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Kurt Angle, fresh off his loss to Shawn Michaels, is here to kick off the show. He says that his victory over Michaels at WrestleMania counts twice and now he wants Batista. He insults Triple H for interfering in his match last week and then out comes Ric Flair. Flair says he is out here to shake his hand and remind him that he thinks he can be the greatest of all time. He wants his son to be like Angle and that he's a mark for him. Flair says that even though he's great, Triple H is still the man. Angle tells Flair to drink his Ensure and take a nap and get out of the ring. They decide that for the first time ever tonight it will be Angle vs. Flair and they get into a Woo-down. That was a refreshing variation of the standard interview beginning to the show.
They show an exclusive DVD extra with Tomko, Christian and Jericho arguing in front of Bischoff. Bischoff announces that the three of them will take on John Cena and two partners of his choice. Christian says that Cena doesn't have any friends on Raw and Bischoff says if that is the case then it will be a handicap match.
Kane immediately attacks both Edge and Snitsky before his partner comes down and the bell rings. Kane then hits Edge in the back with a chair. Edge and Lita retreat out through the crowd, but Kane is chasing him. Eric Bischoff's music hits and tells Snitsky that he will take on him one-on-one. Bischoff says it's the biggest draft pick, which obviously gives it away. We finally get a bell and they go back and forth with right hands. Big Show basically gets a squash victory here and finishes Snitsky with a chokeslam. This was every short Big Show match you've ever seen.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Maria is back with John Cena. Maria forgets the question she was going to ask him, so Cena tells her to walk away and think really hard about what it was. Cena announces his first partner, Shawn Michaels. Michaels says he made the phone call and that their third member will be here tonight. Maria comes back and asks if Cena found a partner.
Candice Michelle is shown introducing herself to the Diva Search contestants.
Edge and Lita are getting their stuff to get out of Anaheim. Lita goes to get her stuff while Edge stands outside, but Kane is already inside. He grabs her and chokes her and then tells her he is going to make her life a living hell.
Chris Masters is now in the ring and he says that he is upping the ante to $14,000 for the Master Lock Challenge. Tajiri comes down and Masters tells him that this is American money, not Yen. Masters insults him and pushes him, so Tajiri nails him with a kick and hits the Tarantula. He goes for his springboard cartwheel elbow, but Masters nails him with a forearm to the back and then puts him in the Master Lock. The ref rings the bell and then Masters says it doesn't matter what nationality you are, no one breaks out of the Master Lock. He then asks Tajiri if he is going to respect the Master Lock and Tajiri spits the green mist in his face.
Man, another interview segment. This time it is Carlito's Cabana. Carlito's guest tonight is the last draft pick and that he is the worst pick for Raw. It's Rob Van Dam and he comes out sporting an ECW shirt and a big knee brace. RVD makes a regretful comment about Carlito and then tries to duplicate his One Night Stand promo. Carlito then attacks his knee and then takes the brace off his knee and slams it in to the prop table. He follows it up by spitting an apple in his face and gets a lot of heat for it.
Kurt Angle vs. Ric Flair
The crowd is very much into this match up. Angle is trying to embarrass Flair and in return Flair is reminding everyone he is the dirtiest player in the game. Flair is able to ram Angle into the steps. Angle then tries to get away, but is then able to hit a back body drop to the floor. During the break, Angle threw Flair into the steps. Angle puts Flair into a STF hold in the center of the ring. Flair bites Angle's thumb to get out of it. Angle hits yet another back body drop to the floor and gets a 2 count. Flair fights back and goes for an elbow drop, but Angle rolls out of the way. Flair catches him and waits until he's done rolling and then hits it in a fun spot. They're battling on the ropes now and Angle is going for a superplex, but Flair awkwardly falls off to the outside. Angle pulls him back in the ring and hits the Angle Slam, but Flair rolls out of it. Angle puts him in the Ankle Lock, but Flair grabs him in the crotch. For some reason the ref is allowing all of this, but it is fun to see Flair stoop to these levels here. Flair gets Angle in the Figure Four. Angle rolls it over, but Flair continues his momentum and rolls through himself. Angle is able to grab the ropes to break the hold. Flair hits a low blow while distracting the ref and then hits an impressive vertical suplex for a 2 count. Angle gets him in the Ankle Lock again and is able to pull him away from the ropes and Flair has no choice but to tap. These guys delivered a really good match here and kudos to the crowd for just loving every second of it. Nice work by both men on creating a really compelling TV match.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Coach is out for the Diva Search and introduces Christy Hemme. There's a sign in the crowd that says "Cristie Marry Me". Really, dude? Can't even spell her name right? This was depressing back in 2005, but words can't describe how awful it is here in present day. Viscera comes out because of course he does. Of course this is a bra and panties competition. Alexis is the only one who shows any sort of personality and definitely has a unique look. Now Sgt. Slaughter comes out and tells them that all of them will report for duty next week for a 4th of July obstacle course. He calls it a bikini boot camp, get it? If that isn't compelling TV, I don't know what is? What a way to follow Flair/Angle.
Batista is backstage with Todd Grisham. He says Triple H and the Cell took something away from him last night, but it was worth it.
Christian, Jericho and Tomko are trying to figure out who the mystery partner is. They guess Marty Jannetty, but he's probably in jail. They then guess Kevin Nash, but said he'd pull his hamstring picking up the phone.
Christian, Tyson Tomko & Chris Jericho vs. John Cena, Shawn Michaels & Hulk Hogan
Hogan gets a big pop as expected here. Cena and Jericho are in the ring when we return from commercial. Michaels gets to come in and hit a few signature moves before Jericho nails him with a step up enzuigiri. The heels take advantage with quick tags while the crowd chants for Hogan. Jericho misses with a Lionsault and it allows Michaels to tag Hogan. Christian and Tomko try to take down Hogan, but he Hulks up. Cena and Jericho roll to the outside while brawling, Michaels hits Sweet Chin Music on Christian and Hogan hits the big boot/leg drop combo for the victory. I'm not even a Hogan fan, but that was the perfect use of him and the crowd loved it. The match was nothing special, but it served it's purpose.
Match Rating: **
I love that they did an extended celebration there that was so long where you thought for sure that HBK was going to turn on Hogan. Well done.
Well, this is about as hard of a show to rate that I can think of. On one hand, you had a really good match with Flair/Angle, a great crowd and a hot ending to the show. Unfortunately, we also got the Diva Search segment that lasted forever and a whole lot of talking, particularly in the first hour. The addition of Rob Van Dam will be a boost to the show, while Big Show is somewhere in the middle. We'll call this show a slight positive though just because the highlights were some of the more memorable ones this year on Raw.
Overall Rating: 60%
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