Survivor Series 2009, November 22, 2009, Verizon Center, Washington, DC

Announcers: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, & Matt Striker

Opening Match: US Champion The Miz (Captain), Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre, & Sheamus vs. IC Champion John Morrison (Captain), Evan Bourne, Fit Finlay, Matt Hardy, & Shelton Benjamin

Bourne and Swagger start off with Bourne using speed to get a rollup for 2.  Swagger gets a suplex and tags Ziggler who hits the jumping neck snap for 1.  Cool looking inverted slam gets 2, and then he gets another 2 off some elbows.  He and Swagger trade off again and Ziggler gets Bourne in a half crab.  Bourne kicks him off and gets a rana for 2.  He follows with a high knee and tags Hardy.  They hit a double elbow from the 2^nd rope.  Hardy hits the Side Effect, then tags Bourne who hits the Air Bourne shooting star press for the 3 count to eliminate Ziggler at 3:59.  No time to celebrate though as in comes Drew McIntyre and he hits the double arm DDT to finish Bourne off at 4:12.  Finlay is in next and he takes McIntyre down with the Finlay Roll.  McIntyre avoids a second one and tags Sheamus which sets up the big showdown between the Irishmen.  That lasts almost no time at all as Miz provides a brief distraction and Sheamus hits the big boot for the pin at 5:14.  Hardy comes in and fares a bit better, but then his Side Effect is blocked and he takes a powerslam for 1.  Sheamus drops some elbows and gets a 2 count, then tags Miz.  Miz controls with a slam and legdrop, and then hooks a rear chinlock.  Hardy fires out but then takes a neckbreaker for 2.  Miz goes to a front facelock, which Hardy escapes as well, and follows up with a Russian legsweep.  Miz tags Swagger, who cuts Hardy off from making the tag.  He controls for a bit before Hardy finally escapes and tags Morrison.  Morrison comes in hot with a dropkick and knee for 2.  He corner whip is reversed and he goes down, but Swagger misses the pump splash.  Miz tries to provide the distraction again, but to no avail as Morrison still connects with a springboard kick.  The cover draws everyone in and in the melee, Scott Armstrong takes a knee to the back of the head from Sheamus.  He stays down and they would later announce him has having suffered a concussion.  But it’s a big break for Justin King as he gets to step in and save the day.  After everyone is cleared out, Morrison takes Swagger down and connects with Starship Pain for the pin at 12:09.  Miz jumps him, nailing a clothesline in the corner and a double ax off the top for 2.  Benjamin takes a blind tag and surprises Miz with a rollup for 2.  He then hits a back suplex.  Stinger Splash follows and then a Northern Lights suplex gets 2.  Corner whip sees him run into a boot though, but he follows by getting his own boot up on Miz’s charge.  German suplex gets 2 and he sets up a neckbreaker, but Sheamus nails him to break it up.  Miz follows with the Skull Crushing Finale to end Benjamin’s night at 14:59.  Hardy comes back in as McIntyre gets the tag.  Hardy nails a couple of clotheslines for 2 and a headbutt, but he misses a charge.  He still hits a neckbreaker though and follows with the 2^nd rope legdrop for 2.  He hits another neckbreaker and goes up, but after a distraction by Sheamus, he misses a moonsault.  McIntyre gets the double arm DDT for the 3 count at 17:11.  This leaves Morrison one on three, and the odds take over quickly.  He gets caught by McIntyre and then Sheamus gets the tag and pounds away.  Tag to Miz who’s in with some kicks.  Morrison comes back with a dropkick, but Miz tags right away to Sheamus.  He hits a clothesline and runs Morrison to the corner where the partners beat on him while he distracts the ref.  Morrison tries fighting back and goes for a springboard move, but gets nailed coming down.  Sheamus the hits the Razor’s Edge, and that’s it for Morrison at 20:55.  Survivors: The Mix, Sheamus, and Drew McIntyre.  Obviously the heel team has the guys they want to protect and build up so it makes sense for them to win.  Ziggler and Swagger, who were seemingly the pet projects a few months ago, appear to have been shuffled downwards, only being used as token eliminations for the face team here.  I have to say that I’m not confident about a main event push for Sheamus, but I guess we’ll find out next month at TLC as he’s getting thrown right in there with John Cena.  **1/2

