Weekly Rundown: 29th June – 3rd July 2009
Raw 29/06/2009
ECW 30/06/2009
Superstars 02/07/2009
Smackdown 03/07/2009
Jump to The Raw Review –>
Jump to The ECW Digest –>
Jump to The Superstars Recap –>
Jump to The Smackdown Summary –>
Jump to The 15 Superstar/Diva Draft –>
The Raw Review - 29/06/2009
Opening Segment
Mr. McMahon Introduces a Guest Host
Mr. McMahon kicks off the show and talks about how he won’t be running Raw like Trump had; no refunds for the attending fans and plenty of commercials.
He then goes on to explain that there were certain changes made by Trump that he was unable to prevent, one being a 15 Superstar trade between the three brands.
Another thing he can’t change is the ‘Weekly Guest Host’ instead of a Raw General Manager. Vince says he’s hand picked tonight’s guest host and plans to shake things up VKM style, before introducing The Animal Batista.
Batista makes his way to the ring with his arm in a protective brace. He delivers what is becoming his trademark ‘feels good to be back’ bit and assures the crowd we’re going to have fun tonight.
He announces a 4 man tournament involving The Miz, Cena, M.V.P and Triple H to see who faces Orton at Vengeance Night of Champions.
He began to explain how he had initially turned the role of guest host down but was cut off by Legacy. Orton tells him he shouldn’t have come back and asks what he thinks is stopping the three of them from marching to the ring and tearing him apart.
Batista says nothing is stopping them, except that if they even look at him the wrong way he’s going to fire all three of them, as he has unlimited power over Raw.
Batista promises Orton he doesn’t need to worry about defending his WWE Championship, but should start worrying about the 15 Superstar trade Trump made, as he will face 3 of the 5 Raw aquisitions in a Gauntlet Match.
Match 1
Night Of Champions Semi-Final Match
Triple H
Vs.
M.V.P
An interesting opener here.
Triple H is still favouring the injured knee from The Bashand M.V.P began the match by using it to his advantage, locking on a Figure 4 which The Game eventually escaped from.
M.V.P again used the injury to his advantage, striking the knee to avoid the Pedigree then hitting a big knee of his own to grab a near fall.
Triple H predictably picked up the win however, landing a Pedigree after reversing the Playmaker and progressing to take on either The Miz or John Cena in the tournament final next week.
Triple H wins by Pinfall.
Match 2
Unified Tag Team Title Match
Chris Jericho & Edge (c)
Vs.
Carlito & Primo
After losing the tag titles to Edge and Jericho in one of the most shocking moments of The Bash, The Colons have wasted no time in invoking their rematch clause.
Before the match Jericho says that despite vowing never to appear on Raw again, due to his immense talent he finds himself in front of the cretinous red brand’s audience.
Edge said the reason they are there is because he decided they should form a united front at The Bash, forcing Teddy Long to put them into the tag title match, which they won.
Edge continued to insult the crowd until Carlito and Primo interrupted them and the match got under way.
The Colons started the match with real fire, beating down the new champions and dumping them out of the ring as the show cut to commercials.
During the break Edge and Jericho took control of the match, beating down Primo and isolating him until he finally managed to tag in Carlito who then changed the direction of the match in his favour.
After some very near falls for Carlito the match broke down, with Primo and Jericho brawling on the outside.
Back in the ring Carlito seemed to be in control, but as he went for a springboard Jericho shoved Primo into the ropes, causing his partner to stumble and give Edge the chance to hit a spear and grab the win to retain the titles.
After the match Primo and Carlito argued in the ring. Could this be the beginning of the end for the Colons?
Edge and Chris Jericho win by Pinfall and retain the Unified Tag Team Championships.
Segment 2
Legacy and Batista
Backstage Orton rants about what Batista has done and Priceless agree he has made some poor decisions. Batista enters and tells them that if either Rhodes or DiBiase get involved in Orton’s gauntlet match he’ll fire them on the spot.
Match 3
Night of Champions Semi-Final Match
John Cena
Vs.
The Miz
In comparison to their match at The Bash The Miz had way more of the upper hand tonight, suggesting he had learned from his mistakes and was eager to pick up the win and progress to the final of the tournament.
However, the result was exactly the same with The Miz tapping to the STF. Cena progresses and will face Triple H in the final next week on Raw.
