Monday, December 12th, 2005
TD Northbank Garden
Boston, Massachusetts
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Vince McMahon is out to kick off the show. He talks about possible replacement GMs for Raw including Stephanie and Shane. He says tonight that the interview process will begin, but there will be a GM for the night and it's himself. By the end of the night, we will know all five challengers for the Elimination Chamber after tonight. He also announces that the fans will no longer be bleeped during Angle's entrance.
Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match
Kurt Angle vs. Ric Flair
After a small burst of offense, Angle is pounding away on Flair in the corner. Angle misses with a clothesline and Flair hits a couple of chops. Angle hits a suplex, pulls the straps down and puts on the Ankle Lock. Flair gets to the ropes to break the hold. Angle misses in the corner and hits his shoulder on the ring post. Flair hits the chop block and puts on a Figure Four. Angle gets out and hits a belly-to-belly suplex. Flair avoids an Angle Slam and knocks him out of the ring. Angle grabs a chair, but Flair knocks it out of his hands. While the ref is putting the chair away, Angle pulls out his gold medal and hits Flair with it for the victory. This was pretty good for a short TV match.
Match Rating: ** (out of 5)
Angle grabs the mic and says that next week in Afghanistan he won't be there. Daivari is now on the Titan Tron and he spits on a statue of Larry Bird. He then grabs a can of spray paint, but John Cena is there to stop him. Cena spray paints the camera and we are off to commercial.
Edge and Lita approach Flair and mock him for losing another match.
Shawn Michaels is getting ready for his match and in walks Shelton Benjamin holding Michaels' book. They argue about last weeks loss. Shelton says he is going to show off more of his attitude against Carlito tonight and he hopes that Michaels makes it in the Chamber as well.
Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match
Shelton Benjamin vs. Carlito
Shelton throws Carlito into the ring the hard way and stomps away in the corner. The attitude storyline for Shelton is a relatable one and an easy one for them to convey. Carlito moves out of the way from a dive, but Shelton lands on his feet and hits a clothesline. Carlito is able to throw Shelton into the ring and then throws him back in the ring. Carlito hits a Backstabber. Carlito puts on the Boston Crab...in Boston. Shelton rolls through and gets a 2 count. Shelton hits a Samoan drop and a series of clotheslines. The crowd is pretty quiet here. Shelton pulls off a sunset flip over both the referee and Carlito, but the ref is out of position as a result. Shelton hits the Exploder, but he decides not to cover him. Instead, Shelton grabs Carlito's apple and Carlito pulls off a small package for the victory. So apparently the story is now that Shelton is not smart enough to know when to stop. Got it. I don't think anyone is buying Carlito in the Chamber, but when your roster isn't deep, I guess you have no choice.
Match Rating: *3/4
Trevor Murdoch approaches Vince backstage and he makes fun of his tobacco habit. Candice Michelle is in Vince's office and she wants a crack at the open GM position. She strips down to lingerie and then is interrupted by Angle and Daivari into a commercial break.
Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match
Big Show vs. Shawn Michaels
We get a classic big man/little man match to begin until Michaels dumps Show over the rope. Show catches Michaels' dive and drops him on the ring apron. Shows hits a big boot, but misses with the elbow drop. Show puts Michaels in a bear hug, but Michaels fights his way out of it and hits him with a knee lift. Michaels hits his running forearm, but Show is still standing. Michaels hits a couple of clotheslines, but Show grabs him by the throat. Michaels counters the chokeslam into a DDT and both men are down. Michaels hits the top rope elbow drop and hits Sweet Chin Music, but Show is still standing. He falls down to a knee and blocks Michaels' second attempt and hits a chokeslam. Triple H comes down and pulls Michaels out of the ring. He looks at the Big Show and then hits Michaels in the head with a chair, causing Michaels to win the match. This was pretty good for a five minute TV match.
Match Rating: **
Back to Angle and McMahon. Angle is demanding a match with Cena tonight. Vince tells Angle to back off and he's not giving him a match. He says that instead he's letting Cena wrestle Daivari tonight. He says that it will be a You Can't See Me Match, which apparently means Cena will be blindfolded. Vince then says that Angle can make comments about our troops and Larry Bird, but he better not interrupt him again. Sounds about right.
Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match
Viscera vs. Chris Masters
Well, you knew there would be one match like this. Viscera hits a body slam and a big elbow drop for an early 2 count. Masters tries to body slam Viscera, but falls on his back and almost gets pinned. He tries to put on the Master Lock, but he can't get his arms around him and Viscera throws him down. He goes for another Master Lock and again it doesn't work. Viscera hits a sideslam and then a Samoan drop. Masters hits a drop toe hold on a charging Viscera into the turnbuckle. Once again, he goes back to the Master Lock and finally gets it on and that is all for Viscera. This was exactly what you would expect.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Trish goes to Mickie James' locker room to talk to Mickie about something. Mickie says she has a match against Victoria to become the #1 contender. She talks about she used to watch wrestling with her grandpappy and he took her to WrestleMania X-Seven. She makes a jab about her hooking up with Vince. She then says that she might be wrestling her at New Year's Revolution. Trish doesn't say what's on her mind and wishes Mickie an awkward good luck as Mickie heads to the ring.
Matt Striker comes out to a chalkboard on the stage and insults the live crowd. He's here to lecture us on family values. He insults all the mothers for having children so that they can get more money from the government. He then goes on about smoking pot and tattoos and blames it on them not knowing any better. He tells us that he will be our father figure and our teacher. Striker's delivery was good here, but the stench of Attitude Era garbage could be smelled from a mile away.
Chris Nowinski says Raw needs a Harvard educated GM. Vince ignores him and brings in Dusty Rhodes and that's the end of the segment. All righty.
#1 Contender's Match For The WWE Women's Championship
Mickie James vs. Victoria
Victoria gets right in Mickie's face and hits her with a big right hand. I can't imagine being a woman wrestler during this era and just having to completely rush through every television match you have. Victoria goes for her standing moonsault, but Mickie gets her knees up. Victoria counters a Mickarana into a Boston Crab. Mickie hits a tornado DDT and gets the victory. They worked hard, but this was just way too short to tell any sort of story.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match
Triple H vs. Kane
I feel like I need to address how terrible Kane's entrance music is. Over the years, I continue to see people praise the song and I just can't emphasize how much I can't stand it. The original is very good, it did not need some nu-metal wannabe singer to lay down vocals. Kane sends Triple H up and over the corner turnbuckle and to the floor. Kane hits a couple of clotheslines in opposite corners and Triple H rolls out of the ring as Kane tries to go up top. Kane meets him there and drops him on the barricade. Kane hits the top rope clothesline and signals for the chokeslam. Once again, Triple H goes out of the ring and Kane throws him back in. Triple H hits a knee to the face, but Kane counters his Pedigree attempt. Triple H ducks a Kane big boot and he accidentally hits referee Chad Patton. Triple H hits a DDT and grabs the sledgehammer from under the ring. Naturally, here comes Kane's tag team partner Big Show. The distraction allows them to hit a double chokeslam and Kane is the sixth competitor in the Elimination Chamber. These two never had good chemistry and this was another example of it.
Match Rating: 3/4*
You Can't See Me Match
Daivari vs. John Cena
So Cena gets the Jake Roberts blindfold and he clearly was watching WrestleMania VII once he got his assignment here. Daivari messes with him getting Cena to chase him around the ring. Cena finally gets a left hand, but then almost accidentally knocks out Mike Chioda. He starts with the finger pointing. Daivari tricks Cena and moves out of the way so that Angle can him with a fist to the midsection. Cena gets Daivari on the ground and puts on the STFU for the quick victory. Not that Daivari was ever put anywhere near Cena's level, him losing to a blindfolded competitor in just a few minutes isn't really good for anyone. After the match Cena fights off Angle and then hits a FU on Angle. This wasn't really even mildly entertaining.
Match Rating: 1/4*
I enjoy when we have focused episodes like this one. I really enjoyed the first hour, but the last 30 minutes or so really fell off a cliff for me. The roster depth on Raw is starting to become a little bit of an issue and it was made evident when you had Chris Masters defeat Viscera for his spot in the Chamber. The show is in need of some new talent soon to help freshen it up a little. With all that being said, I would say this one falls under slightly better than average.
Overall Rating: 58%
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