Monday, April 23rd, 2007
Earls Court
London, England
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Shane McMahon is out to kick off the show. They show the highlights of Santino Marella winning the Intercontinental Championship. That leads to Shane issuing a challenge to someone in the crowd for a no DQ match. He makes fun of the Chelsea coach and then says that he can't find anyone, but he found someone at a pub named Robbie Brookside. They bring him out and we have a match.
No Disqualification Match
Shane McMahon vs. Robbie Brookside
They have a very regular wrestling match until Shane grabs a trash can and sets in front of a seated Brookside. He hits the coast to coast and then grabs a mic to announce that this is a 2 on 1 handicap match. He brings out Umaga as his partner.
Umaga & Shane McMahon vs. Robbie Brookside
Umaga comes in and hits the butt to the face. He hits a big splash and then Shane announces that it's actually a 3 on 1 handicap match. Their partner is obviously Vince McMahon.
Vince McMahon, Umaga & Shane McMahon vs. Robbie Brookside
Vince comes out in a suit and a derby. He covers Brookside and that's all. This was terrible and the crowd was dead for almost all of it.
Match Rating: 1/4*
We get a WrestleMania 23 music video of highlights from the Shawn Michaels/John Cena match. The music is kind of weird here, but I'm not sure if it's the actual music used or not.
Matt Hardy vs. Trevor Murdoch
Matt gets his solo music here. I'm already looking forward to not having to watch Cade and Murdoch, but that's a long ways away. Matt gets the majority of the offense early on. He hits a Side Effect for a 2 count and then hits a leg drop off the second rope. Cade provides a distraction and it allows Murdoch to throw Matt's shoulder into the ring post. Murdoch hits a Canadian Destroyer and that's all. He should probably not do that move.
Match Rating: 3/4*
Maria is on her way to the ring.
Melina vs. Maria
Maria hits a couple of moves, but then Melina slams her face-first and that's all? That wasn't that impressive of a win for Melina. Why not just have her squash her here?
Match Rating: 1/4*
Ric Flair tells Carlito to get going, but Carlito says he's doing it alone.
Great Khali vs. Carlito
Carlito tries a missile dropkick and Khali kind of swats him away. Khali hits the double hand chokeslam and that's all. What a crappy first hour despite it being all in ring action outside of a few minutes of Shane on the mic.
Match Rating: 1/4*
After the match, Flair comes out to check on Carlito and he gets an earful from Carlito.
Mick Foley is here and talks about the main event at Backlash. Edge walks in and says he's going to be watching.
On a side note here, Todd Grisham is the ring announcer tonight and he is absolutely terrible at it.
Shawn Michaels vs. John Cena
I haven't watched this one since it aired and have been looking forward to re-visiting it. I watched this in a hotel room during a work trip where I worked a long day, so I didn't have my full attention on the match. We get a slow build, as one would expect in a lengthy match. The little bursts of energy are picking up as the match continues and the they have the crowd for it. Michaels hits a top rope elbow drop for his biggest move up to the moment. He goes for a dive over the top rope, but Cena catches him for a slam. Back in the ring, Michaels throws Cena's shoulder into the ring post. Cena makes his comeback and hits the 5 Knuckle Shuffle. He hits a FU, but Michaels kicks out of the pin attempt to a big pop from the crowd. Cena sends Michaels into the corner with the Irish whip and it sends him up and over the top. Cena hits the top rope leg drop and that's another 2 count. Michaels is able to hit a powerbomb on Cena and both men are down. Michaels then knocks Cena from the apron and he flies into the announcer table. Cena starts to brawl with Michaels on the table. He gets him back into the ring and slaps on the STFU. After a lengthy battle, Michaels gets to the bottom rope. This leads to a brief segment with counters and Michaels hits Sweet Chin Music to a big pop.Michaels counters out of a second FU and hits a second Sweet Chin Music and that's all. The crowd loves it and both guys are selling their injuries. I know a lot of people like this one better than WrestleMania 23, but I just can't agree with that. This was very good, but not quite to the level they got at Mania.
Match Rating: ***3/4
The first hour of this show was absolutely horrible, but then they got wise and just dedicated an entire hour to a great match. I would have to believe that most people probably have that match in their top 5-10 Raw matches of all time. In that case, the show is good because of one match, but nothing else is even worth your time.
Overall Rating: 58%
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