Monday, August 22nd, 2005
Hampton Coliseum
Hampton, Virginia
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Following a SummerSlam highlight package, Shawn Michaels is out to the ring. Shawn hates to admit it, but Hogan was the better man last night. Shawn now says it's back to reality, which means Hogan is on a plane home to Florida until the money comes his way to come back again. Shawn on the other hand is here to give the fans what they want. Chris Masters music hits. He tells Shawn that guys like him and Hogan don't know when to step aside. Shawn tells objects to him being lumped with Hogan. They go back and forth until Michaels attacks him and explodes off the ropes with a forearm, knocking Masters out of the ring. It's pretty amazing that Michaels was pretty much a jerk the entire interview and was the heel in the Hogan feud and yet, he was still cheered here. After just kind of floating around here doing nothing, Masters finally has his first feud of note.
Chris Jericho is backstage with Eric Bischoff. He tells Bischoff he had Cena beat last night. Bischoff lets him know that he's going to get a rematch and it's going to be a "You're Fired" match, where the loser is immediately fired. They get a couple of bro hugs in for good measure.
Kurt Angle vs. Shelton Benjamin
I think this is a match that we can all get behind here. After some mat wrestling, Shelton lands on his feet out of a German suplex and ducks a charging Angle, sending him to the outside. During the commercial break, Angle hit a German suplex that sent Shelton over the top rope. Shelton is able to dodge Angle's spear attempt and then hits a spinebuster. Shelton follows up with a couple of clotheslines and a Samoan drop. Shelton misses with a dropkick and Angle goes for the Ankle Lock. Shelton kicks out of it and hits a spinning heel kick. Shelton goes up to the top rope, but Angle runs up the ropes and hits a suplex. The straps are down and he goes for the Angle Slam, but Shelton counters with a big DDT for a third nearfall. Shelton tries to go for the T-Bone suplex, but Angle counters into the Ankle Lock and Shelton taps. I could watch these two go at it all day. Those last couple of minutes were really good and the crowd was into all of it. After the match, Angle grabs a chair and sets it up in the middle of the ring. He has Chad Patton place the medal around his neck.
Match Rating: ***1/4 (out of 5)
Kerwin White is backstage riding around on his golf cart. He says that he is the official spokesman of middle class America. They play up the race card here and yeah, this was off in '05 and even worse 15 years later.
Snitsky approaches Maria and plays with her feet. Big Show comes in and sticks his feet in his face. Show slaps him and calls him a pervert. Maria asks Show what a pervert is and walks away with him.
Matt Hardy vs. Rob Conway
I'm not sure that I agree with Hardy fighting here tonight after his fight with Edge last night. It is amazing how much Conway just sucks the air out of a building. It goes absolutely silent as soon as music hits no matter who he is facing. As soon as the bell rings, Edge's music hits and he and Lita are out on the ramp. Conway attacks him, while they sit on the announcer table. Hardy makes his comeback and hits him with a series of forearms. They are battling up on the second rope and Conway knocks him off. Conway nervously hits the elbow drop off the top rope and gets the victory. You can say whatever you want about it, but this booking is terrible. There was no story as to why Matt had this match tonight and he instantly goes from something special to just another guy. After the match, Edge attacks him and sandwiches his head between the steps and the ring post. Meanwhile, Conway continues to be disappointing.
Match Rating: 1/4*
It's time for Carlito's Cabana. His guest tonight is Ric Flair. Flair welcomes Carlito to Flair Country. Carlito brings up the fact that Flair is a 16 time champion, which means he's lost 16 times. Carlito says that he is a 1 time Intercontinental Champion, meaning he's never lost it. Pretty deep stuff there. Carlito spits his apple all over Flair's suit, so he hits him with a thumb to the eye and a fist. Flair takes Carlito out and then drops an elbow on his sport coat.
Big Show vs. Snitsky
Show hits some open palm slaps to the chest to start things off. King lets us know that Snitsky's back looks like the backside of a Nestle Crunch bar. Snitsky avoids Show, who then hits the ring post. Back in the ring, Snitsky goes for a suplex, but Show counters with one of his own. Show clotheslines him to the outside and Snitksy retreats up the ramp. Show gets the victory by count out, but he's not happy about it. Next.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Bischoff approaches Cena from behind and tells him that he's going to fire him. TWIST. Cena is wearing headphones and didn't hear him.
We get a Cade & Murdoch promo putting all of the teams in WWE on notice. Yeah, all two of them.
Torrie Wilson and Candice Michelle are out to the ring. They inform us that they have been traded to Raw. They bring out Ashley, who says it is such an honor to be out with both of them. Torrie then kicks her and slams her to the ground. If they play it right, this could headline WrestleMania.
Jericho says he is ready to get rid of Cena.
You're Fired Match For The WWE Championship
Chris Jericho vs. John Cena
Cena hits his variation of a hip toss, but then Bischoff grabs his leg and that allows Jericho to take control. The crowd tonight is very much behind Cena. Jericho sends Cena into the turnbuckle, but misses with a crossbody and it sends him over the top and to the floor. Cena throws Jericho back in, but Bischoff hits Cena with a low blow behind the referee's back. Back from the commercial break, Jericho has Cena in a headlock. During the break they show a clip of Bischoff slapping Cena in the face. Cena hits a back suplex, but Jericho is able to stay on offense. Jericho hits a spinning heel kick and gets a 2 count. This match is a good example of how that even when the ending is predictable, if the fans are invested in both characters it doesn't matter. Jericho props Cena up on the top rope, but Cena counters the superplex and drops Jericho face first to the mat. Cena goes for a flying crossbody, but Jericho ducks and Cena hits the mat hard. The "Let's go Jericho" chants are starting now, but it took awhile. Cena explodes with a shoulder block and two clotheslines. Cena goes for a FU, but Jericho fights out of it and goes for the Walls of Jericho and gets it. Bischoff pulls the bottom rope away from Cena and then Jericho drags him to the center of the ring. Cena is finally able to make it to the bottom rope, but was in the hold for a long time. Jericho is arguing with Mike Chioda and it allows Cena to scoop up Jericho into a FU. He struggles, but eventually is able to hit it and now both men are down. Cena is able to get a pin attempt, but Bischoff puts Jericho's foot on the rope. He then hands Jericho brass knuckles while Chioda is checking on Cena. Jericho hits a right hand, but Cena miraculously kicks out to a big pop. Bischoff is on the apron now and is distracting Chioda. Cena hits a slingshot and it knocks Bischoff off the apron. Cena hits a FU and he gets the victory. While that wasn't quite as good as their SummerSlam outing, they put on a second good match in as many nights. This would be Jericho's last match for over two years. After the match, Bischoff tells him that he's fired. Jericho pleads his case, but Bischoff continues the verbal assault on him and tells him to get out of his ring. While they watch Jericho walk to the back, Angle comes from out of nowhere and hits a German suplex. He hits the Angle Slam and Bischoff informs Cena that Angle is the #1 contender. Angle picks up the WWE Championship and holds it up in Cena's face. Angle stares him down as Cena struggles to get to his feet.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Like many episodes of Raw, this one started and finished hot and had a lot of filler in between. From a booking standpoint, they planted the seeds for every single match at Unforgiven with the exception of one. Not all of them were effective, but at least they were getting things started tonight rather than on the go home show like we have seen many times over the years. We got two matches that were over ***, so that to me is almost always an automatic thumbs up in the 2 hour era. The rest was mostly skippable, but we did get one of the more memorable television matches of the year.
Overall Rating: 68%
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