with his wife then begins quizzing her about what Cena had whispered in her ear at the contract signing on Smackdown.
She refused to tell him, claiming it was unimportant and eventually he agreed, saying the only important thing was that the contract signing went ahead as planned tonight.
After this Michael Cole began the satellite interview with Orton and his wife Samantha. Cole asked why Orton had decided to violate the ‘no physical contact before WrestleMania’ stipulation to which Orton requested the footage from Smackdown be shown.
Afterwards Orton said he wouldn’t consider it a violation, but more a restraint. He explained how he could have punted Triple H in the head like he had to Shane and Vince, or hit him with an RKO, but he didn’t and is proud of that self control. He’s said that despite the beating he is sure that Triple H’s pride will push him to compete tonight and at WrestleMania.
After this Michael Cole asked if Orton would be prepared to answer more questions throughout the show. Orton replied by saying he wasn’t going anywhere as he was planning on watching the main event.
Match 2
Melina Vs. Maryse in a Champion Vs. Champion Match
A selection of Raw and Smackdown Diva’s surrounded the ring for this one, apparently to support their brand’s Champion in this bout.
Despite the number of ladies involved in this match, it really didn’t last long at all and was pretty uneventful until after the match had finished.
The match was won by Maryse when she aggressively dragged Melina from the second turnbuckle and covered her for the 3 count. Shortly afterwards it broke down into a brawl, but rather than working with brand unity, all the face diva’s teamed up to throw the heel diva’s out of the ring.
Maryse wins by Pinfall.
Segment 3
Contract Signing
Before the contract signing Vikki Guererro announced a 25-Diva battle royale at WrestleMania featuring women from Raw, Smackdown, ECW and ‘past WWE history’ as she described it. The winner will be crowned ‘Miss WrestleMania’… anyone hear Mae Young’s coffin creaking open?
Back to the business at hand, The Big Show and Edge once again meet in the ring to sign the contract for WrestleMania. After some inane banter in which Edge claimed he was better than Hulk Hogan, both men signed the contract and business looked to be concluded, until once again John Cena made his way to the ring.
After some more waffle Vikki confirmed what we already knew, that Cena would also be in the WWE Championship match at WrestleMania. He signed the contract and then claimed he had told her that he loved her on Smackdown, that he wanted to be with her and that was the reason she had put him in the match. Leaving the audience shocked, Edge and Big Show irate and Vikki looking bemused, Cena began to head to the back.
Edge stopped him from leaving and told Vikki to tear the contract up. Cena said she wouldn’t do that, and that he couldn’t live a lie any longer, before rolling a video of Vikki and The Big Show being much more than business partners.
Match 3
Chris Jericho Vs. Kofi Kingston in a Money in the Bank Qualification Match
Surely Kofi has this one in the bag with Jericho likely to face someone with a ‘Legendary’ stature at Mania, if his recent promos are anything to go by.
Jericho bossed the majority of the match, and looking like winning it with the Walls of Jericho, before a legendary ‘Woooo’ hit the speakers and The Nature boy appeared at the top of the ramp, providing just enough of a distraction for Kofi to land a spinning kick and pick up the win.
Kofi Kingston wins by Pinfall and qualifies for the Money in the Bank Match.
Segment 4
The Orton Interview pt 2 and Jericho challenges Flair
Cole began to ask Orton why he was at home rather than at the arena, which Orton interpreted as a suggestion that he is hiding. He assured everyone that it was exactly the opposite, and that he was staying away for the best interests of Triple H. Pretty pointless segment really, they could have just asked him that earlier on.
After this Todd Grisham spoke to Jericho, who challenged Flair to come out of retirement and face him next week on Raw. He finished by saying if Flair accepted he assures him it will be his final match.
Koko B. Ware was then announced as the latest Hall of Fame Inductee.
Match 4
Rey Mysterio, Finlay and Christian Vs. The Miz & Morrison and Kane
Finally Christian gets some primetime exposure since returning to the WWE last month! He started this match off at a frantic pace and looked very impressive both when delivering and selling moves.
It didn’t take long for this one to break down. The Miz took himself out of the match and after Christian and Finlay had cleared the ring of Kane, Rey Mysterio was left to pick up the victory over John Morrison with a 619.
