Month: February 2021

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RAW Report 5/21/07

February 11, 2021 | News | No Comments

The first RAW after JD starts with a recap of last night’s PPV. Lashley faces off against the three and pins Shane. Vince glares from the ramp with some hair on his head. He then tells Lashley he didn’t win the ECW Championship because he didn’t beat Vince.

Lashley comes down to the ring. JR says he’s been solemn all day but has a bit of a smile now. “Bobby,” chant. He takes a mic and says e needs to beat Vince to get the ECW Title back. He proposes a match for tonight against Vince. “Bobby,” chant.
Vince’s music hits and he comes out wit Shane and Umaga. They stay on the stage – Vince without a skull cap – and get booed. Vince asks if Bobby’s calling him out. His answer is no. He had his obligatory rematch and couldn’t do it. Besides, Vince is looking forward to One Night Stand. The one night where everything is defended under extreme rules in a street fight. He will face the number one contender – The Blue Meanie. “You suck,” chant.
Bobby asks why not him.
Vince says he’s already answered that.
Shane takes over and says no one beats his father in a street fight. He’s in-Vince-able. He’s beaten Austin, Taker, HHH, Ken Shamrock, Shane himself and Steph. Shane says if Bobby wants a street fight, he’s got one.
Vince says Bobby’s on. But there’s one stipulation, tonight he has to beat every one of is opponents – he’s running the gauntlet.

Video of HBK down with Orton standing over him. JR says HBK’s career was dealt another blow as he got another concussion.

– Commercial

Promo for the next SNME on June 2nd.

Flair’s music and he comes down to the ring wearing his mustard colored robe with white feathers. Carlito comes out for a re-match from JD.
Carlito rushes in and Flair chops his chest in a corner. A snap mare to Carlito and another chop. A back body drop to Flair and then Carlito stomps him in a corner. A hammer lock to Flair in the center of the ring on the mat. Carlito drops his knee on the lock. It’s the same arm he went after last night and Flair is screaming loudly. Carlito moves it to an arm bar hold with his legs wrapped around it. Flair’s shoulders are down for two. Flair get his foot on the ropes to break the hold. Flair gets to his feet and hits a number of chops followed by a chop block. Flair stomps Carlito’s leg. A thumb to Flair’s eye and they both go over the top to crash and burn on the floor. They are outside for the ten count and the ref calls for the bell.

– Winner: Double count out

Carlito attacks Flair again outside and hits two horrible back crackers on Flair on the floor. Carlito grabs an apple, bites it and spits it in Flair’s face while he’s on the floor. Fans are screaming nasty things to Carlito about him choking on his apple as he backs away from Flair.

Video from Judgement Day.

– Commercial

Slam of The Week – Candice beating Victoria with Melina at the announce table.

Melina comes out in her white and black two piece wrestling outfit. Candice comes out in a sparkly black coat over sparkly pink leg covers, pink boy shorts and a sparkly pink triangle bikini top.
Melina hits a forearm to Candy’s face and then chokes her in the ropes with her legs around Candy’s waist. Candy face down on the mat and Melina pulls her arms back with a foot in her back. Melina then rolls back and bows Candy backward. Again Melina chokes Candy in the ropes with her legs around her waist. Candy fights back and Melina falls holding her right thigh. Candy hits a back breaker for two. Two standing drop kicks to Melina. Melina holds onto the ropes and Candy pulls her off so she lands on her back hard. Melina rakes Candy’s eyes but Candy comes back with a bridge cover for three.

– Winner: Candice Michelle

Candy backs up the ramp motioning she wants the title belt.

Out back Great Khali is yelling at his translator who is bent back looking up at him trying to argue back.

Lashley is heading for the ring.

– Commercial

Video of news stories and interviews with Austin about his movie as he did the rounds. He did Regis, Stern and many others. He was also in a lot of magazines that they show clippings of.

Lashley comes out to the ring. Vince is watching on a TV out back. Masters is the first one out to face him.
They lock up and Lashley gets and arm bar on Masters. Lashley quickly covers for two. Masters gets whipped but Masters moves so Lashley hits the ring post with his shoulder.. Masters covers for two. A leg drop on Lashley. “Bobby,” chant. A clothesline to Lashley and Masters calls for the master lock. He locks on the hold and Lashley fights it. Lashley gets to the ropes and the ref calls for the break. Masters throws some punches but Lashley gets his second wind and hits a couple clotheslines. A power slam to Masters and Lashley covers for two. Lashley whips Masters who gets an elbow up. A spear to Masters and he’s covered for three.

– Winner: Lashley

Lashley heads up the ramp to huge pop.

JR talks more about HBK and his condition.

Jeff and Matt are out back heading for the ring.

– Commercial

Haas (who has a slight black eye) and Benjamin are at the announce table. Jeff and Matt Hardy come down to the ring. Nitro and Kenny come down to the ring.
Matt and Kenny start off. Nitro distracts Matt who get attacked by kenny. Kenny punches Matt to the mat. Nitro tags in. Kenny flips Matt into Nitro’s elbow. Nitro then jumps over the top and lands on Matt. Matt hits a clothesline and tags in his brother. Jeff gains control. Kenny rushes in and Jeff takes him down too. A face first suplex to Nitro and Jeff climbs. Kenny gets involved and pushes Jeff. Jeff manages his sunset flip and covers Nitro for three.

– Winner:

Haas and Benjamin rush the ring and attack Matt and Jeff. Suddenly Cade and Murdoch rush down and clear Nitro, kenny Haas and Benjamin from the ring. “Hardy,” chant. The four of them pose in the ring together pissing off the heels on the ramp.

– Commercial

JR and King talk about Ozzy’s new song then show a still of HBK being taken out on a stretcher.

