Monday, February 26th, 2007
Save Mart Center
Fresno, California
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
We are going to find out Donald Trump's representative for WrestleMania 23 tonight.
John Cena and Shawn Michaels are introduced as being ready to have their match, but then Randy Orton and Edge are on the Titan Tron to tell them that's not going to happen yet. Orton tells Michaels that he deserves an award for his acting job about lying to Cena about having his back. They then show a highlight package of Michaels turning on his partners over the years. Cena has some thinking to do.
Money In The Bank Qualifying Match
Jeff Hardy vs. Shelton Benjamin
These two play some of their greatest hits as if this is only going to be a 2 minute match. We get the always awesome leaping Shelton suplex spot and we go to commercial break. These two are having a nice little match here. Shelton goes for a springboard move, but accidentally slips and thankfully was able to not get hurt. Hardy wisely goes for a pin, but Shelton barely kicks out. Hardy avoids a splash, hits Twist Of Fate and the Swanton. There's no kicking out this time and Hardy is going to WrestleMania. They were having a solid TV match.
Match Rating: **
Vince then gets on the Titan Tron and shows the same photos of Trump as last week.
We see the Ashley behind the scenes video.
We go to Melina and Johnny Nitro. Melina is upset about all of the attention Ashley is getting and not her. She's also distraught that Mickie James gets a rematch and it's going to be a Falls Count Anywhere match next week. Nitro tells her to shut up and then says that he lost his Money In The Bank qualifier and that was huge for him. His music hits and he heads to the ring.
Johnny Nitro vs. Super Crazy
Nitro hits Crazy with a dropkick through the ropes to the floor. He continues the attack and shows off an aggressive side. He throws Crazy into the steps and then slams him face first into the floor. The match hasn't started and won't, as Nitro heads to the back.
Melina vs. Maria
Melina grounds Maria pretty quickly and kicks her in the face. Maria tries to fight back, but misses with a dropkick. I would put Maria in the not quite ready for primetime category to put it nicely. The crowd does react to her and I suppose that was all that matters in this era. She goes for a Bronco Buster, but Melina gets her boot up and then rolls her up for the victory. This was definitely disjointed, but it was nice to see the crowd at least into it.
Match Rating: 1/4*
34 days until WrestleMania.
It's time to torture myself some more because out comes Mr. McMahon. The barber chair is out on the stage. He says he knows who Donald Trump won't be picking and they show Umaga attacking Rey Mysterio on SmackDown. Vince rambles on for what feels like forever and then Trump shows up on the Titan Tron. He calls Umaga an animal and says that he needs to be tamed. Trump then announces that it will be Bobby Lashley who represents him and he comes to a modest reaction. Vince calls out for security and that leads to a brawl. They spill to the outside and they do a nice job here with the intensity. As a result, the crowd starts chanting "Bobby", which is a good sign.
We have a Master Lock challenge and Great Khali is brought out. Before anything gets started, out comes Kane to try and get revenge. I'd like to get some revenge on having watched so much Kane in my lifetime.
Vince is on the phone with someone on the board of directors and they are telling him that his match needs a guest referee. Vince doesn't like it but he won't have his head shaved.
Lilian Garcia announces the next inductee in the Hall Of Fame and it's none other than Jerry Lawler.
Carlito vs. Kenny Dykstra
The match is in progress and we see that during the commercial, Carlito spit his apple in Kenny's face. Carlito hits a flapjack and gets a 2 count. He goes for a springboard crossbody and misses. Kenny then drives Carlito's midsection into the outside of the ring. The match gets slowed down to a crawl with Kenny until Carlito's comeback. He hits a Backcracker and picks up the win. There was more to this, but I just don't care enough to type about it. The match wasn't actively bad, but it was dull.
Match Rating: *
After the match, Flair comes out and applauds.
World Tag Team Championship Match
Edge & Randy Orton vs. Shawn Michaels & John Cena
Kudos to the crowd tonight, as they have been very lively throughout the show. We get the standard stuff here, with the heels beating down Cena. Michaels gets tagged in and we get a moment where Michaels goes for Sweet Chin Music and Orton moves out of the way and Cena has to catch his leg to stop it from hitting him. This leads to an awkward moment for the partners as we head into the commercial break. Now it's Shawn's turn to take the beatdown. Michaels is eventually able to crotch Edge on the top rope and makes the hot tag. This is one of the more pro-Cena crowds I can think of in awhile and it seems like he's loving it. It leads to a ref bump when Cena is trying to do the FU. Cena and Orton are thrown into each other and Edge goes for the Spear. Cena gets him in the FU position. Edge is saved and we have a belt spot. Michaels tricks Edge into thinking Orton hit him with the belt. Edge walks out and the champs pick up the victory. We get a little bit of a moment between Cena and Michaels, but nothing ends up happening. This was your basic tag team main event with the nice little twist at the end.
Match Rating: **1/4
This was an enjoyable Raw episode that had a nice pace and a lively crowd. Nothing major happened on it and there were no classic matches, but it just flowed nicely. I could always do without the Vince/Trump garbage, but the brawl between Lashley and Umaga was very well done.
Overall Rating: 63%
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