Weekly Rundown: 13th – 17th April 2009 (Roster Draft 2009 Edition)
Raw 13/04/2009
ECW 14/04/2009
Superstars 16/04/2009
Smackdown 17/04/2009
Jump to The Raw Review –>
Jump to The ECW Digest –>
Jump to The Superstars Recap –>
Jump to The Smackdown Summary –>
The Raw Review - 13/04/2009
As tonight is the 2009 Roster Draft there will be cross-branded matches with the winner’s brand receiving a pick from another at random. Therefore we at WWEBlog.co.uk have decided to make things marginally easier by putting all the picks in pretty little colour coded boxes, to make it easier for you guys to see who’s gone where.
Here’s a little example of the boxes:
XXX Drafted to RAW from ECW.
XXX Drafted to SMACKDOWN from RAW.
XXX Drafted to ECW from SMACKDOWN.
so if you’re scanning for the drafts these are what to look out for. Alternatively you can go to our WWE Draft 2009 page for a no-nonsense look at who’s been moved where.
Anyway, on with the show!
Opening Segment
Draft Explanation and The Animals Return
After extensive coverage of Batista’s return last week a combination of all three commentary teams explain how the draft works and hype up how it will totally alter the face of the WWE and can change Superstars careers. They then inform us of a 15 man Battle Royal to take place for one pick, and that John Cena and Jack Swagger will face off in a Raw Vs. ECW, Champion Vs. Champion match. Battle Royal, Yay!
Batista then comes out in his wrestling attire and grabs a microphone. He says he can’t tell us how good it feels to be back, then goes on to spend 5 minutes trying. He’s apparently been out for 4 months (did anyone miss him?) and the thing that has driven him to return is retribution against Orton for the Punt which put him out. He shows the clip and the crowd are silenced, I can’t decide if they are shocked or just couldn’t care less.
He calls out Orton and says if he doesn’t show then he will tear the arena apart looking for him. When Orton doesn’t show Batista goes to leave the ring but is stopped in his tracks by Shane McMahon who also appears to be wearing wrestling gear.
Shane informs Batista that he and his father were also subject to a Punt from Orton, and the actions taken against his sister were reprehensable. If anyone is getting revenge tonight, it’s going to be him…Cue Triple H. The Game explains that everything Orton has done is because of him, to try and get to him. He then tells Batista that with all due respect the things Orton did to Stephanie means that he should be the one to get revenge tonight and in no uncertain terms he WILL be the one to get revenge tonight.
Vikki Guererro rolls out to the jeers of the crowd and after screeching ‘Excuse me’ in her usual endearing way, explains that she is the one in charge and all three will get their chance of revenge at Backlash, but should they get disqualified or counted out Orton will become the new Champ. She then explains that Orton has the night off, but they will get the chance of revenge by facing Priceless in a 3 on 2 match, with the person getting the pinfall getting a 1 on 1 match against Orton next week. If Priceless win no one faces Orton.
Match 1
Singles ‘Draft Pick’ Match
Evan Bourne
Vs.
Rey Mysterio
Bourne and Rey are former partners and have very similar styles so this should be an interesting one, with the added bonus of finding out whether Raw or ECW will get the first pick! High paced, high flying action is sure to be the basis of this one and I think fans of the Cruiserweight division are in for a treat.
This might not be the last time we see Bourne on Raw in the near future, I’ve got a feeling he will be drafted to one of the big two at some point in tonight’s show.
Mysterio is the first to get a significant upper hand, going for a cover and getting a near fall after slamming Bourne into the guard wall on the outside. This continued throughout the match which didn’t really last long at all, Rey won with a 619/Splash and grabbed the first pick for Raw!
Rey Mysterio wins by Pinfall.
M.V.P Drafted to RAW from SMACKDOWN.
Match 2
Singles ‘Draft Pick’ Match
Kane
Vs.
‘The’ Brian Kendrick (w/Ezekiel Jackson)
Kane made a bee-line for Jackson at the start of the match and delivered a big boot to his face to put him out of the picture, before dispatching with Kendrick in super-quick time to win Raw’s second pick of the night!
Kane wins by Pinfall.
The Big Show Drafted to RAW from SMACKDOWN.