Great Khali comes down to the ring with his translator. The translator has a mic and presents the man who should be the WWE Champion. Great Khali talks holding the translators hand with the mic up to himself. The translator says Great Khali says he didn’t loose last night, he’s never submitted. He knew his foot was under the rope the whole time. The ref screwed Great Khali, we all screwed Great Khali, Cena screwed Great Khali. The translator says Great Khali wants us to watch the video. It shows his foot from different angles. It’s irrelevant that he tapped because the hold should have been broken. Cena never knocked Great Khali off his feet, he had to use the stairs against him. So Cena is nothing but a coward. Great Khali should be champ. The crowd is pissed the whole time. The translator says they were talking before they came out and he can beat Cena anywhere. Inside the ring, outside the ring, in the audience…
Cena’s music hits and he comes out. He hold his belt high on the ramp and stomps to the ring. They glare at each other.
Cena says he’s not there to complain about the ref, the fans or and eight foot cry baby. At JD two things are sure. 1- Great Khali’s foot was under the bottom rope. 2- he mat Great Khali tap out. So he’s out there because he was called a coward. Before JD he was afraid that great Khali might take his title, might end his career. JD wasn’t about the title. He stood toe to toe with Great Khali and won. He can do it again. He’s not scared of Great Khali again. Cena says he can beat Great Khali anywhere in the building. Great Khali wants a rematch? Hell, Cena wants a reach.
Cena approaches Great Khali who chops Cena on the top of the head. Great Khali then hits a double handed choke slam. Great Khali stands over Cena with his hands held high. Great Khali and the translator leave together.

– Commercial

Video of Cena standing up to Great Khali and then getting slammed down.
Lashley is back in the ring. He looks shocked when Bi Vis’ music plays.
Vis throws Lashley to the mat. They lock up and Lashley is backed into a corner. Lashley starts working on Vis’ arm. Vis gains control. “Bobby,” chant. Lashley scoop slams Vis and covers for two. Lashley gets backed into a corner and chopped. Vis holds the rope and stands on Lashley’s gut. Lashley throws punches but runs into a sidewalks slam for two. Vis again covers for two. A forearm to Lashley’s back. Lashley is choked on the top rope. Vis slaps the top of Lashley’s head while he’s down Lashley comes back with punches. Vis spin kicks Lashley and covers for two. Lashley is whipped but moves before Vis can splash him. Lashley spears Vis and covers for three.

– Winner: Lashley

– Commercial

JR says Cena will defend his title at ONS against Great Khali in a Falls Count Anywhere Match.
Torrie comes down to the ring in a fuschia and black dress. Maryse comes out in a fuschia and black lace mini-dress. Extreme Expose comes down together in fuschia and black. Ashley comes out in a pink mini-dress with skulls on it.
Ashley talks about the Timbaland video and Torrie announces it. They play the video with all the Divas. (It was surprisingly good.)

More video of HBK laid out in the ring with a woman crying over him (his wife?).

– Commercial

JR is talking about HBK getting another concussion and the problem goes back to 1995. King talks about other sports figures who’ve had problems due to concussions.

Orton comes down to the ring in jeans and a nice dark pin-striped shirt. He get mixed review. He says he regrets HBK’s wife had to endure what happened last night. Video from two weeks ago then Orton kicking HBK in the head last night. There were rumors that HBK wasn’t supposed to be there last night. Then the doctor trying to get HBK to respond. Orton almost won by forfeit then HBK comes out, though he’s not all there. Orton quickly takes him apart. HBK dropped an elbow and tuned up the band, but looked lost. The ref stopped the match and HBK could barely stand, but Orton kicked him in the head. HBK’s wife rushed to the ring in tears. They stretchered HBK from the ring area and into an ambulance.
Orton looks proud of himself in the ring. He says we have to ask ourselves if it was HBK’s last match. In wrestling or any pro sport an injury is like a target and he took advantage of it. HBK didn’t listen to the doctor and Orton did what any professional would have done, he beat HBK. Not because he suffered a concussion, but because he’s the legend killer.

Vince is out back giving Umaga a pep talk. He wants Umaga to beat Lashley.

– Commercial

Lashley is in the ring. Umaga comes out to face him.
Umaga kicks Lashley and then whips him into a corner. Lashley kicks Umaga. Umaga clotheslines Lashley. Umaga splashes Lashley and covers for two. Umaga slams down on Lashley’s back a couple times. Umaga slams a forearm to Lashley’s chest. Lashley gets punched into a corner. Umaga rushes Lashley in a corner, Lashley gets his foot up. Umaga gets a bear hug on Lashley. Lashley is fading to his knees. Lashley elbows and forearms out. Samoan slam to Lashley. Umaga covers for two. A punch to Lashley’s chest, and another. A head butt to Lashley. Umaga climbs to the second rope and hits a flying head butt, but only partially connects. Both are down for 7. Right hands to Umaga but gets pushed into a corner. Lashley gets his elbow up. Umaga gets slammed into a ring post. Umaga gets flipped over the top rope, Lashley tries to fly onto him but Umaga gets an elbow up. Umaga throws the time keeper across the announce table to the floor. Umaga slams a chair into Lashley’s head. The ref calls for the bell.

– Winner: Lashley

Umaga stands over Lashley who is flat on the floor in front of the announce table.
Vince and Shane are out back heading for the ring. Shane is dressed to wrestle.

– Commercial

Lashley is flat on his back in the ring and Umaga is backing up the ramp. During the break Umaga slammed a hand into Lashley throat followed by a Samoan spike.

Shane’s music plays and he comes out with his father. Shane bounces into the ring and goes for Lashley but the ref stops him. The ref stands over Lashley as he struggles to his feet using the ropes. The ref calls for the bell.
Shane stomps Lashley in a corner. Shane drops his knee into Lashley’s back. “Bobby,” chants. Shane set Lashley in the corner with his ribs against the ring post and baseball slides into him.
Umaga grabs a chair and goes for Lashley. Shane and Umaga plead with him to not do it. Umaga is told to go out back. Vince gets nasty with him, telling him to leave. Back in the ring Lashley pushes Shane away across the ring. Lashley covers Shane for two. A hard spine buster to Shane and another cover for two. Shane’s head gets pounded by Lashley. Shane gets a DDT on Lashley and covers for two. Shane drops some elbows on Lashley’s back. Shane gets a Boston crab on Lashley. Lashley kicks Shane off. Shane beats on Lashley’s lower back. Shane climbs and drops an elbow. Shane covers for two. Shane continues to work on Lashley’s lower back. Camel clutch to Lashley. Shane lets go and then re-applies the hold. Vince is watching closely from outside. Lashley gets to his feet and slams Shane into the ring post. Lashley throws a bunch of punches and gets Shane up on his shoulder. Lashley’s back gives way and Shane lands on his feet. Shane climbs but Lashley spears him mid-air. Lashley covers for three.

