Monday, February 19th, 2007
Rabobank Arena
Bakersfield, California
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After once again forcing me to watch a recap of Donald Trump/Vince McMahon, we go to a shot of a mini barber shop set up in the ring and Vince on his way down to hype up this trash. He shows a picture of Britney Spears, who recently shaved her head here. We then get pictures of Trump with different haircuts. Vince then announces his representative as Umaga for the match at WrestleMania 23. Vince then says that Umaga is about to become a champion and that match is now. Jeff Hardy's music hits and he is out apparently to defend his Intercontinental Championship.
Intercontinental Championship Match
Umaga vs. Jeff Hardy
We join the match in progress and Hardy hits a couple of dropkicks through the ropes, but then Umaga catches him off a dive. Hardy is able to counter and push Umaga into the ring post. Hardy runs on the barricade, but is greeted with a thrust to the throat on the way down. Umaga slows down the pace until he misses with a top rope headbutt. He misses with a splash in the corner and Hardy hits him with Whisper In The Wind. Umaga comes right back with the pop up Samoan Drop to slow down Jeff's momentum. He drags Jeff into the corner and hits the butt bop in the corner. He hits the Samoan Spike and we have a new champion. Hardy was doing a nice job of building the title up, but now it will just become a backdrop for the Trump stuff. Vince stands confidently on the top of the entrance ramp. These two have good chemistry, but this was more of a traditional squash, with Hardy just getting a few moves in.
Match Rating: 3/4*
Ric Flair & Carlito vs. Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch
They show the handshake from last week after their match on Raw. So now they're a tag team. After a short heat segment with Carlito, Flair gets the hot tag. He hits a bunch of chops and a back body drop. Flair hits a low blow behind the referee's back and tags in Carlito. He hits the Backstabber and the new team picks up the win. This story just feels like filler.
Match Rating: 1/2*
We go to John Cena and Shawn Michaels backstage for an interview. Cena says that he and Michaels that they know exactly where they stand as far as their WrestleMania main event. Michaels then hypes up the new DX DVD. Cena then promotes The Marine DVD. They compare what their DVDs has and Shawn says that his has Big Dick Johnson, who comes out and dances until Michaels hits him with Sweet Chin Music.
We then go to Edge and Randy Orton watching backstage. Orton says that he got their rematch against Cena and Michaels for next week. Orton says that after he's done with Cena tonight, it will be real easy to get their titles back.
They hype up the Money In The Bank match by showing highlights of the last two.
Money In The Bank Qualifying Match
Edge vs. Rob Van Dam
This is definitely a pretty high profile match for a qualifying match. RVD hits his helicopter leg drop to the outside. Edge is able to hit a swinging neckbreaker on the way back into the ring and shifts the momentum. He hits a Rude Awakening and gets a 2 count. RVD is able to hit a spin kick in the corner and both men are down. RVD goes for Rolling Thunder, but Edge catches it and hits a powerslam. Edge goes for a top rope superplex, but RVD is able to crotch him on the top rope and then hits a single leg kick that knocks Edge to the floor. RVD follows up with a dive to the floor and then throws Edge back in the ring. He goes off the top rope, but Edge hits him with a dropkick in midair. RVD leapfrogs a Spear attempt and then RVD hits the split legged moonsault for a 2 count. RVD goes up top, but out comes Randy Orton. RVD hits him with a kick, but then Edge hits the Spear for the victory. This was a really solid match here, with both guys treating it like a big deal.
Match Rating: ***1/2
WWE Women's Championship Match
Melina vs. Mickie James
Let's see if they get more than 2 minutes. Mickie hits the first high impact move with a seated dropkick. She then hits a sliding dropkick to knock her out of the ring. She goes for another one outside of the ring, but Melina sidesteps it and pulls her to the floor. Back in the ring, Melina throws her across the ring by the hair. We get into a brawl, with the trading blows on the mat. Mickie returns the favor and throws Melina across the ring by her hair. Melina counters a headscissors attempt by grabbing the ropes. Mickie sells that she fell on her head and Melina uses the ropes to steal the victory and win the title. Two new champions here tonight on what must have been some last minute adjustments for the WrestleMania card. The match wasn't bad, but it felt a little bit like a series of moves.
Match Rating: 3/4*
Todd Grisham tries to interview Mickie James, who then slaps him in his face.
Highlanders vs. Great Khali
The Highlanders attack Khali as he walks in and as you'd expect, it doesn't really work. He hits the double hand chokeslam and then pins him by standing on him. I get why this existed, but that doesn't mean I wanted to watch it.
Match Rating: 1/4*
If you didn't get enough earlier, they recap the Vince/Umaga segment.
We go to Coach talking to Kenny Dykstra and in walks Great Khali. He yells a noise and it means he wants more competition. In walks Ron Simmons to do his thing.
They show Ashley's cover reveal from SmackDown. We go to Melina, who is upset that they had to wait for a video of Ashley before interviewing her.
We find out that the next inductee to this year's Hall Of Fame class will be none other than Mr. Perfect.
They go back to the original WrestleMania for the WrestleMania Recall.
Next week, Trump is going to pick his opponent for Umaga. Oh boy. Plus, Rated RKO will take on Shawn Michaels and John Cena.
Randy Orton vs. John Cena
They have a pretty standard start to the match, with Cena besting Orton at every turn. Orton tries to grab a chair, but we go to commercial break. When we come back, Orton has taken control and slowed the match all the way down. Orton hits the draped DDT, but Cena kicks out at 2. Orton finally starts signaling for the RKO, but Cena takes him and throws him. Cena gets Orton up for the FU, but in runs Edge and he hits a Spear. He then grabs two chairs, but then out comes Shawn Michaels and he's making the save. The match was decent, but you knew it was going to be a disqualification.
Match Rating: *3/4
This was a one match show, but also featured a couple of title changes and a Money In The Bank qualifier. So in that sense, it was a decent enough episode. There were a lot of low, but there was enough on the show to entertain the crowd.
Overall Rating: 52%
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