Rey Mysterio, Finlay and Christian win by Pinfall.
Main Event Match
Triple H Vs. Priceless in a 2 on 1 Handicap Match
Before the match it was announced that next week The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels will team up to take on JBL and Vladimir Kozlov, there was also some crap about Cena’s new movie.
After playing his music twice Triple H still hadn’t showed and Lilian announced Priceless as winners. Orton appeared on the screen and said no one should be smiling as Triple H had let everyone down.
While this continued Orton’s wife went to answer a knock at the front door, which turned out to be, you guessed it; Triple H. He broke his way in with a sledgehammer, then proceeded to work his way through the house smashing anything and threatening anyone in his path.
Orton jumped him and the two brawled in the living room, Triple H eventually got the upper hand and threw Orton through his own living room window onto the lawn outside. He continued the assault until the local police department showed up and took him away, ending yet another brilliant segment in this feud, and a pretty good episode of Raw.
Priceless win by forfeit.
The ECW Digest – 10/03/2009
Before the show starts properly a video plays promoting tonight’s Tri-Brand Battle Royal for one of the remaining places in the Money in the Bank match at WrestleMania. I must admit I personally love battle royals, so I’m really looking forward to this one. I’d love to see Christian win it, but I think he’ll be pre-occupied with Jack Swagger come WrestleMania.
Opening Match
The Miz (w/John Morrison) Vs. Primo (w/Carlito and The Bella Twins)
John Morrison and Carlito joined the commentary team for this match, sniping at each other for the duration. In the ring Primo and The Miz put on a very good match, perhaps showing that there is more to these two than just tag team ability.
We learned some things during this match: Matt Striker speaks Spanish, The Bella Twins have big chins and Carlito is the second Puerto Rican Intercontinental champion. Hey, I never said they were interesting things.
Towards the end of the bout there was a flurry of potentially match winning moves and near falls, which resulted in The Miz missing his trademark corner splash for the second time this week, giving Primo an opportunity to hit the Backstabber and pick up the win.
Primo wins by Pinfall.
Match 2
Tyson Kidd (w/Natalya) Vs. D.J Gabriel (w/Alicia Fox)
Up until now the only thing we’ve seen of Kidd is him squashing various ‘local talent’ wrestlers. I assumed this one would be different although after a few minutes it seemed to be heading the same way, with Kidd bossing the match and having 99% of the offence.
Despite initially appearing quite small, Gabriel has a ridiculous amount of raw strength and there were a few points in this match where he displayed it, however it was Kidd who grabbed a victory with his trademark springboard elbow drop. Another impressive victory from the Hart Dungeon graduate.
Tyson Kidd wins by Pinfall.
Match 3
Tri-Branded Money in the Bank Qualifying Battle Royal
I’ll try my best to list all the participants here as they enter, although no doubt there will be a commercial break at some point and I’ll miss a chunk out:
- JTG
- Shad
- Vladimir Kozlov
- Christian
- William Regal (w/Layla)
- The Great Khali
- Goldust
- Kung Fu-Naki
- Tommy Dreamer
- Chavo Guererro
- Dolph Ziggler
- Jimmy Wang Yang
- Ricky Ortiz
- Paul Birchill
- Charlie Haas
- R-Truth
(As predicted there was a rather long ad break after entrant 6 so I’ve just listed all the entrants from then on, but does it really matter what order they came down the ramp? Nah didn’t think so)
Elimination Order
- Ricky Ortiz eliminated by The Great Khali
- Kung Fu-Naki eliminated by Vladimir Kozlov
- Vladimir Kozlov eliminated by The Great Khali
- The Great Khali eliminated by Everyone
- Jimmy Wang Yang eliminated by Charlie Haas
- Goldust eliminated by Dolph Ziggler
- Dolph Ziggler eliminated by Shad
- Charlie Haas eliminated by JTG
- Paul Birchill eliminated by Cryme Tyme
- Shad eliminated by JTG
- JTG eliminated by R-Truth
- Tommy Dreamer eliminated by William Regal
- R-Truth eliminated by Chavo Guererro
- William Regal eliminated by Christian
- Chavo Guererro eliminated by Christian
As with most battle royal style matches (excluding the Royal Rumble) this one seemed a little rushed, with rapid-fire eliminations leaving some superstars totally under-used.