Winner: Lashley

Vince glares at Lashley from outside the ring, Lashley stares back. Video of Shane getting speared as he flew. Lashley gets up on the corner to pose and Vince stares up even higher at him.

Biggest pop
Lashley
Matt & Jeff Hardy
Flair

Biggest heat
Vince & Shane
Orton
Umaga
Carlito

The John Report: Judgment Day '07 Running Diary

February 10, 2021 | News | No Comments


Note: This is not a play by play recap of the show. You can go elsewhere on this site for that. This is a running diary where I give you my live thoughts (as well as match analysis and star ratings) for the show.

WWE Judgment Day
St. Louis, Missouri (Go Rams!)
May 20, 2007

I love this Ozzy Ozzbourne song, “I Don’t Wanna Stop” that is the soundtrack for this PPV. The opening video package was pretty cool featuring the main angles as well as this song. The announcers shown in order are the Raw guys then the ECW guys and then the Smackdown guys. The ropes in the ring are blue, so I guess it’s still kind of the Smackdown show.

Ric Flair vs. Carlito
The crowd is big time into Flair as expected. He got the big “first star of the night” kind of pop.

Flair started off dominating and then Carlito got control. At least he gets to be a heel again where he actually looks like he gives a damn.

For whatever reason Carlito’s working on Flair’s left arm. I guess they do that to allow Flair to come back with his chops, which the crowd loves of course.

I love how Ric Flair sells injuries. Hopefully he drops a few f-bombs because that’s always fun for the kids at home.

Ooh, nice dropkick by Carlito on Flair’s arm against the ringpost. There’s another offensive move that was nice. JR says if he wrestles this kind of match all the time he can be WWE Champion. In other words Carlito, you need to try harder.

Flair is coming back literally with like a dozen chops that look very painful. I wonder if he chops guys in the chest that want to go out with his daughters.

This match has really slowed down with Carlito working on the left arm for about ten minutes. All of Flair’s offense were those chops that he threw.

When I say he’s thrown 30 chops I’m not even over exaggerating. It might even be a higher number.

Took about 15 minutes for Flair to finally attempt the Figure Four after a very nice comeback. Tap city, population Carlito. Flair wins right in the middle of the ring.
Winner: Ric Flair via submission

Analysis ** Pretty average, by the book match that did a good job in getting the crowd into the show because it featured all of the usual theatrics that Ric Flair likes to do. Carlito showed good intensity throughout the match, so hopefully he keeps that up. I think since he’s a heel again that he’ll be able to do that. The company, with all its injuries, could really benefit from good performances from this guy in the future.

The video package showing Randy Orton’s kick to the face of Michaels was awesome.

Backstage, Michaels was about to do an interview when Orton attacked him and rammed him face first into some sort of object around the interview area.

Very long video package about the McMahons vs. Bobby Lashley feud. I think it has served its purpose as a way to get Lashley more over, but they’re going to need a heel that’s a wrestler to feud with Lashley sooner or later.

ECW Title: Vince McMahon (c), Shane McMahon & Umaga vs. Bobby Lashley
Hey, ECW announcers. Good to see ya. I love Shane’s theme song. Always have, always will. Umaga’s out next and I like his theme song too although I’m disappointed that there’s no Armando Estrada out there. Vince needs a new theme song. It’s been nearly a decade. I’m tired of the damn song.

Hey look, there’s that guy who goes to a lot of WWE shows and brings creative signs. I guess he’s using the money he won on Deal or No Deal well. Seems like a decent guy.

I’m a fan of Lashley, but am I alone in feeling that his intense look makes it appear as though he has to go to the bathroom badly? Maybe it’s just me.

To the shock of absolutely nobody, Lashley beat the hell out of everybody. What I didn’t expect was that he won the match literally in about two minutes. He cleared house, gave a spear to Umaga, gave Shane McMahon a running powerslam and now he’s the ECW champion. Wow, that was quick. A 1 minute match.
Winner: Bobby Lashley via pinfall on Shane McMahon

Post match, Bobby stared down Vince, so Umaga jumped him from behind and destroyed him with the Samoan Spike. Vince stole the belt.

Vince goes on the microphone to tell Lashley that he’s not the champion because he was unable to pin him. Thus, Vince is still champion. “This is just crap,” says Joey Styles. Kinda sums up the whole ECW brand doesn’t it?

Analysis: 1/4* Too short to be rated like a real match. I imagine this angle is done to build to a Lashley vs. Vince match at the One Night Stand show in a couple weeks. Much like his theme song, the Vince McMahon heel act is getting tiresome.

Backstage, the doctor tells Shawn Michaels that he can’t go out to the ring tonight. We hear nothing from Michaels. Of course he’ll end up having the match because who in wrestling ever listens to doctors?

CM Punk vs. Elijah Burke
Punk comes out to a good pop, which kinda surprised me because who watches the ECW show? I’d really love for Punk to be on one of the shows that people actually watch. Anyway, Punk’s got taped ribs because of some beating on TV while Burke has tremendous theme music. That’s really good.

I like Punk’s offense a lot because it’s a more realistic style than most wrestlers. Too bad he has to go to the WWE style offense and bust out moves like chinlocks.

Nice two count on the crossbody by Punk. I love crossbody blocks.

Burke’s offense in this match has been limited to just punching the ribs of Punk.

Wow, Punk’s really earning the respect of the crowd with a nice Jericho-like springboard dropkick and then a Benoit-like suicide dive through the ropes. That got him two.

This match really is building to the big spots. They go slow for a couple minutes with Burke working on the ribs some more and then Punk comes back with a beautiful looking superplex that really got the crowd into the match.

Great nearfall as Burke kicks out of an enziguri kick. Nice shining wizard, but no bulldog follows this time. Burke hits the Elijah Experience (kinda like a STO), but that only gets two. Oh man! Punk was on the top rope with his face looking out to the crowd, Burke charged in and hit the Elijah Express, which is a running double knee drop to the back of the man’s ribs! Ouch!