John Cena wins by Submission.
Segment 3
Million Dollar Guest Host
Backstage Rhodes tries his best to build Orton’s confidence for tonight’s match while DiBiase speaks to someone on the phone.
Orton tells Rhodes to shut up and DiBiase concludes his call, before telling them they had nothing to worry about as his dad, The Million Dollar Man will be next week’s ‘guest host’.
Orton asks him how that will help him tonight, then storms out of the locker room.
Match 4
Divas Championship #1 Contenders Fatal 4 Way Match
Kelly Kelly
Vs.
Mickey James
Vs.
Beth Phoenix
Vs.
Rosa Mendes
Maryse joined the commentary team for this one and didn’t seem to play as big of a heel as she has done in previous weeks, praising the other divas in the ring and bantering with King at Michael Cole’s expense.
Phoenix dominated a lot of the match, which was largely impressive by diva standards and saw all 4 women come close to winning it on multiple occasions.
Mickey James eventually picked up the win after taking out all of her opponents and pinning Rosa Mendes.
Maryse and Mickey then squared up to each other and played a few mind games before Mickey commiserated Kelly Kelly in the ring.
Mickey James wins by Pinfall and becomes the #1 contender for the Divas Championship.
Match 5
Singles Match
Kofi Kingston
Vs.
The Big Show
At the start of the match Michael Cole informed everyone that if Show won he would get a shot at the United States Championship at some point in the future.
After some back and forth the action spilled to the outside where both men were eventually counted out. I’m not sure where they are going with this one, but there has to be more to it than this.
Match ends in a Draw by Double Count Out.
Main Event Match
3 on 1 Gauntlet Match
Randy Orton
Vs.
???
???
???
So we finally get to find out who has been traded to Raw, after having it continually dangled in front of us throughout the show.
The first person is …drumroll please…
Evan Bourne Drafted to RAW from ECW.
So ECW’s master of the Shooting Star Press is the first of Raw’s 5 acquisitions.
Bourne showed exactly why he has been drafted to the WWE’s flagship show, hitting the less than 100% Orton with impressive high flying offence, almost grabbing the win.
Orton showed why he is the WWE Champion though, recovering quickly to avoid the Shooting Star Press and dispatching Bourne with a 2nd rope RKO to move onto the next opponent…
Jack Swagger Drafted to RAW from ECW.
Now ECW’s All American American is drafted to Raw, who are the extreme brand going to have left at the end of this draft?!
Swagger immediately went and stood on the apron, folding his arms and refusing to compete.
Orton composed himself and looked as confused as everyone else while the referee counted Swagger out.
Swagger then grabbed a microphone and said he has always liked and respected the Champ, saying he wanted to make a lasting impression on his first night, shaking hands with Orton and leaving.
That leaves 1 opponent…
Mark Henry Drafted to RAW from ECW.
ECW’s (and The Worlds) Strongest Man is now on Raw and it looks like the extreme brand has been left pretty much toothless.
Henry says he also respects Orton and wants to make a good first impression, pushing him to the ground then setting up camp on the apron in the same way Swagger had.
However, when count got to 5 Henry prevented the referee from going on, instead smirking and waving his finger at Orton in a ‘no no no’ kind of way.
He re-entered the ring where Orton got to his knees and began to beg him for mercy. Henry denied this request and began to hurl the champion around the ring.
After some more back and forth Henry hit the Worlds Strongest Slam and picked up the victory while the crowd cheered for him like he was a life long fan favourite or something.
Mark Henry wins by Pinfall.
After the match Henry paraded around the ring celebrating while the fans continued to cheer. Batista then came out from the back and Henry applauded him while the commentary team said what a good job The Animal had done, before reminding everyone of the Cena Vs. Triple H match next week.
Could this be the start of a big push and possibly a face turn for Henry?
Who are the other 12 drafted Superstars?
Has ECW got any big names left?
and most importantly…
Where the hell is Tony Atlas?!
A lot of questions left to be answered by this pretty good episode of RAW.
The ECW Digest – 30/06/2009
Opening Segment
The 15 Superstar Trade
Tiffany starts the show in the ring and says that the landscape of ECW has changed drastically, with a lot of talent going out but also a lot more coming in both from the draft and the new talent initiative.