Next we get a dumb segment with team Kofi as they reassure Christian there’s nothing awkward about him being the only white guy on the team.  Christian of course manages to make it awkward by the end by rapping about it.  Just a dumb segment that does nothing to make me care about any of the guys, or the match they have coming up, but someone must have thought it was hilarious, I guess.

Rey Mysterio vs. Dave Batista

After the big turn by Batista last month, the feud comes to a head here in Batista’s hometown, which means he’s the crowd favourite regardless.  Definitely an example of poor planning there.  Mysterio starts off going for the knee, and quickly sets up a 619, but Batista rolls out.   Batista drags him to the floor and runs him to the apron.  Back in, Mysterio kicks him and tries a springboard, but Batista ducks it and nails a clothesline.  Mysterio keeps managing to escape Batista’s power moves and clips the knee for 2.  He sets up the 619 again, but Batista catches him.  He sets up the Batista Bomb, but Mysterio takes him to the floor with a rana.  Mysterio follows with a baseball slide and then leaps at him off the apron.  Batista then just starts no selling and beats Mysterio up.  Mysterio knees him coming in and hits a 619 to the back to set up the regular version, which also hits.  After the springboard press hits, he goes up and does the Eddie Guerrero dance to big boos prior to hitting knees on a frog splash.  Batista then gets him with a spear and spinebuster.  Batista Bomb follows, but rather then cover, he hits another, and then another before the ref stops it at 6:49.  Batista is not done though as he comes in with a chair.  The crowd wants him to kill Mysterio, which is probably not the reaction they were going for.  He teases doing nothing for a bit, but then ends up dropping Mysterio with a spinebuster on the chair.  Mysterio does a stretcher job and so begins yet another period of surgery and rehab for him.  *1/2

Randy Orton lets his team know that they’ve failed to live up to his expectations so far, and that they’d better come through tonight.  Punk stands up to him in a tease of dissention, but nothing comes of it.  At least this segment focused on the match and the issues between the guys rather then lame comedy.

Randy Orton (Captain), CM Punk, William Regal, Cody Rhodes, & Ted Dibiase vs. Kofi Kingston (Captain), MVP, Mark Henry, ECW Champion Christian, & R-Truth