Segment 2
Orton and Vikki, Cena and Swagger
Orton bursts in on Vikki (despite it being his night off) and complains that what she has done tonight is unfair. After a little back and forth Vikki decides that should Priceless win tonight, whoever they pin will face all three members of Legacy in a 3 on 1 match next week on Raw. Stakes are a little higher now.
After this Cena and Swagger have a run-in. Cena makes fun of Swagger calling himself the All American American, saying it sounds ridiculous. This coming from the man who once referred to himself as ‘The Doctor of Thuganomics’. Cena says tonight he will teach him the meaning of respect, yadda yadda yadda. I really hope Swagger wins that one, but I doubt he will.
Match 3
Six Diva Tag Team ‘Draft Pick’ Match
Maryse, Natalya & Michelle McCool
Vs.
Melina, Mickey James & Kelly Kelly
Another match that was over before it began. Despite the Smackdown team not showing much in the way of teamwork, Michelle McCool picked up the pinfall over Mickey James and grabbed the blue brands first pick.
Michelle McCool, Maryse & Natalya win by Pinfall.
Melina Drafted to SMACKDOWN from RAW.
Match 4
Singles ‘Double Draft Pick’ Match
Jack Swagger
Vs.
John Cena
Matches have been pretty short thus far tonight and hopefully now we’re an hour into the show they will have a little more substance to them.
Swagger starts out with a mat wrestling style and takes Cena down, before celebrating a little too long and being knocked from the ring. Swagger again grabs the upper hand and goes for a couple of covers, the second getting a near fall for the ECW Champ, before locking in a Full Nelson and slowing the match down.
Cena eventually fights out of the hold and hits Swagger with a 5-Knuckle Shuffle before setting up for the Attitude Adjustment. Swagger grabs the top rope to prevent what would likely have been the end of the match, and then knocks Cena down before slamming him into the ring post and knocking him from the apron onto the announce table as things cut to commercials.
After the ads Cena has made it back into the ring and looked to be gaining the upper hand, before Swagger reversed and hit what appeared to be an incredibly botched float-over DDT which seemed to have put Cena on dream street.
Seconds later Cena picked up the win against all odds when Swagger attempted a move in the corner which Cena reversed, catching him with the Attitude Adjustment then locking on the STFU. Another two picks for Raw!
After the match and the picks Edge attacked Cena from behind. Cena managed to fight him off as the commentators hyped their Last Man Standing Match at Backlash.
John Cena wins by Submission.
Matt Hardy Drafted to RAW from SMACKDOWN.
Triple H Drafted to RAW from SMACKDOWN.
Segment 3
Legacy Talk Tactics
Rhodes and DiBiase walk in to Orton’s dressing room and ask him what he wants of them. He asks them what their plan of action for tonight is and Cody explains that they aim to keep Shane, Triple H and Batista at odds with each other. He says that they are Egomaniacs and will do anything to get to Orton, so much so that they will probably get disqualified both tonight and at Backlash.
Match 5
Singles ‘Draft Pick’ Match
Santino Marella
Vs.
The Great Khali
Khali squashed Santino on Smackdown last week, and it doesn’t look like this one will be any different. Following Khali’s entrance Beth Phoenix and Rosa Mendes came out and explained that if Khali wins tonight, Santina (Santino’s ‘twin sister’) HAS to be a guest on the Khali Kiss Cam next week.
As predicted Khali squashed Santino, despite the Italians best attempts at avoiding him. A big Chop got Khali the win, a guest on the Kiss Cam and most importantly a Draft Pick for Smackdown.
The Great Khali wins by Pinfall.
C.M Punk Drafted to SMACKDOWN from RAW.
Match 6
Singles ‘Draft Pick’ Match
The Miz (w/John Morrison)
Vs.
Kofi Kingston
As much as I hate to say it this is probably ECW’s best chance to acquire a Draft Pick. Kofi is a great wrestler and the fans love him, but the WWE writers really seem to favour The Miz and Morrison at the minute whereas Kofi has been pretty much a jobber or a match filler as of late.
Kofi showed in this match why he was drafted to Raw from ECW last year, putting in a brilliant performance. Similarly The Miz showed why despite being an ECW superstar he and Morrison have been working all three brands for the past few months.
