Monday, April 16th, 2007
DatchForum
Milan, Italy
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22
Raw is in Italy for the first time ever, which is pretty cool. Jonathan Coachman is out to start the show. He announces that John Cena will face Rated RKO in a handicap match tonight. He then introduces Vince McMahon. He introduces Umaga and then we get a hightlight package of Shane McMahon destroying Bobby Lashley's brain. They issue an open challenge to face Umaga for the Intercontinental Championship and no one comes out. Vince says he doesn't want to face Umaga, so instead they are going to go to the crowd. They find someone, who definitely is not a plant. The crowd is going along with it and start doing the "Seven Nation Army" chant, which Vince has no clue what that is. He says his name is Santino Marella and Vince makes fun of him a little bit. Vince calls for a ref and down he comes.
No Disqualification Intercontinental Championship Match
Umaga vs. Santino Marella
It's very clear right away that Santino is an actual wrestler. He gets a nearfall and then Vince gets in the ring. He announces that this match is a No DQ match. Umaga gets a cheap shot in on Santino and follows up with a leg drop. Umaga goes up top and down comes Bobby Lashley. He slams Umaga off the top rope and then hits a big clothesline. Lashley then hits Umaga in the exposed head three times with a chair before hitting a Spear. He throws Santino on top and we have a new Intercontinental Champion to a nice pop. I think I'll coin this the Milan Miracle. The match itself was nothing special, but the moment was fun.
Match Rating: *
Jerry Lawler goes into the ring to interview Lashley and Santino.
Carlito and Ric Flair are in the locker room and Carlito doesn't think it's a good idea for them to team up again. Flair says last week is over and this week if they win, they get back in contention.
Next Monday, Shawn Michaels and John Cena will square off in England.
Ric Flair & Carlito vs. The World's Greatest Tag Team
Carlito takes care of both opponents on his own to start. He tags in Flair and he goes for a Figure Four, but Shelton Benjamin runs in and clotheslines him before that can happen. Jim Ross and Lawler continue to hype up the intensity that Carlito is showing now with Flair. He gets a hot tag and has things under control until the referee is distracted by Flair and it allows Charlie Haas tripping up Carlito. Benjamin hits the T-Bone suplex and they pick up the win. The crowd was not into this at all. After the match, Carlito isn't happy and doesn't walk back with Flair or Torrie.
Match Rating: 1/2*
John Cena is being interviewed by Maria and in walks Shawn Michaels. He says that before WrestleMania, he made sure he was protected in situations like tonight. But now, he's going to leave Cena on his back.
Melina is getting ready for the fashion show and Johnny Nitro is admiring her. Eugene comes in and wishes Nitro good luck in their match tonight.
Johnny Nitro vs. Eugene
Nitro basically destroys him here and hits a reverse neckbreaker for the quick victory. I guess this is a way to re-establish Nitro here, but it seems like the wrong show and wrong opponent for them to do it at.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Todd Grisham introduces a guest Italian host of the fashion show. He's speaking Italian, so I'm not sure if he clarifies who he is or not. He didn't get much of a reaction though. He introduces Candice Michelle, Victoria, Mickie James, Maria, Torrie Wilson and Melina. In a somewhat surprise, they are dressed very PG here. He polls the crowd for their favorites and they declare Torrie the winner. After the match, a mini brawl breaks out and could this have been any bigger of a waste of time? This show has just taken the steepest dive off a cliff after the strong opening.
Jeff Hardy vs. Lance Cade
Jeff hits a Whisper In The Wind early on and gets a 2 count. He goes up top again and Cade rolls out of the ring. I've already lost interest in this one. Jeff makes a comeback after a short heat segment. Murdoch goes up on the apron and Matt comes to clothesline him. That slight distraction allows time for Cade to get his knees up on Hardy's Swanton. Cade hits a clothesline and picks up the win to absolutely no reaction again. The crowd hasn't been good, but they haven't been given much to cheer about.
Match Rating: 3/4*
Oh yeah, Chris Masters will save this show.
Chris Masters vs. Super Crazy
Seriously? This feud was dead in the water weeks ago. Crazy hits a nice plancha over the top rope to the floor. They do a bunch of moves and have a match. Masters hits a wheelbarrow slam and picks up the win. I honestly didn't even think he worked here anymore.
Match Rating: 3/4*
Edge and Randy Orton try to talk things through so that they can work together tonight. They tell each other that they are the best partners they've ever had and shake hands. How sweet.
Randy Orton & Edge vs. John Cena
Well, at least this should be entertaining and there is some time left for them to have a good match. As you would expect, Orton and Edge dominate the majority of the match here. The numbers game continues to get the best of Cena and out comes Shawn Michaels. Cena makes a comeback and gets Edge up for the FU. Orton hits a dropkick and knocks Cena and Edge into the referee. Edge tries to Spear Cena, but he moves and he hits Orton. Michaels hits Sweet Chin Music on Edge and Cena hits the FU. The referee miraculously gets up just in time and counts to 3. This was your typical house show type of match.
Match Rating: *3/4
This show featured some uninteresting matches and an absolute dead crowd. The first quarter of the show was filled with the Santino stuff, which was memorable and then they just fed us a bunch of stuff that no one asked for. Thumbs down here.
Overall Rating: 32%
No comments:
Post a Comment