Burke goes for the Elijah Experience again, but Punk counters and gives him the Go To Sleep (DVD into a knee to the face) for the victory after 17 minutes. Shocking that they got that much time.
Winner: CM Punk via pinfall

Analysis: **1/4 Good midcard match that definitely deserved its spot on the PPV. It was done as a way to showcase these two awesome athletes and in that sense it did just that. It especially made CM Punk look like a true star, which he is of course. It also made me really want both of these guys to escape the ECW brand because they’re not going to get better on that show with a thin roster. They need to be with the better workers.

Solid promo by Edge backstage that ended with him staring at Kristal’s boobs. I love that guy, but not as much as I love Kristal’s boobs.

Randy Orton vs. Shawn Michaels
Orton comes out first and since he’s from St. Louis he get a bit of a hometown pop. Nobody really likes him, though. He asked the ref to declare him the winner because Michaels gives up. Nope. There’s Shawn coming out the ring looking out of it like he used to look about a decade or so ago.

It will be interesting to see how this goes considering Michaels’ knee injury. This might be his last match for a long time.

About a minute into the match Orton hits a sick DDT while Shawn’s feet were in the middle ropes. What a bump. He kicked out.

Randy Orton looks about as intense as he probably does when he’s tearing up a hotel room in Europe.

Top rope RKO attempt got blocked by the eye gouging, which is a flawless way of countering any move. Ha, he hit the big elbow while stumbling all over the ropes.

Michaels went for the superkick, but instead of hitting it or coming close to hitting it, Michaels just fell down. The ref rang the bell and declared Orton the winner because HBK can’t continue anymore. Went 4 minutes only.
Winner: Randy Orton via referee stoppage

Then, in a moment defying logic, Orton hits Michaels with the RKO because he’s just…well…mean. Of course if somebody really had a concussion they wouldn’t even be on the plane or at the arena, much less in the match. I guess they can’t do an angle without putting somebody over.

There’s Shawn’s wife Rebecca to come in to do some crying to put over the seriousness of this whole thing. I guess this is their explanation for why Shawn’s going to be out with the knee surgery. I sure hope that it’s not a long term thing. He was on such a role and I’m really going to miss him in the ring.

He gets wheeled out on the stretcher to end the angle. Where’s the standing ovation from the St. Louis crowd? That was a hell of a performance by HBK. Nobody could do that better.

Analysis: N/R You got to love how great HBK was here. Of course it insults people who have concussions (think of Chris Nowinski who had to retire from them) and in reality there’s no way anybody with a concussion that bad would ever be in a ring. What’s also funny is that Orton is so deep in the doghouse they won’t even let him pin Michaels despite the fact that Shawn’s gone for a few months (at least). Way to go, hotel wrecker.

Yes, Great Khali promo! I love this man. Too bad he wasn’t doing it in English. “I want some competition” is arguably the greatest interview in company history. His translator asks him questions in his native tongue, whatever that is. By the way, Khali’s holding the belt despite not being the champion. He’s telling him to Just Bring It. Too bad he didn’t do a Rock-like promo.

World Tag Team Titles: The Hardy Boys (c) vs. Cade & Murdoch
For whatever reason the Smackdown guys are announcing the match featuring Raw’s tag titles and three of the four competitors being Raw guys. Brand extension? What’s that?

What’s there to really say here? It’s a typical Hardy match. Matt gets worked on for a few minutes, he makes the hot tag to Jeff and the crowd goes nuts for it. It’s not exactly new.

That Whisper of the Wind move barely touched Murdoch, but he sold it liked he killed him. That’s what wrestlers should do. Sell it, no matter how ridiculous it looks.

I laugh every time JBL says the APA were a great tag team. Most of their skits were great, like that one time they played strip poker with Trish Stratus, but if they’re a great team then Vince McMahon is a great World Champion because of his wrestling ability.

Man, Jeff continues to be crazy as he takes a flat back bump on the floor after Murdoch moves out of the way. Now it’s his turn to play dead for the second “babyface gets up by the heels for a while” spot of the match.

A few minutes go by and here comes Matt. This is straight out of 2000, man. Like exactly.

Nice move by Cade, busting out a Rock Bottom into a spinebuster.

Michael Cole just called Matt Hardy’s Twist of Fate a Side Effect. Oops. He hits that, then tags in Jeff for the Swanton and the victory after 15 minutes. Was it ever really in doubt?
Winner: The Hardy Boys via Jeff pinning Cade

Post match, the Hardy Boys extended their hand and their opponents shook them. Can’t we just forget all other teams and do a Best of 99 series with the Hardy’s against London & Kendrick? I’d watch.

Analysis: **1/2 This was the typical Hardy’s tag match whether it’s on TV, PPV or a house show. It’s a formula that always delivers the goods even if they’re not really given the chance to wow you. It’s just solid tag team wrestling. Would have been nice if they had something better to put here because this felt like filler.

There’s an ad for the One Night Stand PPV with the selling point apparently being that all matches (or most, I guess) will be under extreme rules.

The Raw guys tell us that HBK has left the arena and is on the way to the hospital. That’ll be truer in a couple days when he goes to get his knee looked at.

In ring, Tony Chimmel tells us to watch the Tron (I guess it only has one name now) for a video made by Edge that basically highlights how he came to Smackdown as the World Champion. Is his match next? Before the US title match? Something tricky must be going down here.

World Heavyweight Championship: Edge (c) vs. Batista
When was the last time the World Title match went before the US title match? Obviously the Cena match is going on last, but this one going before the US title match is a bit odd to me.

Man, I love how much JBL puts people over even though his calling Edge the “greatest superstar of all time” seems like a bit much. It’s what announcers should do, though. Put over your talent. That’s why I love JBL as an announcer. He’s the best in the business.

This match is really slow, like a typical Batista match. I think it’s going to take Edge some time to get used to working with him. The crowd’s not really into it since there’s barely a storyline here.

Edge just kicked out of the spear. How many people in this company do that move? Oh look, there’s another repeat move: a running powerslam by Batista. Probably a good thing that he doesn’t wrestle Lashley.

Then the match ends suddenly as Batista hits a spinebuster, then his knee hurts, Edge cradles him and it’s over just like that. They only got 11 minutes.

So Batista’s kicked out of so many moves from the Undertaker over the past few months, yet he can’t power off a guy holding his legs down for a few minutes? Weak finish, I’d say.
Winner: Edge via pinfall

Analysis: ** It was fine. I’m very shocked that Edge won this match clean because Batista hasn’t lost a match that clean in a long time. They worked the injured hamstring angle, but I was thinking it wold be a DQ type of deal. I’m not gonna complain. I think Edge is great while Batista’s act is boring me, so it’s fine by me.