During the match The King asked the ECW commentary team how many picks they had gained so far and Striker was forced to admit that so far they had won none, but informed him that it was far from over with 6 picks still being available tonight and then the supplementary draft following up on Wednesday (which we will cover on the WWE Draft 2009 Page.)
Kofi hit what the commentators described as ‘Boom Boom Boom’ (a big Leg Drop for anyone wondering) and looked to have the match sewn up, but The Miz kicked out and then avoided the Enziguri. Just as Kofi attempted to go for a top rope move, John Morrison pushed him from the top rope in full view of the referee, gifting Kofi the victory by DQ and yet another pick for Raw.
After the match and the pick The Miz and Morrison embraced before Raw’s newest superstar drilled his former partner and planted him in the centre of the ring.
Kofi Kingston wins by Disqualification.
The Miz Drafted to RAW from ECW.
Match 7
15 Man Battle Royal ‘Double Draft Pick’ Match
Raw
M.V.P
The Big Show
Cryme Tyme (JTG & Shad)
Mike Knox
ECW
Finlay
Tyson Kidd
Paul Birchill
Mark Henry
Ricky Ortiz
Smackdown
Edge
Chavo Guererro
Carlito
Primo
R-Truth
It was too tricky to follow the elimination order in this one as much as I’d have liked to list how it went down. Basically Mark Henry and Big Show began eliminating people left and right in some sort of competition, until it was down to Show, Henry and Edge. It looked like the two would gang up on Edge but after Show delivered a Chokeslam Henry attacked him and the two began to brawl, eventually hanging over the top rope, looking like Edge would predictably sneak up from behind and dump them both out to win the match.
It didn’t quite go down like this however, and Show eliminated Henry with a big right hand before turning on Edge. Show ran at him and Edge craftily pulled the rope down to win the Draft Battle Royal for the second year running.
Edge wins the Battle Royal Match.
Kane Drafted to SMACKDOWN from RAW.
Chris Jericho Drafted to SMACKDOWN from RAW.
Match 8
Singles ‘Draft Pick’ Match
Christian
Vs.
Shelton Benjamin
Shelton showed his athleticism early on in this match, leaping to the top rope and throwing Christian all the way across the ring, which put him in the driving seat.
Christian fought his way back and hit the KillSwitch to pick up ECW’s first draft pick. Surely they won’t be cruel and give them someone useless will they? Oh wait….
Christian wins by Pinfall.
Vladimir Kozlov Drafted to ECW from SMACKDOWN.
Segment 4
Orton’s Mine
Shane and Triple H meet backstage and Shane asks if they are cool before telling him ‘Orton’s Mine’. The Game stops him in his tracks and tells him in no uncertain terms that ‘Orton’s Mine’ before saying he would tell Batista exactly the same thing if he was there, which obviously he is and he walks up behind him. They agree that it is every man for himself, before Shane and Batista leave.
Match 9
Singles ‘Draft Pick’ Match
C.M Punk
Vs.
Matt Hardy
These guys have done the old switch-a-roo tonight, so while both have jumped brands, Raw and Smackdown are still competing for a draft pick here.
Hardy was vicious in the early stages of this match, hitting Punk with some very stiff moves before locking him up in an abdominal stretch and striking him in the ribs. Punk eventually fought out of it and hit a few kicks and knees to swing the match in his favour.
Just as Matt had worked his way back into this one Jeff sprinted to the ring and got involved, taking his brother down and setting him up for a Swanton. Matt avoided it and sprinted to the back, with Jeff in hot pursuit. Upshot is Matt wins by DQ and Raw gets another pick.
Matt Hardy wins by Disqualification.
Maryse Drafted to RAW from SMACKDOWN.
Match 10
Singles ‘Draft Pick’ Match
Chris Jericho
Vs.
Tommy Dreamer
This is the first time Dreamer and Jericho have met apparently and the commentary team made a meal of Jericho’s recent altercations with Legends and the fact Dreamer is considered an ECW Legend.
If Jericho wins this one for Smackdown I think it’s highly likely Rey Mysterio will be the one jumping ship to even out the mid-card title situation. 1 draft pick in 12 for ECW would be cruel but looks more than likely considering Dreamer’s reputation as a jobber as of late, and lets not forget there is always the supplemental draft for them to snap up a few new Superstars.