For example, Ortiz has some real talent yet he was thrown over the top rope within the first 5 seconds. I understand that when there are so many wrestlers in the ring at the same time there is a real risk of injury, but still it could have lasted a little longer.
Other than that slightly nit-picky point I have to say it was a very enjoyable match and although I didn’t expect that it would happen, I’m glad Christian won. If he should go on to pull off a victory at WrestleMania, and Edge can do the same, we could be in for a very interesting storyline in the weeks following.
Christian wins and qualifies for the Money in the Bank Match.
The Smackdown Summary - 13/03/2009
A video plays showing highlights from the Edge/Big Show/Cena contract signing (See segment 3 in the Raw Report), with a cheesy sound track and some video editing thrown in for good measure.
Tonight’s main event is scheduled to be The Undertaker Vs. Kozlov in a re-match from a few weeks ago (yawn).
Opening Match
Edge Vs. Kofi Kingston
So it looks like Kofi finally gets a chance at revenge after Edge ambushed him at No Way Out, stealing his spot in the Elimination Chamber. I’d love to see Kofi have a shot at winning here, but I expect this one will end up going the way of The Rated ‘R’ Superstar, that is unless something distracts him.
This one actually went on longer than I thought it would, and let Kofi demonstrate some of his exciting offense, almost out-shining the World Heavyweight Champion on numerous occasions and picking up a few near falls in the process.
Kofi looked to have the upper hand, hitting a big Steamboat-esque cross body from the top rope, although Edge managed kick out and avoid the follow up, instead landing a big (and I mean BIG) boot of his own.
Kingston fought valiantly and avoided the Spear, but when Edge reversed his enzuiguri style kick and locked in the SharpShooter there was no option but to tap out for the athletic Jamaican.
Great match to kick off the show, The Undertaker and Kozlov are going to have to do better than their last encounter if they want to upstage it.
Edge wins by Submission.
Match 2
The Miz & John Morrison(c) Vs. Carlito & Primo for the World Tag Team Championships
After meeting for Carlito and Primo’s tag title belts and the pair managing to retain, it’s now their chance to become the undisputed tag team champs by winning this one.
If I had to make a prediction, I’d say that the titles will be unified at Wrestlemania in a match between these two teams, so I expect Miz & Morrison to retain here, more than likely by cheating.
In the early going Primo hit a dropkick on John Morrison while Carlito covered The Miz, and due to the proximity of the four men, Primo landed flush on The Miz’s head. It seemed to rattle him for a while and didn’t look like it was planned.
As with the other times these two teams have met, this one went back and forth for the majority of the match and (despite the incident I just mentioned) they seemed to work better together, putting on a very fluid match.
The Miz & Morrison picked up the win as expected when John Morrison hit Carlito with the Moonlight Drive after The Miz had provided the distraction.
If this one is indeed set to be resolved at WrestleMania XXV it will surely have to be some sort of gimmick match, as the two teams have met so many times there isn’t much more they can do in the confines of a standard match.
As a side note, if someone I was supposedly dating kept acting the way The Bella Twins are, flip flopping between which-ever team wins, I’d probably decide I was better off on my own and tell them where to get off, but maybe that’s just me.
The Miz & John Morrison win by Pinfall and retain the World Tag Team Championships.
Segment 1
More Triple H and Orton Hype
After more footage of Triple H invading Randy Orton’s home and the two brawling, in which they had cleverly edited out the bit where Orton fell over the shrubbery in his own garden, J.R speculated on what ramifications there could be from the incident. I love it when it gets this close to WrestleMania, it means I get to write about everything two or three times a Rundown.
Match 3
R-Truth & M.V.P Vs. Shelton Benjamin & Chavo Guererro
This was an odd one for sure, with Chavo and Shelton not on the same page at all. It all began when Shelton refused to tag Chavo early on in this match, instead leaning back on the apron and leaving his partner to be hit with a backdrop.
The two continued to look uneasy with each other, despite dominating large periods of the match and picking up the win when Shelton hit ‘Paydirt’ on M.V.P after somewhat of a distraction from Chavo.
This looks like it could build into an interesting U.S Championship picture after Wrestlemania, especially if Chavo can somehow find his way into the Money in the Bank match.
