Monday, October 2nd, 2006
Kansas Expo Center
Topeka, Kansas
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DX is out to start the show and they do they spiel. Out comes Jonathan Coachman and he tells them they have to compete right now in a Texas Tornado Match.
Texas Tornado Match
D-Generation X vs. Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch vs. Viscera & Charlie Haas vs. Highlanders
Cade and Murdoch go right after DX and we're underway. Triple H is able to move out of the way of a Viscera squash in the corner and then they hit a double clothesline to knock Vis down. Murdoch gets hit by a knee to the face and an inverted atomic drop before throwing him out of the ring. Haas eats a spinebuster and a Michaels top rope elbow drop. They hit the Sweet Chin Music/Pedigree combo on Haas and that's it. There is no better way to build your struggling tag division than to squash them like they're jobbers on Superstars. It was cute those 30 seconds they cared about Cade and Murdoch.
Match Rating: 3/4*
After the match, Coach is unhappy and says that he still runs this show. DX threatens to throw him out of the building and that they'll run this show.
Intercontinental Championship Match
Johnny Nitro vs. Jeff Hardy
We get a little bit of action leading to Hardy leaping off the apron on Nitro right before the commercial break. During the break, Hardy got kicked in the face by Nitro when he went for the swinging mule kick in the corner. When we come back, Nitro has the camel clutch in. Hardy breaks free, but misses with Whisper In The Wind. Nitro hits a sliding dropkick, sending Hardy into the ring post. Sensing Hardy gaining momentum, Melina pulls Nitro out of the ring. It backfires and they both end up getting hit with the running dive off the guardrail. Back in the ring, Nitro climbs to the top rope, but Hardy meets him there. Hardy hits a back body drop off the top and he hits the Swanton to become the new Intercontinental Champion. Looking back 16 years, I wasn't expecting that to happen here. Both guys put in a good effort here.
Match Rating: ***
DX is knocking on Coach's door. Hilarity ensues.
Next week it's a 3 hour Raw Family Reunion. One of the many tune ups to get me ready for reviewing modern Raw episodes in like 15 years.
Maria is backstage with Jeff Hardy and he says winning this title was the reason that he came back to Raw. Maria says that she's going to ECW to be involved in the Extreme Strip Poker. Melina interrupts and starts screaming. Hardy covers her mouth and then leaves.
Coach is on the phone with Vince and he's telling him that he can't run Raw like he does. He tells Coach to go out to the ring and of course Coach listens. He reluctantly leaves his office and checks every way before heading out. If anything, we're getting a little bit more behind the scenes than we typically do. Eventually, Triple H is standing in the hallway and when Coach turns around, Michaels is at the end of the other hallway. It turns into a western and we have a tumbleweed on the ground. Coach runs into the closest room and it's the women's locker room. DX decides to walk in and Triple H flirts with the ladies before Michaels grabs him. Coach runs into another room and this time it's Big Dick Johnson and he shoves him to the ground. He then slips on a floor being mopped and DX is there to find him. He runs into a production truck and DX throws him in a rolling dumpster and tells one of the employees to dump the cart.
I should note that earlier they showed highlights of Cena/Edge at New Year's Revolution and now they are showing highlights from their match at Royal Rumble.
When we come back that DX is shown with the Spirit Squad and they let them know they are in charge. They tell them they have a new dress code and threaten him with the sledgehammer.
Next week it's going to be Umaga vs. Kane in a Loser Leaves Raw match. Too bad it wasn't a Loser Really Loses WWE Forever match with Kane losing.
Umaga vs. Snitsky
Hey, Snitsky is still alive. Snitsky sidesteps Umaga and gets in some of his trademark punches and kicks. He knocks Umaga down with a shoulder tackle, but Umaga hits him with the pop up Samoan drop. That was awesome. Umaga hits the running butt in the face and the Samoan Spike for the victory.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Randy Orton is backstage with Todd Grisham. He is sick and tired of Carlito running his mouth. He knows what cool is and that's RKO.
Randy Orton vs. Carlito
Well, 2 weeks ago this was a featured match on a pay-per-view and tonight it's an unadvertised middle of the show match. Orton is aggressive to start and throws him into the ring post. He does it again, but this time it's not as convincing. Orton keeps grabbing Carlito's arm and twisting it as well. Carlito tries to fight back with some chops and then hits a springboard reverse elbow. He hits a springboard somersault and then a springboard moonsault for a 2 count. We get a back and forth segment that leads to Carlito hitting a springboard crossbody and Orton rolls through and steals the victory. All of this feels kind of odd.