Kristal asks all the WWE Divas who they think is going to win the Cena/Khali match. The award for best outfit goes to Michelle McCool, by the way. I have no idea who Brooke is – oh she’s one of the ECW dancing chicks. Some of the analysis by the women is so bad. Like really bad comedy. I think Kelly Kelly is arguably the worst talker in the history of wrestling. But at least she’s hot, right? Thankfully their fake breasts do a good job of getting me to lose my attention.

US Title Match – 2 out of 3 Falls: Chris Benoit (c) vs. Montell Vontavious Porter
I love this match. I love this feud. It’s the one I most want to see. It’s starting at 10:06pm, which hopefully means they get 20-25 minutes and a hot crowd.

They’re going really slow to start this one as expected. Again, JBL’s announcing style really helps this match.

The story going in is Benoit’s left knee is hurt because it was attacked last week on Smackdown by Finlay as well as MVP.

Benoit comes back with a Crossface, but MVP gets rope and Benoit gets beat on some more because his knee is still in bad shape. Oooh, MVP missed that running high kick that I love. That looks painful to even miss that move.

MVP gets rope again while in the Sharpshooter. The story going on is that Benoit’s too hurt to properly being able to apply these holds.

The first pinfall went to MVP. Benoit had him on his shoulders after countering a move, but his leg gave out and MVP was able to hit him with the Playmaker for the three count. That took about ten minutes.

Following the first fall, MVP continues working on that knee. The crowd’s kinda quiet for this, which is not surprising. They’ve been a pretty good crowd, so I think they’ll wake up once Benoit does his comeback later on.

The running kick to the knee while it’s draped over the top rope! Awesome! I freakin’ love that running kick move.

Some fans started a “this is boring” chant because I guess they don’t understand what good wrestling is.

Nice submission by MVP, it looks like the Brock Lock move that Brock Lesnar once used. Benoit fought it off to get to the ropes, but that was pretty close right there.

The second fall goes to MVP after a cradle. It was a very odd finish because Benoit came off the ropes, MVP kicked him in the knee and cradled him tight for the win. Match was about 15 minutes.
Winner 2 falls to 0: MVP

Analysis: *3/4 They’ve had better matches. I think the best one they had was either the Backlash one or the one on Smackdown that MVP won. This was probably their worst. It was slower paced while lacking the Benoit comebacks that usually make his matches great. On the other hand, this match did an amazing job of putting MVP over because he just beat a former World Champion two to nothing in very impressive fashion. In that sense, it was very effective. I was just hoping for more in terms of match quality.

Long video for Khali/Cena, which was a good excuse for a much needed drink break.

WWE Title: John Cena (c) vs. The Great Khali
It’s 10:30pm as we start this one. Cena’s out first despite being the champion and he gets a huge pop. This feud definitely did its job in terms of getting the fans to be behind Cena. Khali’s out second with the belt despite not being champion.

I like the announcement of the competitors while they are in the ring rather than when they’re walking down the aisle.

It’ll be very interesting to see how much time they get (or how little time) and how it’s booked because with Khali being so raw you have to be careful with him.

The match is basically like every Khali match where he does a punch or kick, his opponent sells it like he’s dead and flops around the mat a bit for extra emphasis. Cena’s trying his best to play the pinball here.

JBL called Great Khali lifting his leg up and Cena running into it a “kick” even though it’s more like running into a wall, then saying the wall hit you rather than you hit it.

To kill some time, Khali puts on a vice grip that Cena powers out of. A couple of shoulderblocks send Khali into the ropes while tying his arms in there. Then he gets free and kicks Cena in the face. Like I said before, this feud has really been good for Cena’s future as a babyface champion because this crowd is very solidly behind him.

A little bit more offense from Cena as he dropkicks the ring steps into the knee, then drops a leg off the top onto the back of Khali’s head followed by the STFU. Khali taps even though his one leg looks to be under the ropes. Maybe that will be brought up in the future.
Winner: John Cena via submission

Analysis: 1/2* This was WWE’s continued attempt to make Cena into their Hulk Hogan by having him defeat the evil bigger opponent. For those of us that lived through the Hogan era the match followed that blueprint exactly. It’s not always about quality matches. Sometimes you just want to put somebody over really strong and on this show in this match that’s exactly what happened.

FINAL THOUGHTS
This was not a great show. Far from it. What Judgment Day 2007 did was tell the WWE fans exactly who are the people that this company wants to push moving forward. We saw impressive wins by John Cena and Bobby Lashley, who are arguably the top two babyfaces in the company for the future. We saw an impressive win by Edge as they build Smackdown around him from now on. There was also the huge win by MVP as he went over Benoit clean twice in one match, which elevates him a notch. The win by CM Punk was a good thing too although frankly I’m shocked that his match got over 15 minutes while the Smackdown title match got about 10. The other win was by Orton over a dead Michaels, but even that wasn’t a win because Orton’s in the doghouse so much. He was just kinda there for HBK doing an angle. The other wins were by the Hardy’s and Flair, both of them being done to give the fans something pleasing. It’s not really for the future. It’s more like a nod to the past.

Match wise it was below average across the board with nothing eclipsing even the three star level. I’m not going to remember anything in a day or so. It was just okay. Certainly not on the level of Backlash, which was one of the best WWE shows this decade. This is what happens when you have too many PPVs like WWE has. You have too many shows and you can’t make every one of them special, so all you end up doing is giving clean finishes without quality matches.

I’m not saying this was a bad show. The booking for the most part was fine. It’s just that from a wrestling perspective I expect more out of a PPV, so in that sense Judgment Day 2007 is a letdown.

Smell ya later,
John C. – oratoryjohn@gmail.com
MSN: oratoryjohn@hotmail.com – Do not email me here! Will not be read!

Visit My Archives to view eight years of columns from over the years.

Jim Ross Speaks On The Upcoming WWE Draft Lottery

February 10, 2021 | News | No Comments

– Jim Ross has posted yet another blog entry on his official website. As always, Ross provides readers with a very interesting read. Below is one statement in particular that I felt was newsworthy concerning the upcoming WWE Draft.