Shelton Benjamin & Chavo Guererro win by Pinfall.
Segment 2
Matt Hardy Speaks
After the commercials Matt Hardy began to deliver a promo about ‘the black cloud’ over Jeff’s head.
He went over how they both couldn’t compete at last year’s WrestleMania, Matt due to injury and Jeff due to his own issues, yet everyone wanted to know how Jeff was. He then went over all the things leading up to Matt blasting him with a chair at WrestleMania.
Matt then went on to talk about when Jeff’s house burned down, killing his dog. For those that don’t know about this, it was a real-life incident that took place last year, and this isn’t the first time the WWE has used it in a slightly distasteful manner. During a feud between M.V.P and Jeff Hardy it came up, although this time really took it to a new level of bad taste.
Matt pulled out a burned piece of dog-collar, claiming it to be something he plucked from the ashes of his decimated house, and said he wanted to give it to Jeff as a token of his love.
This finally prompted Jeff to come to the ring. He blamed Matt for all the bad things that had taken place, called him sick, twisted and demented, then hit a Gore that even Rhyno would have been proud of. After rolling to the outside Matt continually said he was sorry and that he loved his brother, before getting out of harm’s way and grinning.
I’m not quite sure from this whether we are to assume it was Matt who burned down Jeff’s house, but at times it certainly seemed like it was leaning that way. Interesting developments in this one, I’m now keen to see where this goes.
Match 4
Michelle McCool & Maryse Vs. Maria & Melina
As J.R pointed out early in the match, “there are a lot of ‘M’s in this match.”
It’ll be interesting to see how Michelle and Maryse get along here, with it being well documented recently that McCool has a tendency to turn on her partners as viciously as she sets about her rivals.
This one had barely gotten going when Michelle McCool ‘pulled a Shelton Benjamin on Maryse’ as Tazz called it, refusing to tag in. Melina took advantage of this, rolling the Diva’s Champion up and grabbing the win for her team.
After the match Michelle and Maryse brawled before the referee managed to split the pair up.
Maria & Melina win by Pinfall.
Segment 3
Edge chats to Chavo
Edge again outlines what happened Monday on Raw (just in case someone missed it) to Chavo, who then puts his foot in it by saying he is closer to Vikki than most people, then continues to dig himself deeper by stating the fact that they are only related by marriage and not by blood.
Edge pinned Chavo against the wall and said that no one was going to take the title from him, before storming out.
Match 5
Finlay (w/Hornswaggle) Vs. ‘The’ Brian Kendrick (w/Big ‘Zeke) in a Money in the Bank Qualifying Match
I’d personally like to see Kendrick win this one as I think he would suit the MITB match more than Finlay, although I can imagine Hornswaggle climbing up the ladder so we’ll have to see.
Before the match began Kendrick’s personal bodyguard drilled Finlay in the face, sending the fighting Irishman to the floor and seemingly angering him in the process.
This wouldn’t be ‘Zeke’s last influence in the match, as minutes later Kendrick hid behind him, then slid into the ring and flew through the ropes onto Finlay, who was still distracted by the big man’s presence.
Despite this presence Finlay wrapped up the match with a Celtic Cross and bagged himself the last place in the Money in the Bank Match.
Head over to the WrestleMania Confirmed Matches section to see the full Superstars who have qualified for this Match!
Finlay wins by Pinfall and qualifies for the Money in the Bank Match.
Main Event Match
The Undertaker Vs. Vladimir Kozlov
As I predicted this one was pretty dull for the most part, with most of the excitement coming when the action spilled briefly to the outside. Let’s put it this way, if I’d have recorded it I’d have skipped through the majority of the match.
Undertaker picked up the win and avenged his loss the last time these two met, by hitting a chokeslam and then Tombstone to pick up the three.
Smackdown seemed to be in reverse order for me tonight, with all the high quality matches coming at the start, and then petering out gradually until we got to this pretty dull main event.
In an attempt to spice up this final segment of the Smackdown Summary I’ll remind you not to miss next week’s, which will feature coverage of Smackdown’s 500th Episode! Should be an interesting one and more than likely Tri-Branded.
The Undertaker wins by Pinfall.
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