Dreamer looked like he might win this one for a few minutes, but Jericho hit him with a CodeBreaker when the ECW Original attempted to fly from the top rope, grabbing the last pick of the night for Smackdown. No surprises who it was.
Chris Jericho wins by Pinfall.
Rey Mysterio Drafted to SMACKDOWN from RAW.
Main Event Match
3 on 2 Handicap Match
Priceless (Rhodes & DiBiase)
Vs.
Triple H, Shane McMahon & Batista
So with all the Roster Draft business out of the way things get back to business. Triple H and Batista start the match arguing while Shane goes after both members of Priceless. Batista tagged himself in as soon as Shane got close enough, and then after a beat down on DiBiase, Triple H did the same thing.
Triple H looked like he might score a pinfall over DiBiase but Batista prevented him from doing so, causing just enough of a distraction for Priceless to take advantage and begin an assault on The Game which lasted quite a while before he finally tagged in The Animal; Batista.
Batista took out DiBiase and after Rhodes had prevented a pinfall Shane took him out of the ring. Batista looked like grabbing a pinfall seconds later following a Batista Bomb, but this was prevented by Shane. Triple H tagged himself in and while Batista and Shane brawled on the outside, he hit the Pedigree and grabbed the win.
Next week it will be Triple H Vs. Randy Orton 1 on 1 in a Non-Title WrestleMania ReMatch in London England. (This shouldn’t really have come as much of a surprise to any UK viewers, as all the commercials for Raw in London have been promoting a 1 on 1 match between Triple H and Orton for a few months now.)
Following the match Orton appeared at the top of the ramp and stared down the three men in the ring as this three hour broadcast of Raw came to an end.
Triple H, Shane McMahon & Batista win by Pinfall.
Thanks for joining us for the WWE Roster Draft 2009. To find out more about the picks as well as what goes on in the Supplemental Draft on Wednesday Click Here.
Supplemental Draft
Click Here to discover who else got moved in the wake of the Live Draft on Raw in the Supplemental Draft.
The ECW Digest – 14/04/2009
Opening Match
Singles Match
John Morrison
Vs.
Evan Bourne
Before the match we were treated to clips of The Miz and John Morrison’s ‘break up’ on Raw.
Both guys start off strongly while the commentators wonder aloud how well Morrison will take to singles competition after being in a successful tag team for so long.
An incredibly stiff knee from Morrison sent Bourne to the outside and he would probably have been counted out had his opponent not joined him and thrown him back into the ring. The high flyer fought his way back into the match momentarily but a dropkick to the knee at speed put Morrison right back in control.
Bourne looked like a prime candidate to be drafted to one of the bigger shows and I’m surprised he hasn’t been, but it seems ECW is being slowly moulded into the home of a Cruiserweight division and Bourne will fit in with that perfectly.
After a few more displays of aerial ability Bourne looked like he was planning on hitting the Shooting Star Press, but Morrison prevented it and then hit a Moonlight Drive from the top rope to wrap up the win.
Matt Striker claimed this was a candidate for match of the year and while it was a good match which was allowed to go the distance, it just felt like it was missing *something*.
John Morrison wins by Pinfall.
Match 2
Singles Match
Vladimir Kozlov
Vs.
David Floridia
Here is ECW’s newest member of the roster against a no-chance, no-hope Jobber who probably has 10x more wrestling ability than the ‘Moscow Mauler’.
Predictably Kozlov squashes him and then tells the crowd how he will dominate ECW like he has dominated everywhere else that he has competed.
On the plus side, this match was so short there was no chance Kozlov could mess it up to the point it had to be edited.
Vladimir Kozlov wins by Pinfall.
Segment 1
Jack Swagger’s great Idea
After a plug for the Supplemental Draft Paul and Katie Lee Birchill are seen talking to new ECW General Manager Tiffany. Paul told her that they are worried the supplemental draft might see them split up and wanted reassurance that it wouldn’t happen, which Tiffany told them she couldn’t give them.
Jack Swagger then walked in and pitched the idea that ECW should run a Q & A session with ECW Champion Jack Swagger on the debut of WWE Superstars. Tiffany said she had already planned on having the final of the Chase to Backlash on Superstars but encouraged him to keep thinking of new ideas, before praising him for his match against Cena on Raw.