Regarding the upcoming WWE Draft:

JR writes, writes “The WWE Draft on June 11 in Wilkes Barre, which is already sold out, and should be an interesting night, as apparently several superstars will be getting new addresses. These are interesting times, as far as I am concerned, because new wrestlers create new matchups with the incumbents, which freshens up the product. I have no preferences as to who comes to RAW and I assume The King and I will stay on RAW, or at least I sure hope so. I have no desire to leave Monday Night RAW, and neither does the King. I don’t think any of the announce teams should be included in the draft. A change of scenery can be a good thing, especially for wrestlers who need new opposition. The draft, as far as fans are concerned will no doubt be a source of plenty of debate and discussion as the draft itself, is a subjective matter to say the least. The “wrestling media” will have a field day with this matter and I can almost guarantee you that the draft will be over-analyzed and pre-judged even before it has a chance to settle in, because that’s what the “wrestling media” does. Controversy creates (cash and) website traffic which is not a bad thing. Get ready for this subject to be beaten to death over the next several weeks. I do not know who is being drafted to where and will be as surprised as anybody as it happens on live TV.”

JR also addresses a number of other topics including Internet gossip, Paul Heyman, and much more. Click here to read his latest blog.

**SPOILERS** Which WWE Superstars Will Be Changing Brands?! WE KNOW >>

sources: PWInsider.com, Wrestling Observer Newsletter

King Booker and Sharmell are scheduled to make their returns to television at tonight’s Raw.

Randy Orton’s new gimmick as a crippler is being done to build him up for the returning Triple H. The match will be held at SummerSlam. Original SummerSlam plans included either DX vs. Team RKO or a singles match between Triple H and Orton or Edge. There were also plans for a Vince McMahon vs. Rey Mysterio match, but that hasn’t been talked about in a while.

Joe Anoia, who is the brother of former WWE star Rosey, got cut by the Minnesota Vikings on 5/31. He didn’t even make it to mini-camp. It’s almost a lock that if he doesn’t hook up with another NFL team this year, or doesn’t at least make practice squad roster, that he’ll be offered a developmental contract from WWE.

DEVELOPMENTAL DIVA getting called up to WWE this week; name revealed HERE (>>)

DirecTV is running a commercial for SummerSlam that exclaimed, “Can the returning Triple H defeat the Unstoppable World Heavyweight champion Edge?”

The New York Post has an article on former SmackDown Diva Lauren Jones and the controversy surrounding her upcoming reality series Anchorwoman. The new series is scheduled to premiere on Fox on August 21st. You can read the article entitled “Thigh Witness News” at this link.

Eric Bischoff and his partner in crime Jason Hervey are behind a reality TV series that starts on VH1 next month. The show is called Scott Baio Is 45… and Single.

Check out hot pics of Lauren Jones here (>>)

sources: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, PWInsider.com

— According to WWE sources, two cities are under consideration for the site of WrestleMania 25. Right now they are looking at the Astrodome in Houston Texas (site of WrestleMania 17 in 2001) and the Skydome in Toronto (site of WrestleMania VI in 1990 and WrestleMania 18 in 2002).

— Chris Benoit matches may still be available on WWE 24/7 in some regions. Two people are saying that Charter Cable’s WWE 24/7 update on Wednesday showed the Benoit match from Nitro that was edited out practically everywhere else. Here are their e-mails:

Michael Hicks sent in the following:

I read a post Wednesday that said that the Chris Benoit segment had been wiped off WWE 24/7. Well, I watched the Monday Night Wars on Wednesday evening, and the Benoit/Steve McMichael match against Jeff Jarett/Chavo Guerrero Jr. was indeed on there, as well a Kevin Sullivan match earlier in the show and post-match interviews for both where Benoit and Sullivan talked about their feud and upcoming pay-per-view in San Francisco.

Neither was edited out. This was on Charter Communications, FYI.

Mike

Joel Croyle sent in the following:

I saw on your site that people were stating that WWE 24/7 had edited the footage from the Monday Night Wars that featured Chris Benoit. I don’t know about other cities but as far as Wisconsin goes, Charter Cable’s DID NOT edit a thing. There is a conversation with Task Master directed at Benoit, there are comments made by Mike Tenay during the broadcast about Benoit. There is a match pitting Benoit/Mongo vs. Jarrett and Chavo and then The Four Horseman come out and do about a ten minute promo on all the stuff going on, the highlighted segment is about Benoit v Sullivan.

— Due to the holiday, Raw ratings for this week have been delayed.

Check out RECENT pics of SCOTT HALL (>>)

source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

— Although the two sides never came close to reaching a deal, the odds of Bill Goldberg joining TNA dropped greatly this past week as Spike cancelled his show Bullrun. That pretty much ends his affiliation with the network. Whatever talks they had regarding Goldberg coming in always had the idea of Spike footing some of the salary like they did with Sting.

— Scott Steiner is back home in Georgia recuperating from his throat injury. He’s back to being a television character, but he can’t do much physically at the moment. He’s scheduled to have a match in Japan at the end of August, so he should be fine by then.

— No word yet on when Jeff Jarrett will be returning to TV, but it probably won’t be long.

News on TNA looking to bring in another former WWE tag team (>>)

RAW Report 7/30/07 Tucson, AZ

February 9, 2021 | News | No Comments

Raw starts with music and then a recap of Coach saying he would name a number one contender last week. Clips from different matches last week. Orton, Carlito then a big clip of Jeff Hardy beating Kennedy. Cena talked about who might be number one contender and that he doesn’t care. Cena won his match last week, then got RKO’d. Coach came out and announced Orton as the number one contender.

