Monday, March 20th, 2006
FedEx Forum
Memphis, Tennessee
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
The Spirit Squad is here and in a festive mood tonight. They have a jazz band playing "The Saints Go Marchin' In" for Vince and Shane McMahon. I would argue that this is also the most confetti every on a WWE event, so history is being made here. They of course are celebrating Shane's "victory" over Shawn Michaels at Saturday Night's Main Event two nights ago. This all of course leads to Vince saying "Shawn Michaels screwed Shawn Michaels". Vince then announces that their match at WrestleMania is No Holds Barred. He also announces that Shawn is going to face Triple H here tonight on Raw. Out comes John Cena and he wants a piece of Triple H. So Vince announces that it will be John Cena and Shawn Michaels against Triple H and Shane McMahon. I have to say, the live band was a fantastic touch here.
Shane, Vince and Triple H are backstage. Triple H isn't too happy that he's in a match tonight against John Cena. Vince says that he'll be out there with them, so need to worry.
Carlito vs. Kane
Just a reminder that Kane's music with vocals is among the worst in WWE history. Carlito hits a DDT, but Kane is pretty much right back up and on offense. Carlito hits a Backstabber and that slows Kane down. Kane starts slugging Carlito and hits a clothesline in the corner. Kane hits a sidewalk slam and then goes up top. Carlito hits him with a dropkick on his way down and gets a 2 count out of it. Carlito misses a moonsault, but kind of sort of lands it and eats a big boot. Carlito hits a thumb to the eye and chops Kane's knee. He snaps Kane's throat over the top rope. Carlito goes for a springboard move, but Kane catches him and hits the chokeslam for the victory. If you didn't think Chris Masters and Carlito had a chance against Kane and Big Show, well, you still don't.
Match Rating: 3/4*
After the commercial break, Carlito and Chris Masters are arguing backstage. Carlito orders that Masters makes an impact against Big Show tonight.
The next inductees into the Hall of Fame are The Blackjacks.
Triple Threat Match For The Intercontinental Championship
Ric Flair vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Shelton Benjamin
RVD and Flair team up on Shelton to start. RVD clotheslines Shelton over the top rope and then Flair congratulates him with a chop. Who would have thought that 15 years later in 2021, RVD would be the NC-17 version of Flair? RVD hits Rolling Thunder, but Shelton breaks up the pin attempt. Shelton and Flair are brawling on the outside and RVD hits a somersault dive over the top. Flair and RVD are both busted open. They show on the replay that RVD and Flair's heads collided on RVD's way down. Shelton hits a Samoan drop on Flair, but he doesn't go for the pin right away and Flair kicks out. Shelton then hits a big vertical suplex, but RVD dropkicks Shelton during the pin. RVD hits a monkey flip, but Shelton lands on his feet so RVD kicks him in the face. RVD hits Flair with a spinning heel kick and Rolling Thunder again. He hits a spinning heel kick on Shelton and he rolls out of the ring. RVD hits the split-legged moonsault on Flair for a 2 count. Shelton comes with the championship belt, but RVD kicks it in his face. Flair rolls up RVD and gets a nearfall. RVD hits the kick off the top rope on Flair and goes up top for the frog splash, but Flair moves out of the way. Flair goes for the Figure Four and gets it on. In comes Shelton and he lays on Flair and steals the victory. That really got going after the commercial break and ended up being a really nice TV match. To me, this was a good way to build up the Money In The Bank match.
Match Rating: ***1/4
Mick Foley is here and is all bandaged up on his face. He cuts a passionate promo about tasting his own blood on Saturday Night's Main Event and now he's thirsty for some more, but this time he wants Edge's. Out comes Lita to the ring. She says that Edge is still in Detroit and injured. She then says that they should call off the Hardcore Match and make it just a normal wrestling match. Foley says he isn't falling for this and asks Lita to slap him because that's what she's supposed to do. Edge comes out and Foley blocks Lita's low blow.
Torrie Wilson vs. Victoria
Candice Michelle is carried out on a bed with her Playboy cover behind her. She starts throwing pillows at Torrie, which distracts Torrie. Victoria hits the Widow's Peak and that's it. Yep.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Chris Masters vs. Big Show
Big Show starts off chopping the chest of Masters. Show runs through Masters and they head outside. Show goes charging at Masters, but he ducks the attempted kick and he crotches himself on the barricade. Show goes to pull Masters in the ring, but Masters has a chair and he clocks Show in the head with an unprotected shot. Why? Obviously that's a disqualification, so he hits him again, but at least this time it's in the back. He puts on the Master Lock for a second and uses it to drive him into the ring post. This was obviously just to build their tag match.
Match Rating: 1/2*
There's a large present in the ring and out comes Mickie James. Mickie opens up the box and it's a person underneath a sheet. Out comes Trish and Mickie reveals that it's Ashley. Mickie turns on the intensity and Trish tries to come to the aid, but she hits a DDT. Mickie is bleeding from the nose and approaches a knocked out Trish. She asks her if she loves her now and kisses her. The blood really added to the vicious twist that Mickie's character took here.
Triple H & Shane McMahon vs. John Cena & Shawn Michaels
Michaels goes right after Shane and he goes into the crowd. Security takes Michaels down and in the ring, Cena wants a piece of Triple H. Shane tries to attack Cena from behind, but Cena hits him with a right hand when he leaps off the top rope. Vince gets on the microphone and disqualifies Cena for using a closed fist. Vince orders security to escort Cena out of the ring. Vince then announces this match.
Triple H & Shane McMahon vs. Shawn Michaels
Triple H nails Michaels with a closed fist while security holds him. The bell rings and Shane is taking it to Michaels. Triple H hits a huge spinebuster and Vince is loving it. Shane hits a leaping reverse elbow for a 2 count. Michaels makes his comeback and he hits both with inverted atomic drops. Michaels clotheslines Triple H out of the ring and hits a top rope elbow on Shane. Michaels starts tuning up the band, but Triple H trips him up and crotches him on the ring post. Triple H has him ready to Pedigree him and Shane is up top to follow it up, but out comes Cena to save the day. We get a really fun brawl with security guards coming in and Michaels and Cena clean house. Vince gets on the microphone and says that next week he has to face him. The match itself was pretty standard, but the ending was a blast.
Match Rating: **1/4
This was a really entertaining episode as we approach WrestleMania. I loved the atmosphere created in the opening segment with the live band. We didn't get a whole lot of good wrestling tonight, but the one match that was given time was a good TV match. Mickie James and Mick Foley both played their roles well and furthered their respective feuds in the right direction. To top it off, we got a hot ending featuring the top two feuds on Raw. I am looking forward to getting to WrestleMania 22 again for the first time in a long time.
Overall Rating: 70%
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