Monday Night Raw 1-2-06 Review

Monday, January 2nd, 2006
Continental Airlines Arena
East Rutherford, New Jersey

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New year, same crappy intro song. Mr. McMahon is here again to start the show off. He is here to say that from now on it's all about him. That's cute. He said he made the First Blood Match for tonight for his amusement and he also did the same with our opening match.

Kane vs. Shawn Michaels

Despite these two seemingly being in the company forever, we really didn't seem to get a ton of one-on-one matches between them. Vince announces that if Michaels uses a superkick, he is disqualified and loses the match. They go back-and-forth to start things off. Michaels launches himself over the top rope to the floor onto Kane. He then turns his attention to Vince and reminds him that he's given him everything. This gives Kane the time needed to attack him from behind as we head into a commercial break. Michaels goes off the top rope, but Kane counters with a punch to the mid-section. Michaels battles back with a DDT, but Kane hits him with a boot to the face to the amusement of Vince. Kane now takes a chance on the top rope and Michaels is able to avoid him. Michaels follows up with a top rope elbow drop and starts tuning up the band. Vince gets on the mic and threatens Michaels, Kane hits the chokeslam and that is all. The match was better than I expected and they worked the storyline to perfection. 

Match Rating: *** (out of 5)

I really do not remember them hyping up the Triple H and Big Show match for New Year's Revolution. They show a clip of Michaels being made aware that he will be the first entrant in the Elimination Chamber. 

They show a clip of Gregory Helms saying that once again he isn't on the show. He blames it on Jerry Lawler and tells him he's going to shut him up. Out comes Helms and cuts a live promo on Lawler. Lawler joins him in the ring and tells him that he sucks. Things break down and they start swinging. Helms retreats and Lawler challenges him to a match at New Year's Revolution. 

Vince is backstage with Mickie James when Kurt Angle and Daivari walk in. Angle says that he is going to make Cena bleed so much, that he will be headed to the hospital. 

Trish is working out backstage and she talks to Todd Grisham about Mickie James. She says the kiss was uncomfortable. 

Maria is doing the Kiss Cam and out comes Victoria, Torrie and Candice. Victoria tells her that she is a match scheduled right now.

Maria vs. Victoria

Victoria is selling the neck injury from her match with Carlito. Maria is dressed in her normal clothes and Victoria takes out her frustration on Maria. In a fun spot, Torrie takes Chloe's butt and shoves it in Maria's face before slapping her. Maria is able to knock Candice off of the apron, but Victoria grabs her hair and slams her down. Victoria misses with a splash in the corner and Maria rolls her up for the surprise victory. Immediately after the match, the three ladies team up on Maria and strip her down and start stomping on her. Ashley comes down to make the save, hitting a spear on Victoria. The numbers catch up to her and she is hit with a double DDT. I'm not really sure why I'm supposed to care about this, but as far as rushed segments go, they crammed a lot in. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They are hyping up WWE.com Unlimited. Vince tells Maria and Ashley that he wants to see the first ever Bra and Panties Gauntlet Match at New Year's Revolution.

Mickie James is shown outside of Trish's shower. Mickie wants to apologize for last week. Mickie compliments her figure and Trish asks her to leave. 

Edge and Lita are out to present the video of Ric Flair's road rage incident. It of course is Edge dressed up as Flair. He beats up the guy in the car wearing an Edge shirt and puts him in a Figure Four on the road. Out comes Flair and he attacks Edge on the ramp. Flair takes him to the ring, but as he is putting the Figure Four on, Lita jumps on his back. Flair puts Lita in the Figure Four, as Edge almost retreats, but eventually decides to come down. Flair releases the hold and Edge and Lita retreat. 

Shelton Benjamin vs. Chris Masters

Masters hits a clubbing clothesline out of a backslide attempt by Shelton. Shelton fights back and hits a Stinger Splash. Shelton hits a running knee and a spin kick to the jaw. The ref counts to 3, but he notices that Masters was able to get his foot on his rope. They continue to sell the losing streak angle for Shelton. Masters catches Shelton and attempts to put him in the Master Lock. Shelton counters that into a nice backbreaker for a 2 count. Masters turns a big swing into the Master Lock and this time gets it in. Shelton fights and gets close to the rope after rolling, but eventually it is too much and the ref calls for the bell. There were a few miscues, but this was a decent TV match.

Match Rating: **

We get a clip of Ben Roethlisberger and Max Starks at a WWE show. 

Triple H is here to talk trash about Big Show. Out comes the Big Show with a big cast. Triple H grabs a chair. Show blocks the chair shot attempt with his cast. Triple H tries a monitor, but he blocks that too, causing sparks to fly. I have to say, this was actually a pretty creative idea to help put over this match. 

Shelton is backstage and in walks his mama. She yells at him and grabs him by the ears. This is definitely up there for worst ideas and that is saying something. 

Cena is out to do a rap on his opponents for the first time in awhile. 

First Blood Match

John Cena vs. Kurt Angle

The match started during the break and when we come back Angle is delivering German suplexes. Daivari takes off the top turnbuckle as Angle hits Cena with some right hands. Cena knocks Daivari off the apron and then sends Angle flying over the top rope with a back body drop. Daivari attacks Cena with the gold medal on the outside. Even a week after Angle attacked the troops last week, the crowd is still largely behind him here. The Cena era was a wild ride. Angle jams Cena's face into the exposed turnbuckle, but Cena is not bleeding yet. The straps are down and he hits the Angle Slam. Cena fights back and hits a shoulder tackle. Cena grabs a chair, but Angle rolls out and Daivari jumps on Cena's back. This of course allows Angle to attack Cena. Cena gets him up for the FU, but Angle rolls through and puts him in the Ankle Lock. Cena rolls out of it and it sends Angle into the referee. Daivari again gets involved and Angle hits Cena with a chair shot to the head. Cena is busted open, but the referee is still down. Classic wrestling. Vince can do whatever he wants, but he doesn't call the match to end? Cena puts the STFU on, but Daivari wakes up the ref. They declare Angle the winner, but Cena is going nuts. Carlito and Masters are out and attack Cena. Angle puts him in the Ankle Lock, but then Masters puts in the Master Lock on Angle. Carlito goes after Daivari in the corner and out comes Kane. Kane hits chokeslams on Masters, Carlito and Daivari. Out comes Michaels, who hits Sweet Chin Music on Kane in a nice touch to the story earlier. Michaels eyes Cena, but Super Cena hits the FU on Michaels. All of the men are laid out on the mat as Cena's music plays. The match itself was overbooked fun and it led to a good final moment before the Elimination Chamber. 

Match Rating: ***

Bookended by two good TV matches, this was an enjoyable episode overall. They were focused on building up the show and everything done for the main matches made me want to watch the show more. There was still some of the usual garbage, but I thought this was a strong start to 2006 for the red brand.

Overall Rating: 70%