She gets the show on the road by introducing ECW’s first draft and a new ECW Superstar to take him on.
Shelton Benjamin Drafted to ECW from SMACKDOWN.
Match 1
Singles Match
Shelton Benjamin
Vs.
Yoshi Tatsu
Before the match Shelton mocked Tatsu with a fairly racist promo in which he put on an oriental voice, walked around the ring bowing to the crowd and pretended to be a sumo wrestler.
Shelton’s mockery ended up costing him the match, allowing the new talent to pick up a début win with a huge kick to The Gold Standards temple as he continued to bow.
A pretty impressive début for Tatsu but I’ll reserve judgement on him until I’ve seen him actually wrestle a match.
Yoshi Tatsu wins by Pinfall.
Segment 2
New Talent Talk-Show
Another graduate of the new-talent initiative, Abraham Washington, is introduced as the host of a self-named show segment, much like The Highlight Reel, Cutting Edge, V.I.P Lounge etc.
Washington says The Bash was ‘off the hook’ and then goes on to call Vince McMahon dumb for selling then re-purchasing Raw for twice the price. He then makes a joke about Cena’s latest movie not doing too well on and says The Miz would have appreciated that joke had he not got his ass handed to him two nights in a row.
He then introduces 2 more ECW trade acquisitions…
Nikki Bella Drafted to ECW from RAW.
Brie Bella Drafted to ECW from RAW.
Yup, that’s right, just over 3 months after The Bella’s went to Raw from Smackdown, they have now been bumped onto WWE’s third show.
Washington asks a few questions in a pretty obnoxious manner, trying to find out differences between the two and eventually asking who is the better athlete.
The Bella’s argue over this and seem to be at each other’s throats until Abraham attempts to sit between them and they decide to put their differences aside and leave together as quickly as possible.
I’m pretty sure Washington is headed down the Heel route, although this début seemed a little tentative, perhaps as if the creative team were trying to gauge how well the fans warmed to him.
Match 2
Singles Match
Sheamus
Vs.
Oliver John
I’ve heard a little about Sheamus and I’m pretty sure the plan was originally to pair him up with Finlay in a cliche’d Irish heel tag team, which could explain Finlay’s recent heelish actions.
Before the match Sheamus said he planned on controlling ECW, same old stuff you’d expect from a new heel.
I’m pretty sure Oliver John isn’t part of the new talent initiative, but rather a ‘local talent’, or jobber as they are better known.
He got destroyed by Sheamus for pretty much the whole match and lost when the new Irishman hit a kind of Rock Bottom into a Backbreaker to grab the win.
Impressive finisher and a very impressive début, although as with Tatsu I’ll reserve judgement until I see him in a more competitive match.
Sheamus wins by Pinfall.
Segment 3
Another Draft/Fresh Face
William Regal Drafted to ECW from RAW.
William Regal is ECW’s 4th drafted Superstar and is shown chatting to his partner for tonight’s main event; Vladimir Kozlov.
Regal says he plans on making an impact on his ECW debut and doesn’t want to be embarrassed. Kozlov seems to mishear and confirms that he will embarrass Regal before heading off.
After the break Tyler Reks approaches Zack Ryder and introduces himself, saying he thinks Ryder has some great skills. Rex then tells Ryder they are facing each other on Superstars and he replies by telling him he better be prepared.
After a Raw recap Christian and Dreamer have a little chat backstage before their tag match tonight, with Dreamer saying it isn’t the best time for them to talk about facing each other when they have a tough challenge up next.
Main Event Match
Tag Team Match
Vladimir Kozlov & William Regal
Vs.
Tommy Dreamer & Christian
This match wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t great either, the ending being a shining example of how dull and average the match was.
After doing all the damage Regal was tagged out blindly by Kozlov (a tactic Regal had already utilised earlier in the match) and the Moscow Mauler picked up the 3 count with a slow, boring one handed choke bomb. It’s nice to see weeks of squashing ‘Local Talent’ has improved his skills in such a way.
The most interesting thing I noticed on ECW tonight is that The Hart Dynasty were nowhere to be seen. It seems odd that one of the fastest growing factions in the WWE (let alone the only one on ECW) were completely omitted from the show.
