Monday, July 18th, 2005
Wachovia Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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Eric Bischoff is here to kick things off and discuss the Cena attack from last week. He says that Cena will be facing Snitsky in a Lumberjack match tonight.
Intercontinental Championship Match (Championship Can Change Hand On A Countout)
Carlito vs. Shelton Benjamin
Carlito goes right after Shelton as he enters the ring, but Benjamin ends up hitting a clothesline and a Stinger Splash. They added the countout stipulation because of last week. Shelton once again almost kills himself with a springboard dive to the outside. He hits a springboard shoulder tackler where again he almost loses his balance. Carlito grabs his title to walk away, but realizes he will lose the title and goes in and then rolls out. Shelton hits a clothesline off the apron. Shelton leaps up to the top rope, but Carlito pulls him down into the Tree of Woe. They begin trading right hands and then Shelton hits a couple of clotheslines. Shelton goes for a monkey flip, but Carlito counters it for a pin attempt. Shelton hits a spinning heel kick and then goes for the T-Bone suplex, but Carlito hits him with a low blow and is disqualified. Shelton was sloppy here, but I loved the fire he brought here tonight. He was working a million miles per hour and it worked. Carlito escapes with the loophole.
Match Rating: **1/4
Kurt Angle is here and says that he fooled everyone into thinking some guy was going to take his gold medal away from him. He says that taking away his gold medal is like the Eagles winning the Super Bowl. Impossible. Angle announces that he's in no mood for 3 minutes tonight and asks for the hometown hero to come out. It's Matt Striker again and Angle is confused. Striker has a mic and says he's from Philadelphia and that he took him to the limit last week. Angle calls him a liar and that he doesn't want to give him a second chance. Angle then attacks him from behind and says he changed his mind.
Angle Invitational
Kurt Angle vs. Matt Striker
Angle takes his straps down, but Striker gets him in a choke hold and takes down Angle. Angle is able to get up, but Striker jumps on his back and takes him down again. Down to a minute left, Angle finally gets out of the hold and kicks him right in the head. He goes for the Angle Slam, but Striker falls over. Angle picks him up and hits it and then puts in the Ankle Lock and wins with 24 seconds remaining. This was a fun little story.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Oh joy, it's Diva Search time. They all taped interviews earlier to say who they would vote off if they could. The Philly crowd isn't buying this, as they shouldn't. They all are pretty nice about it, which I'm sure it's not what they were going for. They then announce that Simona is cut. For whatever it's worth, she definitely had no business even making it this far. At the same time, this entire thing is an embarrassment, so who cares?
Backstage Kerwin White is showing Bischoff his golf skills. In walks Jericho and he wants to have a battle of the bands with Cena at Raw in Cleveland next week.
Shawn Michaels is with Todd Grisham. He says that he must have hit Hogan pretty good since it's taken him two weeks to speak.
Chris Masters is here and this time he is offering $20,000 for the Master Lock Challenge. Rosey decides to accept it and comes out to little reaction. Rosey sits down on the chair and lets him put the hold on. Rosey puts up a good fight for a little, but the ref rings the bell and that's all. Masters then knees Rosey to the outside. Masters says it doesn't matter how big you are and then out comes Big Show. Show sits in the chair and tells Masters to put the hold on him. Masters tells him no and heads to the back.
Todd Grisham is with Edge and Lita. Edge is fired up about everyone commenting on his and Lita's lives.
Hulk Hogan is here for his response to HBK. He says that if Michaels wants an answer to his challenge that he needs to come out here. Michaels comes out but says he won't get in the ring because he's afraid he'll have to wait another two weeks. Michaels says he will push Hogan more than anyone ever has. Hogan says that the next time he tries to Sweet Chin Music him, it'll be eye to eye in the ring. Hogan accepts and it will be Hogan vs. Michaels at SummerSlam.
Bischoff is backstage with all of the Raw heels who will be the lumberjacks are tonight. Jericho gives the motivational speech.
Steel Cage Match
Kane vs. Edge
On his way to the ring, Edge is once again attacked by Matt Hardy. He is quickly taken down by security. They head to commercial before the match starts. When we come back, Kane gets hit with a DDT. Kane bounces back with a back body drop and a side suplex. Kane tries to go up top, but Edge stops him and then hits him with a spear, sending Kane into the cage. Edge and Lita then kiss through the cage. Meanwhile, Kane is now bleeding from his forehead. Kane tosses Edge into the cage and hits a sidewalk slam. They keep trying to make this feud this intense story, but it really just isn't translating into their matches. Kane hits a clothesline from the top rope. Kane goes for the chokeslam, but Edge hits a low blow to slow him down. Edge tries to escape out of the cage, but Kane grabs him before he gets very far. Kane takes him and hits a powerbomb for a 2 count. Kane is bleeding pretty good here. Edge fights back and hits a spear for a 2 count. Edge tries to climb out the door, but Lita hands him the briefcase. He goes to use it, but Kane chokeslams him and now both men are down. Kane tries to climb out of the cage, but Edge hits him with the briefcase. Edge climbs and is sitting on the top of the cage. Kane grabs him by the throat, but Edge hits him in the head with the briefcase and then escapes for the victory. That was a pretty bland match there.
Match Rating: *3/4
Maria is in the back with John Cena. Cena follows Maria's corny lumberjack joke with a corny trouser snake joke. They keep doing a running gag where Cena finds a way to get Maria to leave so he can cut his promo.
Lumberjack Match
Snitsky vs. John Cena
The heel lumberjacks quickly show their true colors as they don't attack Snitsky when he's outside the ring. Cena is welcoming the brawling, but the numbers game obviously catches up to him. During the commercial break Jericho gets the best of Cena and we are now back in the ring with Cena fighting out of a submission move by Snitsky, but Snitsky hits a spinebuster. Good on JR for announcing some of the lesser known lumberjacks like Rene Dupree. Cena is dumped outside again and Jericho once again destroys Cena. Cena battles back and knocks Jericho off the apron, but then gets decapitated by Snitsky for a 2 count. Snitsky is pulling out all of the rest holds he can think of for this one. Angle comes in and hits Cena with a chop block, but again Cena kicks out. Snitsky again throws Cena outside the ring and every one of the lumberjacks comes over to attack him. Snitsky then hits a big boot to the face, but again Cena kicks out. Cena hits a big DDT and both men are down. Shelton Benjamin and Big Show are out now to help even the score. They are joined by Tajiri, Rosey, Viscera, Val Venis and Hurricane. Jericho sneaks in with a steel chair, but Cena stops him. Snitsky grabs the chair, but Cena avoids that one too and hits the FU for the victory. The match was pretty formulaic, but it had a fun ending and Cena did the best he could.
Match Rating: **
I can't say that I loved this episode, but it definitely had some good moments. The Hogan and Michaels build is off to a good start and the Angle/Striker mini feud was a nice twist on the formula. The Edge/Kane feud continues to drag on and the Jericho/Cena story is surprisingly weak so far. This would be the definition of thumbs in the middle.
Overall Rating: 52%
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