Main Event Match
Triple Threat Match
Christian
Vs.
Finlay
Vs.
Tommy Dreamer
Mark Henry was eliminated last week leaving these three guys to fight it out to progress tonight. As we just heard the final will be on WWE Superstars.
Matt Striker had to be corrected by his new commentary partner Josh Matthews on the rules of a Triple Threat match. Striker talked about getting disqualified and his partner informed him that it wasn’t possible as Triple Threats are no-dq, which lead to much ribbing from ‘The Rookie’ Matthews.
The match was pretty good, nothing amazing and kind of over-shadowed by the Morrison/Bourne match earlier in the show.
Dreamer was eventually put down by Finlay’s Celtic Cross after a strong performance from all three guys. Finlay and Christian will now meet on Superstars to decide who will face Swagger at Backlash.
The Superstars Recap - 16/04/2009
So the WWE has launched another 1 hour show and this is the debut edition! Whether this show will continue to host new main event calibur matches remains to be seen, but as long as it does we will continue to cover it the best we can here on WWEBlog.co.uk.
Opening Match
Singles Match
The Undertaker
Vs.
Matt Hardy
As Taker makes his way to the ring J.R explains that Superstars will indeed feature new cross branded matches each week. This is The Deadman’s first T.V appearance since his amazing match with Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XXV and he bossed this match early on, until Hardy reversed a Chokeslam and began to work on Taker’s neck.
J.R and Todd Grisham reminded us on numerous occasions that Taker may have damaged his neck at Mania when he flew over the top rope and spiked into the floor. Despite this he once again gained the upper hand by hitting a string of high impact moves before calling for the Chokeslam.
Hardy rolled out of the ring to avoid what would likely have been the end of the match, then grabbed a chair before dropping it and intentionally getting counted out.
As Matt attempted to leave his brother Jeff emerged from the back and beat him down, before throwing him back into the ring where Taker finally got to deliver a Chokeslam.
The Undertaker wins by Count Out.
Match 2
Triple Threat Match
Christian
Vs.
Finlay (w/Hornswoggle)
So one of these two guys will be going to Backlash to face the ECW Champion; Jack Swagger. The Chase to Backlash has been quite entertaining and I wouldn’t mind seeing something similar with more competitors, perhaps featuring a number of gimmick matches at some point in the future, it makes a change from the usual bracket style No. 1 contender tournament.
Finlay and Hornswoggle are still together, I assume either because it is a cross-branded show or more likely because this was recorded before the supplemental draft took place and split them up.
Finlay and Christian put on a pretty good match, nothing too memorable but it certainly had me wondering who would get the win and progress.
Christian picked up the win in the end with the KillSwitch and will head to Backlash for a shot at the ECW Championship. I think the best man for the job won and if any of the guys in the chase stand a chance of taking the belt from Swagger, it’s Christian.
After the match Finlay and Christian shook hands to show there are no hard feelings between the two.
Christian wins by Pinfall and becomes the No.1 Contender for the ECW Championship.
Segment 1
Shane McMahon Interview
Eve Torres speaks to Shane McMahon about his match tonight against Cody Rhodes and the match between Triple H and Randy Orton on Raw.
Shane says he’s disappointed about not facing Orton on Raw but when he thinks about it, without Priceless Orton would not have been carry out the despicable acts against the McMahons and so taking on Cody Rhodes is also a way of getting retribution for what has taken place.
Main Event Match
Singles Match
Shane McMahon
Vs.
Cody Rhodes
Everyone else involved in the Backlash title match has been banned from ringside for this one so we might actually see a match that doesn’t end in a D.Q finish.
Personally Shane McMahon is one of my favourite wrestlers and this whole situation is exactly why. He might not be the best wrestler, but he conveys passion so well and isn’t afraid to take risks in order to entertain the fans.
Shane started aggressively and beat Cody down in the early stages of the match, the hight spot being when he used the ring steps as a platform and launched himself at Rhodes, hitting him with a flying clothesline.
Rhodes managed to gain a foothold in the match by knocking Shane from the apron as he attempted to get back into the ring, sending him flying into the guard rail, back first.