I highly expect them to have been drafted to one of the bigger shows, even though there is a doubt over how quickly they would be able to adapt with so little ‘mainstream’ coverage.
A bit of a mixed bag as ECW shows go, I’ll look forward to seeing some of the new talent developing.
Vladimir Kozlov & William Regal win by Pinfall.
The Superstars Recap - 02/07/2009
Opening Match
Singles Match
Santino Marella
Vs.
‘The’Brian Kendrick
This match began slowly with holds from both men and never really picked up much momentum.
Kendrick beat down Santino then began slapping him and shouting abuse. This seemed to fire Santino into life and after he did a kind of ‘Hulking up’ thing he took control of the match, picking up a pinfall shortly afterwards.
Even when winning Santino seemed somewhat of a comedy character and as much as I think he works as a good guy, it’s a shame that has to come at the expense of how his in-ring ability is portrayed.
Santino Marella wins by Pinfall.
Match 2
Singles Match
Charlie Haas
Vs.
John Morrison
The result of this one should be a no-brainer, with Morrison receiving a monstrous push while Haas languishes in Benjamin’s shadow. However, now The Gold Standard has been moved to ECW it’s unclear whether Haas will get a singles push or become Smackdown’s resident jobber.
Based on this result it looks like the latter, with Morrison scoring a Moonlight Drive/Starship Pain to pick up the win in a match that Charlie actually controlled for long periods.
John Morrison wins by Pinfall.
Match 3
Singles Match
Zack Ryder
Vs.
Tyler Reks
One of the latest names to appear as part of ECW’s New Talent Initiative, Reks has been geared up with a laid-back surfer gimmick.
He had a pretty impressive début against Ryder and scored a very near fall after a good combination of moves, but it was his inexperience that inevitably cost him the match.
Reks jumped to the top rope but didn’t have time to hit whatever he intended, giving Ryder the chance to kick his heel and knock him off, hitting the Zack Attack for the win moments later.
Zack Ryder wins by Pinfall.
Main Event Match
Singles Match
C.M Punk
Vs.
Edge
I haven’t put as much effort into Superstars this week as I usually try to, mainly because it feels like it is quickly becoming a pointless show. Sure, there are occasionally some good matches on it, and one episode a few weeks back was pretty amazing, but there doesn’t seem to be much relevance to anything that happens on there any more.
I’ll keep writing it up for a while and see if it improves, but it feels like it is becoming the new Heat/Velocity and I can’t imagine many people are that eager to read about what happens each week, as none of it is overly relevant to Raw/Smackdown/ECW.
As for this match, it wasn’t too bad actually. Back and forth action in the ring while the commentary team talked about Punk’s ongoing feud with Hardy and how Edge had a good night at The Bash but still wants the World Heavyweight Title back around his waist.
Punk almost landed a GTS but Edge managed to escape and then rake the champ’s already damaged eyes. This led to Punk forefitting the victory as he couldn’t see.
After the match Josh Mathews entered the ring and asked Punk if he would have done the same if it was a title match. Punk said his eye is more than a little injured and if he can’t see he can’t wrestle but said he would be more than happy to give Edge a re-match when he has recovered.
The fans booed Punk and chanted ‘You Suck’ as a very mediocre episode of Superstars came to an end.
Edge wins by Forfeit.
The Smackdown Summary - 03/07/2009
Opening Segment
C.M Punk
Punk makes his way to the ring after being introduced and is greeted with a chorus of boos and generally luke warm reception.
He says he’s sick and tired of hearing about the ‘controversy’ from The Bash, refuting the claims that Jeff had won the title only for the decision to be reversed and that he got disqualified on purpose to retain the title belt.
He showed clips of both incidents and while it did seem pretty clear that his foot was under the rope and the match was rightfully continued, the kick he ‘accidentally’ delivered to the referee was disputable to say the least.
Punk then showed a clip of Jeff’s reaction following the match, saying the way in which he snapped and attacked him was disgraceful. Punk said he would never take a shortcut to win and if Jeff wants a re-match (which he has apparently been asking for) he has to come out and apologise for the accusations and the attack.
Teddy Long appears instead and books a 1 on 1 rematch at Night of Champions.
Punk says this is fine as long as he makes Jeff apologise, however Teddy refuses to do so and instead pairs them up for tonight’s main event against Edge & Jericho.