Cena’s music and he comes out. Cena has a mic and says Tucson is fired up. He says they will have a championship match, him against Orton. This time Orton’s prepared. He has the play book. The first page says make a statement. He did it with the RKO. That’s fine, he should have seen it coming. He tells Orton to flip to the last chapter of the play book. It’s the same ending it’s been since last September. It’s only four words, so even he should understand it. “The Champ is…”
Carlito’s music cuts him off and he tells Cena he will be the first guest on the new and improved Carlito’s Cabana. Set guys bring out the props, including a hammock and set up Carlito’s Cabana in the ring.
Cena sits and Carlito tells him to get comfortable as he has an important question to ask. “Cena” chant. Carlito call him a liar. He says Cena doesn’t win every championship match he’s in. Carlito beat him on his first night for the US Title.
Cena says that Carlito did beat him in his hometown. Then he had his posse beat him in a club. It was what? Four years ago? Back when Britney was hot. Michael Jackson was less of a freak. Abraham Lincoln wrestled a grizzly bear. Lindsey Lohan did her first lines… The crowd is shocked. Cena says she did her first lines of dialogue. “Herbie Fully Loaded, we all saw it!”
Carlito says Cena can be as funny as he wants. He’s sick of the Orton’s of the world getting everything.
Kennedy cuts him off. He says he doesn’t deserve it because he ran away from Lashley last week. It’s the act of someone with lots of apples and not much grapefruits. Kennedy said he should have been given the number one contender-ship when he first got here.
Cena leaves the ring and yells on the ramp. He says Orton should be the number one contender because he earned it. He’s not Orton’s biggest fan and won’t be sending him a Christmas card.
He tells Kennedy to step up and face Lashley. Kennedy agrees. Cena then turns on Carlito and said that he did beat him four years ago, but what has he done since? He says he’ll face Carlito tonight in the main event. He tells Carlito he better be ready because he’s going to take his apples and shove them straight up his Cabana.

– Commercial

WWE Rewind – Melina and Beth against Maria and Mickie. Santino gets involved and Maria pins Melina, but didn’t see him interfere.

Beth, Melina and Jillian come out to the ring. They are all in red and black. Maria comes out hand in hand with Santino, she’s in light purple boy shorts and tank. Mickie comes out in a pink version of her wrestling outfit (bright, horrible, Pepto pink). Candice comes out in all gold. Gold coat over gold pants and gold bikini top.
Beth and Maria start. Maria is able to gain control and tags in Mickie. Mickie comes off a corner onto Beth’s arm. Mickie gets over powered into the heel corner. Melina tags in. Mickie fights out of the corner and gets whipped. She gets an elbow up. Mickie hits head scissors and then a hard clothesline. Candy tags in and they double team (badly) Melina. Jillian kick Candy in the back from outside. Jillian tags in and covers for two. Jillian knocks Mickie from the corner. Candy hits a Russian leg sweep and tags in Maria. Bulldog to Melina for two. Beth breaks up the count. Mickie rushes in and takes down Beth. Melina and Jillian double team Maria behind the ref’s back. Melina covers for three.

– Winners: Melina, Beth & Jillian

Video of Santino missing the cover as he scrapes Candy off the floor outside. Santino rushes to Maria’s side. (JR called Jillian, Beth through the whole match.

HHH promo.

– Commercial

Santino is in the ring with a mic. He says he can’t believe what he sees today. He gets a disgusting feeling when he see the cheating. Just like the NBA the fault lies with the ref. His Maria is the victim of the travesty of cheating. The ref tells him to calm down and he says no official can tell him to calm down.
Umaga comes down and he tells the ref to get him back, away from him. He wants to talk about cheating, it’s his time! He finally hands the mic to the ref who says to ring the bell. Umaga attacks Santino and gives him a bum slam. A sidewalk slam and Umaga covers for two but pulls Santino up before three. A Samoan spike and he covers for three.

– Winner: Umaga

Out back is Grisham with Booker and Sharmell. He asks Booker about his match with Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler. He rips Grisham apart for calling Jerry the King. He hopes HHH is watching from home so he can see Jerome get beaten, crawl and beg.

– Commercial

Coach is on the phone saying it will be a great main event. Cody comes in. Coach says he’s shocked by what happened to Dusty last week they watch the video of the feud, the lead up and then Orton attacking Dusty after he beat Cody. Dusty then gets taken away in an ambulance while Cody looks on is shock.
Coach asks how Dusty is. Cody has a huge black eye and shakes his head. Coach says he doesn’t want to see the same happen to Cody. He can’t let Cody go after Orton. Tonight, if he lays one hand on Orton, he won’t have a career here. Plus, he lost his first two matches here. To be on RAW you have to win. He has a match tonight. If he wins, he can stay. If he loses, he’s gone. Cody thanks him for showing him that footage and leaves.

Orton is out back with Grisham. He says he’s dressed to compete but no one wants to get in the ring with him. He lists off all the people he’s taken out. He says at SS he won’t be facing a Legend, but a Champ.
Sargent Slaughter comes up and challenges Orton to a match tonight and calls him a maggot.

– Commercial

Daivari is in the ring. He starts rambling in his native tongue. Cody’s music cuts him off.
Daivari rushes over and attacks as the bell rings but Cody comes back with punches. Back body drop to Daivari. “Cody” chant. Daivari gains control and hits a neck breaker for two. A chin lock on Cody who back Daivari into a corner to get free. A (bad) cross body from Cody fro two. A bulldog from Cody for two. Daivari gets whipped but gets an elbow up. A power slam from Cody. A DDT from Cody and he covers for three.

– Winner: Cody

Cody goes outside the ring and celebrates a bit with the fans before heading up the ramp.

Lashley is out back heading for the ring.

Kennedy comes down to the ring. His mic comes down and the fans give him big heat. He says he’s the real number one contender. Before he can say his name a second time Lashley’s music starts and he comes out to good pop.
Waist lock take down by Lashley. They exchange blows. Kennedy gets whipped and tries to jump back over Lashley but Lashley catches him on his shoulder and slams him. Kennedy gets stuck on Lashley’s shoulders but punches his way out. Kennedy leaves the ring for a breather. Lashley follows and gets kicked in the shoulder slamming it into the stairs. Lashley then gets slammed into the stairs shoulder first. Kennedy returns to the ring as the ref almost counts Lashley out. Kennedy goes to work on Lashley’s shoulder. “Bobby” chant. Lashley gets free, whips Kennedy but runs into Kennedy’s boot shoulder first. Kennedy covers for two.
Lashley is rolling around on the mat while the ref talks to him. The ref backs off and Kennedy gets an arm bar on Lashley. Lashley tosses Kennedy off. Kennedy gets flipped to the mat. A clothesline to Kennedy. Kennedy gets a shot at the shoulder. Lashley hits a back body drop. Lashley goes for the spear but Kennedy gets a knee up into Lashley’s knee. Kennedy covers for three!

