Monday, May 29th, 2006
Tacoma Dome
Tacoma, Washinigton
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We get a Memorial Day tribute to kick things off.
Vince McMahon is down now and he shows us from 2 weeks ago when Shane was knocked out. He now claims that Shawn Michaels was taken out last week by the Spirit Squad and shows us the highlights from last week. He then turns to Triple H and says that he will face Kenny tonight. Vince announces that he hasn't been able to find a new GM, but announces he has a new executive assistant and it's Coach. Coach announces that John Cena will face someone he has never faced before. He also announces that there will be a #1 contender match between Edge and Big Show to face the WWE Champion at Vengeance. Plus, Shelton Benjamin will defend his Intercontinental Championship against Kane.
Intercontinental Championship Match
Kane vs. Shelton Benjamin
We go to a quick commercial break and when we come back Shelton is in control thanks to shoving Kane into the ring post during the commercial break. It doesn't last long, as Kane hits him with a big boot. Kane hits a side suplex and heads up to the top rope. He hits the clothesline and signals for the chokeslam. Shelton counters out of it and almost steals a victory by using the ropes for leverage. Kane kicks out and tries to put him up for the Tombstone. Shelton counters into a DDT and hits the splash in the corner. He goes for a second time, but Kane catches him by the throat and he hits a chokeslam. The lights start flashing and the Kane mask is on the Titan Tron. His old music hits and out comes a guy who looks more like he's dressed up as him for Halloween than a lookalike. The new Kane hits the old Kane with a chokeslam and does the ringpost pyro. God, the old Kane music is so much better than the crappy version from this era. We get no ring announcement here and just go off the air. The match wasn't much, but at least they let Shelton look fairly strong here.
Match Rating: *
Coach is looking for Triple H and Carlito is of no help. Armando Alejandro Estrrrrrrrrrrada said if he can be of any help, to let him know. Viscera then shoves him up against the wall and tells him that having Umaga getting into his business was a big mistake and he's seeking revenge.
Vince is with Triple H and he says that he was just trying to do what he was told. Vince tells him that in his match Kenny will be a Spiritjack match with all 4 Spirit Squad members in each corner. Triple H says he'll destroy Kenny tonight and he might just need to bring a friend with him.
Viscera vs. Umaga
Umaga attacks Viscera from behind on his way down to the ring and slams him face-first into the steel ramp. Umaga hits a top rope splash and a Samoan Spike and that is all.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Torrie Wilson & Beth Phoenix vs. Victoria & Candice Michelle
After trading right hands, Beth hits a side suplex on Victoria. Torrie comes in and hits a clothesline in the corner and then a stinkface. Candice comes in and hits a Vader Bomb. Victoria misses with a leg drop and in comes Beth. Beth hits some clotheslines and a gutwrench suplex. Victoria gets knocked onto Mickie and Beth hits a Michinoku Driver for the victory. The crowd did not care about this at all.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Jerry Lawler is on the live arena mic and starts making fun of Tazz until RVD's music hits and joins the announce table. He and Lawler go back and forth for a little bit until it's unveiled that Johnny Nitro and Melina are on Raw.
Johnny Nitro vs. John Cena
This has nothing to do with anything, but apparently other than Stomping Grounds, WWE has not had a televised show at the Tacoma Dome since this show. File that under things that only I care about. Nitro avoids Cena in the corner and hits a nice springboard dropkick. I'm not sure the best way to debut Nitro was against Cena with Lawler and RVD completely ignoring the match. Cena makes his comeback and hits his spinning side powerbomb. Cena is more over here in Tacoma than most other spots. He hits the Five Knuckle Shuffle and the FU. He locks in the STFU and Nitro jobs on his Raw debut. Make sense? Nope. The match was entertaining for a short match, but it made Nitro look like a jobber.
Match Rating: *1/2
After the match, Cena and RVD are having words and Nitro tries to attack Cena. Cena moves out of the way and throws him into RVD and knocks him off the apron.
We have Mick Foley and Paul Heyman in the ring for a debate. Foley is all fired up here and taking shots at the ECW roster. Heyman says that he doesn't resent Foley for what he has done, but he resents what Foley has become. Paul Heyman then announces that he has drafted Kurt Angle from SmackDown because he is what the new ECW is all about. Angle is here and attacks Foley. Apparently somewhere along the way they announced that ECW would be coming back. It must have been a WWE.com announcement? This was entertaining as you would expect from these two. The Angle announcement was surprising at the time, but obviously ended up being short-lived.
#1 Contender Match
Big Show vs. Edge
Big Show destroys Edge with some slaps to the chest and a big boot. Edge bumps around for a bit before hitting a tornado DDT from the second rope. Edge brings in a chair, but Show punches it out of his hand. Lita comes in and hits a low blow from behind. Edge then jabs the chair into the jaw of Show and hits the Spear for the victory. I wouldn't say that having a 3 minute match is the best way to make a #1 contender spot feel important, but I'm not complaining that it wasn't some 20 minute epic either.
Match Rating: *1/2
Vince confronts Triple H backstage and wishes him the best of luck and takes away his sledgehammer.
Spiritjack Match
Kenny vs. Triple H
We get lots of shenanigans right off the bat and it leads to Triple H sending Kenny over the top rope as we head into a commercial break. Kenny gets in some offense after some distractions and interference until Triple H plants him with a DDT. It's short-lived because two of the Spiritjacks give Triple H a low blow on the ring post. Triple H overcomes more odds though and hits the Pedigree for the victory. As soon as the bell rings, they all jump him and taunt him outside the ring. Triple H pulls out a sledgehammer from by the timekeeper and chases them off. Out comes Vince and he invites him next week to join his favorite club as we go off the air. The Spirit Squad is getting really old, really fast.
Match Rating: *3/4
Outside of the Foley/Heyman segment, there really wasn't a whole lot to write home about on this episode. For whatever reason, this was an entertaining show for the most part and I'm not really sure why. I still don't get why they introduced Nitro the way they did, but that was really the main negative.
Overall Rating: 57%
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