Jeff comes out and continues to accuse him of getting intentionally disqualified. The two scuffle then Punk says they need to get on the same page or the new Unified Tag champs are going to rip them apart. He advises Jeff to ‘just say no’ which didn’t really make sense at the time although it was clearly a nod towards Jeff’s drug-filled past and Punk’s straight edge lifestyle.
Match 1
Singles Match
Ricky Ortiz
Vs.
Finlay
Finlay Drafted to SMACKDOWN from ECW.
The fighting Irishman is the first of Smackdown’s 5 drafts and I’m quite surprised he’s been moved as I expected him to work with Sheamus on ECW for a while, either in a rivalry or as a team.
Before this match kicked off Ortiz asked Finlay why he was looking glum, then told him to ‘rally up’ which gained him nothing more than a slap around the face.
Ortiz started the match strongly, hitting Finlay with a big bodyslam on the outside. However, it wasn’t too long before Finlay was back in control and picked up the win with a Celtic Cross, although he did appear to tweak his back and looked to be in a bit of pain after the bell rang.
Finlay wins by Pinfall.
Segment 2
Maria and Ziggler
Backstage Maria bumps into Dolph and they both say they had a good time last night when they apparently went out on a date. Maria wished him luck and he said he had a feeling he would get lucky tonight.
Both acted in a pretty shy manner and it looks like there might be a relationship angle building between them, although that would require either Maria to turn heel or Ziggler to turn face, neither of which I can see happening soon.
Match 2
Singles Match
Dolph Ziggler
Vs.
R-Truth
Ziggler showed no signs of turning face in this one, fighting with real agression and showing no respect for his opponent.
It wasn’t a very long match but Ziggler again looked impressive and grabbed the win with a interesting move that seemed to be a mixture of a Russian leg sweep and a neckbreaker.
Dolph Ziggler wins by Pinfall.
Segment 3
Word Up
This weeks word is: “Wangsta: A person who acts and looks like a gangster or thug, but has never done anything gangster or thug-like besides acting or looking like one.”
Cryme Tyme (and Eve) went on ‘Street Safari’ looking for a good example of a Wangsta and after spotting Layla and an Asian Redneck they spot one, in the form of Jesse who is still going with the ‘white member of Cryme Tyme’ act.
Match 3
Singles Match
Rey Mysterio
Vs.
Kane
Well, this is a match we haven’t see in a few months.
For those of you who didn’t see it, don’t remember or have done everything they can to erase it from their mind, Kane and Mysterio met a lot at the start of the year. The matches usually followed the pattern of Kane dominating only for Mysterio to grab a win at the death, a formula that a lot of Rey’s matches seem to follow in fact.
As usual Kane started this match strongly, tossing Mysterio around and generally beating the IC Champion both inside and outside of the ring. Mysterio mounted minimal offence and the few times he did The Big Red Machine quickly regained control.
Mysterio eventually strung together enough to grab a couple of near-falls, then reversed the Chokeslam into a 619 situation which he hit.
In an unusual twist, as Mysterio went for the Seated Senton which would undoubtedly have sealed the match, Kane caught him. He then threw him over his head before landing a big Chokeslam to pick up a rare win against the luchadore.
As Kane went to demolish Mysterio further after the bell, The Great Khali made his way to the ring with a steel chair in hand. Kane decided he would live to fight another day, choosing to flee through the crowd rather than face the 7ft Punjabi Playboy.
Kane wins by Pinfall.
Segment 4
Jericho Interview
Backstage Jericho tells Josh Mathews it gave him great pleasure to see Mysterio get beaten and he will personally see that Rey gets more of the same treatment next week when he invokes his rematch clause.
Edge then butts in and says tonight isn’t about Mysterio but rather about the tag team match they have against Punk and Jeff. He says that their opposition are already at each others throats and with Punk’s injured eye thrown into the mix they should have no problem gaining the victory.
Match 4
Tag Team Match
The Hart Dynasty (w/Natalya)
Vs.
Cryme Tyme
Natalya Drafted to SMACKDOWN from ECW.
Tyson Kidd Drafted to SMACKDOWN from ECW.
David Hart Smith Drafted to SMACKDOWN from ECW.