– Winner: Kennedy

Kennedy quickly leaves the ring area, gets a mic and comes out onto the stage to announce himself as the winner. Lashley is lolling in the ring with a couple refs talking to him.

– Commercial

Snitsky promo where he talks about his matches and how he likes causing pain.

Video of what happened to Lashley in his last match.

Video of Booker talking about how no one else can be called King. He orders Jerry to kiss his ring and Jerry says no. They fight. Jerry calls him a pompous, idiotic pain in the arse.

King Booker and Queen Sharmell come down to the ring.

– Commercial

HHH promo.

Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler comes down to face Booker.
“Jerry” chant. They get belly to belly and stare at each other, Booker talks smack. Booker tries to play head games but it doesn’t work. Jerry gets a quick slap on Booker. They lock and Jerry gets backed into a corner. Jerry hits a bunch of rights and drops Booker. Booker regroups in a corner. “Jerry” chant. A thumb to Jerry’s eye and he’s taken down. Jerry comes back with punches and backs Booker into a corner. Booker gets whipped but gets an elbow up. A reverse heel kick to Jerry for two. A kick to Jerry and he’s down on the mat. Booker gets serious heat from the fans. Jerry duck the scissors kick and Jerry hits a reverse elbow. Jerry hits a bunch of punches and an elbow. Jerry covers and Jerry thinks he has three (the ref counted to three) but then realizes Booker’s foot is on the rope. A kick to Jerry’s face and he’s down. Body shots on Jerry. “Jerry” chant. Jerry’s trapped in a corner and Booker won’t back off. The ref calls for the bell.

– Winner: Jerry “The King” Lawler

Booker keeps working on Jerry for a bit. Lillian announces Jerry as the winner but Booker puts his arms up. He’s proud as he leaves the ring area, acting as if he won.
Jerry gets up, runs up the ramp and attacks Booker. Refs finally pull Jerry of to huge “Jerry” chants. They take Jerry out back while Booker lays on the ramp with Sharmell freaking out.

– Commercial

Cryme Tyme Tyme comes down to the ring. There are John Mason.
JTG starts off with Mason and hits an arm drag. Shad tags in and hits a hard clothesline. A quick power slam to Mason. The other guy tags in and JTG tags in. They double team the second guy and JTG cover for three.

– Winners: Cryme Tyme Tyme

Shad kisses Lillian and hands a mic to JTG. Shad enters with a mic of his own. They get the crowd pumped up and chanting about money. They comment about the other guys white shiny I got beat by Cryme Tyme Tyme boots. Shad kicks the guy and JTG takes off the guys boots while Shad starts to auction off the boots for $10,000. They drop it to $5,000, then $2,000. Money is coming out. They drop it to $1,000. JTG pulls out a Sharpie and they autograph them. They drop to $20, then up to $40. They get it up to $60. They take $40 bucks and hand them off to someone in the crowd. (He didn’t look like a plant.)

Orton is out back heading for the ring.

– Commercial

Orton comes down to the ring. Video of Orton hitting the RKO on Cena last week. Sargent Slaughter comes down to the ring.
Orton kicks Sarge and punches him down in a corner. A punch to his back and Sarge is down. Orton stomps Sarge’s wrist. A reverse chin lock to Sarge. Sarge gets to his feet but drops back down to one knee. Sarge elbows out of the hold. A clothesline by Sarge. Sarge gets the cobra clutch on Orton. Orton tries for the ropes but can’t make it. He finally gets to the ropes. Orton hits a head butt on Sarge an RKO and Orton covers for three.

– Winner: Orton

Orton is about to leave the ring but turns around a kicks Sarge in the head while he’s still down. The stretcher comes out and they load Sarge on, neck brace and all. Orton mouths off to the refs.

– Commercial

Video of Orton attacking Sarge after the match was over. During the commercial he was wheeled away. Orton is sitting by the announce table.

Carlito comes down to the ring. Cena comes down to face him.
Cena back Carlito into a corner. Cena backs out and laughs. A side head lock on Carlito and then gives him a noogie. Cena gets huge pop and mugs for the fans. Drop toe hold and tries to lock on the STFU. He can’t lock it on but messes with Carlito’s hair. Carlito finally mounts a fight. “Cena” chant. Cena uses Carlito’s hair to take him down. A reverse elbow to Carlito. Carlito stomps Cena. Cena hits a HIGH back body drop on Carlito. Suplex to Carlito. Carlito mounts an offensive but gets hit with a sidewalk slam. Cena and Orton lock eyes.
A clothesline to Carlito. Carlito gets bounced face first off a corner. A neck breaker to Cena and Carlito covers for two. Carlito hits a couple punches and covers again for two. “Cena” chant. A chin lock on Cena. Cena works his way to his feet and pries Carlito’s hands apart. A shoulder block to Carlito followed by a slam.
Cena goes for the five knuckle shuffle but Orton is on the apron and distracts him. Carlito hits the back stabber and covers for three.

– Winner: Carlito

Carlito spits apple in Cena’s face before leaving the ring.

Biggest pop
Jerry “The King” Lawler
Lashley
Cena
Cryme Tyme Tyme
Sargent Slaughter

Biggest heat
Orton
Kennedy
Booker & Sharmell

Bobby Lashley Expected To Be Out 3-5 Months

February 9, 2021 | News | No Comments

Dave Meltzer of WrestlingObserver.com is reporting that Bobby Lashley is estimated to be out of action for three to five months. While he did not have a torn rotator cuff as originally thought, he had other injuries that were significant enough that they could not be fixed through arthroscopic surgery.

If Lashley would have had a torn rotator cuff, he would have been out even more time. We will bring you more details as they become available.

**SPOILER** WWE Signs Former Mega-Star To Return To The Company To Replace Lashley >>

Source: PWInsider.com

This past Monday’s edition of RAW did a 3.7 cable rating on the USA Network. That number was down from the 3.8 rating that the show did last week, however, this week RAW went up against ESPN’s Monday Night Football which did a 4.9 cable rating.

It should also be noted that this week’s edition of RAW did better in key demographics than last week so even though the overall number is lower, it is actually better. The first hour of RAW did a 3.6 with the second hour doing a 3.7.

The Real Reason Jeff Hardy Is Gone From WWE – Leaving For TNA?!?