After a commercial break it is apparent that Rhodes has delivered a beating to Shane. He then locks his opponent in a number of submission holds that focussed specifically on the potentially injured back. Shane fought out only to be hit by a bulldog from the second rope, but managed to muster enough strength to kick out of the subsequent pin-cover.
Shane again looked to be taking the upper hand, but Rhodes managed to hit him with a big dropkick to the midsection as he tried to come off the top rope with an axe handle smash.
After once again failing to get score a pinfall, an impatient Rhodes slithered to the outside and grabbed hold of a steel chair. After a repremanding from the referee he decided against using it and the match continued.
Moments later Shane was dumped to the outside, where he grabbed the steel chair and drilled Rhodes with it, losing the match. Shane continued to beat Cody with the chair, before grabbing a trash can and setting him up for the Coast2Coast, which he delivered to perfection.
As the show wrapped up Cole and King reminded us that if Shane should get his team disqualified at Backlash, Triple H would lose his WWE Championship.
Cody Rhodes wins by Disqualification.
The Smackdown Summary - 17/04/2009
Opening Match
Singles Match
Jeff Hardy
Vs.
The Big Show
Smackdown kicked off with new titles featuring most of the drafts they have acquired over the past week but surprisingly tonight’s card still features Superstars from other brands.
I assume this is partially so that Smackdown fans get one last chance to see the people drafted away and partially to build quickly towards the matches at Backlash, as there is a lot of hype to cram in to the few weeks post-Mania.
As for the match, Big Show dominated and kept Jeff’s high flying, quick paced antics at bay until he once again went for, and failed to hit the Big Elbow from the second rope. Jeff hit a DDT before Matt Hardy arrived at the ring to once again attempt a sabotage of his brothers matches.
Jeff used the felled Big Show to springboard over the top rope and take out his brother, but this distraction gave Show just enough time to recover and a few seconds later he drilled Jeff with a big right hand to pick up the win.
After the match Matt stood over Jeff (who seemed to be unconscious) and slapped him around before hitting something like 8 leg drops. Looks like we’re in for at least one more cross-branded match when these two face off again.
The Big Show wins by Pinfall.
Segment 1
Khali Kiss Cam
Khali and Runjin Singh are in the ring when the show returns from a commercial and Singh spends a few minutes telling the crowd how Khali will kiss Santina Marella next week.
He then says to warm-up for that heavenly moment next week, tonight Khali will kiss one of The University of Tennessee’s finest lady volunteers. After looking around the arena for a while Singh actually chooses someone quite attractive, which is strange as usually the ladies chosen are (no offence to them) pretty rough.
Khali kisses her and looks pretty impressed with himself. Singh asks the girl what it was like and she says it was good, he then asks Khali who says that she is beautiful but Santina is the only woman who holds the key to his giant heart.
Match 2
Divas Singles Match
Maryse
Vs.
Gail Kim
Maryse really showed Smackdown what they were losing in this one. Both her and Gail Kim wrestled brilliantly and it’s a shame that this will probably be the last time the two meet for a long while.
Maryse looked like she might win the match, having the upper hand for a lot of the match. Although it was Kim who would snatch the victory at the end of the show by reversing Maryse’s finishing DDT into a unique move that is quite hard to describe.
A good send off for Maryse despite her not picking up the win.
Gail Kim wins by Pinfall.
Match 3
Singles Match
R-Truth
Vs.
John Morrison
R-Truth has been on Smackdown now for like a year and I can’t really remember him in any sort of meaningful rivalry or match. It’s a shame too because he’s got good potential, which he showed in this match with Smackdown débutante; John Morrison.
It turned out to be a successful start to Morrison’s Smackdown career as he put R-Truth down for the three with a Moonlight Drive, while J.R praised his talent and said he saw big things in his future.
John Morrison wins by Pinfall.
Segment 2
Triple H and Orton Face to Face
Triple H is first to the ring and looks like a coiled spring as he awaits the arrival of Orton. Orton’s music plays but the leader of Legacy doesn’t show, instead appearing on the Titan-Tron and telling Triple H he isn’t stupid enough to show up in the ring this close to Backlash.
Orton says that by winning the handicap match last week on Raw, he has alienated his two allies Shane McMahon and Batista. He also says that he isn’t worried about their match next week because he knows that it won’t run longer than 5 minutes before The Game explodes and gets disqualified.