Three of ECW’s hottest prospects have been drafted to Smackdown as I predicted they would be.
Natalya spent just 3 months on ECW before coming back to the Blue brand, but in that short space of time she has done a lot for the credibility of the Hart Dynasty, who were always going to be bigger than the land of Extreme would allow them to be.
Not a terrible Smackdown début for Smith and Kidd although they failed to get the win over Cryme Tyme, who seem to spend more time in promos than they do in actual competition.
The conclusion of the match saw a bizarre role-reversal where the good team used a distraction to their advantage, JTG interfering and hanging D.H Smith up on the top rope while the referee dealt with Kidd in the opposite corner, leaving Shad to hit his finisher and pick up the pinfall.
Cryme Tyme win by Pinfall.
Match 5
Divas Tag Team Match
Michelle McCool & Layla
Vs.
Melina & Maria
You may be wondering why Michelle isn’t tagging with her usual partner Alicia Fox. Well, the reason for that is…
Alicia Fox Drafted to RAW from SMACKDOWN.
Fox joins The Bella Twins and Natalya on the list of people drafted 3 months ago that have now been re-distributed as part of Trump’s 15 Superstar/Diva Draft.
This was another short match with nothing particular of merit to mention.
Melina picked up the victory with the Splits Standing Leg Drop that she has been using as of late, then stared down McCool who posed with her newly aquired WWE Womens Championship belt.
Melina & Maria win by Pinfall.
Segment 6
Morrison Wants a Shot
Backstage Morrison is in Teddy Long’s office watching the ‘Smack of the Week’ which featured him beating Punk last week.
Morrison says he deserves a title shot at some point after Night of Champions. He and Long then talk about Michael Jackson, performing a bizarre and uncomfortable-to-watch medley of some of his hits that are relevant to the situation. For example, Teddy said the Morrison/Punk match last week was a ‘Thriller’ and Morrison said Punk had acted like a ‘Smooth Criminal’ when he attacked him after the bell.
Fun stuff although I’m not sure that ruining some of his most prolific songs was the best way to pay tribute to the King of Pop.
Main Event Match
Tag Team Match
Chris Jericho & Edge
Vs.
Jeff Hardy & C.M Punk
Edge and Jericho make a pretty good team and although I don’t expect them to stay together too long (their ego’s have been built up far too much and their personal agendas have already caused a little friction between them) I hope they are given a decent run with the belts.
Punk’s heel turn continued in this match. Early on in the match he seemed to re-injure his eye, then did all he could to avoid being tagged into the ring despite his partner desperately needing it.
Eventually Jeff gave him no choice in the matter, slapping the Heavyweight Champion around the face which the referee accepted as a tag.
Punk initially exploded into action, scoring a near fall over Edge. It wasn’t long however before the tag champions honed in on the injured eye, using it to take advantage.
As Punk struggled to get to the corner Jeff seemed to be desperate for the tag, only to collapse clutching his eye when his partner got close enough. Punk carried on, hitting Jericho with the GTS, completely unaware that Edge had made a blind tag.
Seconds later Edge hit the Spear and grabbed the win for his team.
Jeff continued to play on his injured eye until he got to the top of the ramp, where he revealed he was actually fine and had made it all up, much like he believes Punk is doing to avoid losing the title to him.
Edge and Chris Jericho win by Pinfall.
15 Superstar/Diva Draft
Raw Acquisitions
Jack Swagger Drafted to RAW from ECW.
Mark Henry Drafted to RAW from ECW.
Evan Bourne Drafted to RAW from ECW.
Alicia Fox Drafted to RAW from SMACKDOWN.
Gail Kim Drafted to RAW from SMACKDOWN.
ECW Acquisitions
Brie Bella Drafted to ECW from RAW.
Nikki Bella Drafted to ECW from RAW.
William Regal Drafted to ECW from RAW.
Shelton Benjamin Drafted to ECW from SMACKDOWN.
Goldust Drafted to ECW from RAW.
Smackdown Acquisitions
Natalya Drafted to SMACKDOWN from ECW.
Tyson Kidd Drafted to SMACKDOWN from ECW.
David Hart Smith Drafted to SMACKDOWN from ECW.
Finlay Drafted to SMACKDOWN from ECW.
Matt Hardy Drafted to SMACKDOWN from RAW.
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