Monday, May 8th, 2006
Arrowhead Pond
Anaheim, California
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
After a really lengthy intro about the whole Spirit Squad show last week, we get Jim Ross back at the announce table. Out comes Triple H and he wants his WWE Championship, so he calls out John Cena. Cena tells him that we all know what Triple H has done, but it's about what you've done lately. He reminds Triple H that lately he's both pinned him and made him tap out. Cena's ready to go right now, but out comes Vince to say it's not happening. Vince ends up saying Triple H will get his rematch, but he has the night off tonight. Vince then announces that Cena and Shawn Michaels will take on the Spirit Squad. Vince then introduces the Fatal 4 Way match. Rob Van Dam comes out first and he and Cena give a little to tease to what is going to happen. RVD grabs a mic and calls what happened to Joey Styles a bunch of crap. He said he agrees with everything Joey said and tries to get the crowd to chant for ECW.
Fatal 4 Way For The Intercontinental Championship
Rob Van Dam vs. Charlie Haas vs. Chris Masters vs. Shelton Benjamin
Did you know that this is a huge disadvantage for the champion? If not, you will of course be reminded of it 55 times. After the long opening segment, of course they are going to interrupt this one right away with a commercial break. RVD is able to hit Rolling Thunder while Shelton dumps Haas out of the ring. Shelton hits a big kick on Haas, but RVD breaks up the pin. Masters comes out of nowhere and takes Shelton out of the match. He puts the Master Lock on Haas, but Van Dam comes from off the top rope with a sunset flip and scores the pin. This was an enjoyable TV match that tried it's best to stay chaotic rather than always having two people laying around.
Match Rating: **1/2
Carlito vs. Matt Striker
I'm a little surprised they are going from match to match with no background segment. Maybe something was edited out? They go back and forth with big punches until Carlito is able to hit his springboard elbow. Out of nowhere, Eugene comes to the ring and attacks Striker, which allows Striker to win the match by DQ. Carlito attacks Striker, but then also hits the Backstabber on Eugene. This whole thing was rushed and I'm not sure many people cared about it.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Edge comes out and makes fun of the California fans. Foley comes out and says that he couldn't have a hardcore match without some ECW and says that he's adding Tommy Dreamer to the match.
Triple Threat Hardcore Match
Edge vs. Mick Foley vs. Tommy Dreamer
They keep warning us about how violent this is going to be. Foley hits Dreamer in the back with his barbed wire baseball bat and then hands it to Edge. Lawler is trying his best to sell this, but the crowd seems a little bit confused. Edge and Foley start working together and Dreamer is gushing. Foley puts Mr. Socko on Dreamer and Edge hits him with a Spear for the victory. They give the victory to Foley and he and Edge shake hands after the match. I don't think this played as well as they hoped for.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Mickie James vs. Maria
Trish is in Maria's corner. Mickie dominates the entire match and hits her variation of the DDT for the easy victory. After the match, Mickie invites Trish into the ring. Mickie hits a cheap shot on Maria, so Trish tries to save her with one arm and Mickie takes advantage of it. Out comes a blonde woman to attack Mickie and she is restrained by WWE officials. This of course is Beth Phoenix in her debut.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Kevin Martenson & Tommy Wilson vs. Umaga
Umaga gets two opponents this week, which is always fun. This is obviously Umaga just destroying these two ham and eggers He hits the Samoan Spike and that is all. This was exactly what it needed to be, as Umaga slowly continues to get over a little more every week.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Kane vs. Big Show
Ah, yes. I remember this match like it was yesterday. This is the match where these two decided to do a mat wrestling match. We get a drop toe hold from Big Show and then they decided to do a test of strength. They keep going with it and kind of just feels like a slow motion version of a 1993 Bob Backlund match. Kane starts to climb the ropes and the lights go out and a Kane mask shows up on the screen, saying "May 19th". Kane grabs a chair and unleashes on Big Show and he walks away as his music plays. They don't make any announcement, but I am guessing Big Show wins by DQ.
Match Rating: 1/4*
The Spirit Squad are backstage getting pumped up for their match.
Spirit Squad vs. Shawn Michaels & John Cena
Cena and Michaels throw Kenny over the top rope and take out the entire Squad into the commercial break. Cena gets Johnny up for the FU, but his teammates save him and Johnny hits him with his kick for a 2 count. The crowd has finally woken up for this match. The Spirit Squad continues to use their numbers advantage to work on Cena. Cena finally makes the hot tag and he fires right hands at all five opponents. Meanwhile, they throw Cena into the steps. Behind the referee's back, they hit Michaels with one of their Tag Team Championship belts to the face and score the cheap victory. After the match, they hit the referee and steal his belt to start whipping Michaels with it. Cue the "government mule" line. Out comes Triple H and Cena comes in to start tossing guys out of the ring. Triple H hits the Pedigree on Cena and gives him multiple crotch chops. This was your typical cheap match that we have all seen a million times. Nothing more, nothing less.
Match Rating: **
This was another middle of the road show for the red brand. They really don't have much to build to, so they seem to just be treading water and throwing the Spirit Squad out there every opportunity they get. The only thing notable about this show was the lack of backstage segments. There were very few on this show and instead had a couple more matches than normal.
Overall Rating: 50%
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