Triple H laughs at this and Orton once again tries to get under his skin by showing footage of the attacks on Stephanie and when he kissed her, as well as asking if Triple H’s kids got the easter basket he sent.
Triple H continues to laugh and Orton snaps and asks him what’s so funny. Triple H explains that he knows something that Orton doesn’t; The match they have on Raw will be a No-Disqualification match. The Game then says that if indeed he did start all this 4 years ago, Monday night on Raw he will end it.
Segment 3
Teddy Long Resolves the Hardy Situation
Matt Hardy and Teddy Long are backstage where Teddy tells him that at Backlash the two of them will fight at Backlash in an I Quit match. Matt says that he will finally be able to kill off any and all faith Jeff’s fans have in him by making him quit in front of them all. Long hints at the fact that Jeff may well destroy Matt, who responds by saying he will complete the ‘clean sweep’ at Backlash.
Match 4
Singles Match
The Undertaker
Vs.
Shelton Benjamin
Whether The Undertaker genuinely injured his neck or not when he flew over the top rope and spiked into the floor at WrestleMania or not remains to be seen, but the commentary team of J.R and Todd Grisham are happily playing on it as he makes his way to the ring.
Shelton starts the match looking a little awestruck which lets Taker dominate for the first few minutes, until The Gold Standard reversed a supplex into (you guessed it) a Neckbreaker, which led to him taking control and gave J.R and Grisham more fuel to go on about the incident at WrestleMania.
Shelton locked on a couple of neck-related holds before Taker began to fight back and twice went for a Chokeslam which Shelton managed to avoid. A big DDT and a German Supplex both saw Benjamin come close to picking up the three count, but Taker would pick up the win when Shelton pushed his luck too far and attempted to deliver a Tombstone which The Deadman reversed into one of his own.
Great match and it seems like they are slowly putting together an angle where The Undertaker has a weakness and is beatable. It’ll be interesting to see where this leads, but to me it has all the hallmarks of a retirement angle in the making.
The Undertaker wins by Pinfall.
Segment 4
Hi…I’m Dolph Zi…
Dolph Ziggler approaches United States Champion M.V.P and began to introduce himself. Before he could finish, Teddy Long walked in and interrupted, shaking M.V.P’s hand instead.
Ziggler then attempted to introduce himself to Teddy but was brushed aside. Long said he’s sad to see him leave but he knows he will tear things up on Raw. M.V.P thanked Long for signing him and Teddy said although he had been a pain in his behind ever since he doesn’t regret doing it.
Long then said he had a friend who wanted to meet M.V.P; Sherri Shepherd from The View. M.V.P looked interested and Long told him to focus on his match tonight first.
Match 5
Singles Match
M.V.P
Vs.
Dolph Ziggler
Ah so now it makes sense. Ziggler is apparently being built up into a kind of Lex Luger ‘Narcissistic’ persona which should be very interesting if they can pull it off.
Ziggler plays a very good heel when he’s in the ring and if the crowd get behind him I can really see a future for him, despite his *ahem* cheer squad past. M.V.P was the clear favourite to win this one but Ziggler managed to pull of a real upset win by rolling up the U.S Champ and pulling his tights, showing that the WWE creative team may also think he has good potential.
After the match Ziggler grabbed a micraphone and finally got to introduce himself.
Dolph Ziggler wins by Pinfall.
Main Event Match
Singles Match
Batista
Vs.
Ted DiBiase
Batista began this match looking to level things up in terms of win/loss as Shane McMahon had lost against Cody Rhodes on Superstars and it didn’t take long before he was setting DiBiase up for a Batista Bomb. DiBiase managed to escape and began working on The Animal’s left knee which worked brilliantly and lead to some big praise from the commentary team.
DiBiase looked to wrap the match by delivering Dream Street, but Batista reversed it and hit the Spear before picking up a victory against the run of the match with a Batista Bomb.
Great performance from DiBiase who seemed to be adopting Orton’s in-ring style to some extent. I wouldn’t have minded seeing him win but I understand that Batista needed the victory to give both himself and Triple H’s team momentum going in to Backlash.
Batista wins by Pinfall.
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