Match Rating: *3/4
They show the highlights of Edge interfering in the Rob Van Dam/John Cena match at One Night Stand.
DX is telling the Spirit Squad that they have to come out and they are refusing. They say that they will be stripped of their Tag Team Championships if they don't and then make an unfortunate "joke".
Cryme Tyme knocks a coffee into the face of a police officer and show off their speed and agility by getting away.
Nicky vs. Sgt. Slaughter
The Spirit Squad come out dressed as female cheerleaders. Slaughter slaps on the Cobra Clutch right away, but Nicky gets to the ropes. Sarge spanks him as punishment. Nicky's able to dump Slaughter out of the ring and the other Spirit Squad members attack him. Nicky puts on a submission hold and then DX shows up on the screen, holding up a thong and telling him he forgot something. Slaughter rolls him up and picks up the win. I'm sure Vince loved all of this.
Match Rating: 1/2*
We see highlights of Edge winning the WWE Championship from RVD in a triple threat.
WWE Women's Championship Tournament First Round Match
Mickie James vs. Victoria
DX has ordered that both competitors have to wear lingerie, so that of course leads to some great jokes from Lawler. Unfortunately these two talented ladies are off to a little bit of a rough start. Nothing they are hitting really looks smooth. Mickie gets dumped out of the ring, but she jumps up to the top rope and then misses the sunset flip. They try to recover and it leads to Victoria try to cheat and then Mickie rolls her up from there. This was about as bad as this match could have been. After the match, Victoria snaps and throws a chair.
Match Rating: 1/4*
They show the Eric Bischoff book promo. Chris Masters is talking to Eric Bischoff and then DX comes in. He tells them they were a blatant ripoff of the nWo. They ask Masters when he's going to write a book and he said that he wants to write one on nutrition. He asks him if it will be called How To Lose 50 Pounds In 4 Weeks? Classy.
They show Cena winning the title from Edge. They for some reason skipped over SummerSlam?
Steel Cage Match For The WWE Championship
Edge vs. John Cena
Cena starts off on a mission and hits a big vertical suplex. Cena has his left arm wrapped up from his attacks the last week. Edge gets an opening and goes right to work on it. Edge tries to escape through the door, but Cena grabs him by the trunks and hits a back suplex. Edge tries to escape the top of the cage, but Cena catches him and throws him off the top rope. After a failed pin attempt, Edge is able to throw Cena into the cage to slow him down. Edge hits Edgecution, but Cena is able to kick out. I would say that this crowd seems a little more pro-Cena than normal during this era. Cena tries to climb out the cage, but Edge grabs him by the arm and snaps it on the top rope. He follows that up with a Spear into the cage. They're both up on the top rope and Cena is able to drive Edge's face into the mat and we head into a commercial break. Edge is able to climb up to the very top of the cage, but Cena grabs his leg. Both men are fighting on the top in a seated position. Edge rakes Cena's eyes and he falls in towards the ring, but is standing on the ropes. He gets Edge down, but Edge hits a back suplex off the top rope and they both are down. Edge gets crotched on the top rope and then thrown into the cage. He hits his spinning powerbomb and it's Five Knuckle Shuffle time. He gets Edge up for the FU, but Edge grabs the cage and he slams him into the cage. Edge tries climbing again, but Cena gets him up on his shoulders. Edge slips out and he goes for an electric chair. Cena again gets him up for a FU, but Edge counters and starts crawling to the door. Cena leaps to grab his leg and then Lita hands Edge a chair. The referee kicks her out, but the chair is in the ring. Edge misses off the second rope and accidentally hits the referee. Edge grabs the chair, but misses wildly. Cena then nails Edge with the chair and slaps on the STFU. The referee is still down and the other ref is trying to get in, but then in comes Cade and Murdoch. They hit their finisher, kind of. They try to drag Edge out of the ring as the crowd chants for DX. Out comes DX to make the save and Cena hits the FU on Edge for the victory. This was a freaking great main event. It was all action and even though I could have done without the interference, it all just added to the chaos. Well done to both competitors here.
Match Rating: ****
This was quite the surprise here. They let Edge and Cena have a pay-per-view type match and they more than delivered. We also got the somewhat surprising title change earlier in the show, making this one of the stronger Raw episodes of the year. I still could have done without just about all of the DX stuff, but you have to take the good with the bad.
Overall Rating: 70%
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