Orton and Henry are in first with Henry whipping him to the corner and nailing a clothesline.  He takes shots at the entire heel team and then puts Orton in a bearhug, but Legacy comes in and breaks it up.  That sets up an RKO and Henry is done at 0:53.  MVP comes in as Rhodes gets the tag.  Rhodes gets MVP to the corner and they go to work with Dibiase, Regal, and then Punk all getting tagged in in succession.  Punk stays in and works him over a bit longer, but soon gets tossed away and MVP tags Truth.  These guys have an issue going so they get some heat.  Truth gets a hiptoss and then flips over him on a corner whip.  However, Rhodes distracts him and Punk takes advantage to nail the GTS for the pin at 3:14.  Christian comes in and rolls him up for 2.  He nails a forearm off the ropes for 1 before Punk knees him.  After a slam he tags Dibiase who comes in with a double stomp off the 2^nd rope for 2.  He follows with a powerslam for another 2.  He tries hooking the Dream, but can’t get it.  Christian counters to a Killswitch, which Dibiase in turn counters to a catapult to the buckle.  Christian comes back out with a kick and then a sunset flip gets 3 at 5:04.  Is Dibiase being shuffled down too?  His issues with Orton have pretty much disappeared and here he’s just beaten like an afterthought five minutes in.  Regal comes in for Team Orton while Christian tags Kofi who comes in with a dropkick, some punches in the corner, and an uppercut for 2.  He’s not really getting a superstar reaction though so expect them to give up on him any time now.  Corner whip is reversed with Kofi leaping back off the ropes, but Regal moves and Kofi hits the mat.  Tag to Rhodes, who drops a knee before tagging back to Regal.  Kofi fires back and tags MVP who comes right in with a big boot on Regal for 3 at 6:51.  Rhodes comes in off the top with a bodypress, but MVP rolls through for 2.  He then gets a suplex for another 2.  Tag Christian, whose tornado DDT is blocked and Rhodes kicks him down for 2.  To a bodyscissors, but Christian gets on top of him for 2 and forces a break.  Rhodes then clotheslines him for 2 and tags Orton.  Orton is in with a dropkick for 2 and works Christian over for a bit before tagging Rhodes back in.  Kneedrop by Rhodes misses and that allows a tag to MVP.  He’s in with multiple clotheslines and a facebuster.  He goes Ballin’ but Orton then distracts him and he takes the Cross Rhodes for the pin at 10:11.  Kofi immediately rolls him up for 2 and then tags Christian who comes in with a shot off the top.  Tag back to Kofi who gets a springboard double ax handle for 2, followed by a snapmare and splash for another 2.  Tag to Christian, on whom Rhodes is able to briefly take advantage, but he then quickly falls victim to the Killswitch and is pinned at 11:36.  See, now unlike his partner, Rhodes at least got to job to the guy’s finisher, and not only that he also got an elimination before being eliminated himself.  I don’t understand.  Orton comes in next and works Christian over.  He drops a knee and then takes a cheap shot at Kofi.  Christian gets a cradle for 2 and then Punk provides the distraction to set up the RKO, but Christian counters to the Killswitch.  He covers, but Punk saves at 2.  Christian beats him up and tosses him, but then misses a charge on Orton and takes an RKO for the 3 count at 13:27.  Kofi is in as the last member of his team, but Orton wants nothing to do with him and tags out to Punk.  After this Orton actually goes as far as not even standing on the apron for the entire time Punk and Kofi go at it.  Kofi wins a slugfest which leads to them trying and missing the finishers.  Kofi does get a dropkick and the SOS for 2.  He misses a splash in the corner though and Punk works him over with knees and kicks.  Kick to the back gets 2 and then he uses a headscissors.  Kofi escapes, but ends up charging into a powerslam.  Now Punk goes to a bodyscissors forcing me to note that his moveset in this segment would have Gorilla Monsoon impressed.  Kofi elbows his way out, but a splash hits knees.  Punk gets him with a superplex for 2, followed by the running knee.  He goes for a bulldog, but that gets countered to a back suplex.  Kofi goes up, and after fighting Punk off a couple of times, he gets a crossbody for 2.  He follows with a dropkick and clothesline, and then hits the Boom Drop.  Orton distracts him which allows Punk a rollup, but Kofi rolls through and gets the 3 count at 20:42.  Orton is immediately in, but Kofi is aware and catches him with Trouble In Paradise which gets another 3 count at 20:50.  Survivor: Kofi Kingston.  So the story is that Kofi beat two former World Champions in an incredibly short span of time.  Really good match here, but as noted Kofi is not quite to the superstar level of reaction yet.  If they keep it up, he may get there, but it’s gonna take some time.  ***1/2

World Heavyweight Championship Match: The Undertaker vs. Chris Jericho vs. The Big Show

Obviously the theme of our two Title matches tonight is that the Champion is defending in a Triple Threat Match against both members of a regular tag team.  Jericho and Show have teased some dissention leading up to this, but none the les they start right off with a double team on Taker.  Show nails a clothesline and then Jericho clotheslines Taker to the floor.  Taker lands on his feet though and drags Jericho out, ramming him to the barrier in the process.  Show slowly follows, but gets nailed as well, but then Taker misses a charge at Jericho and hits the barrier.  They set Taker up for the Big Right Hand, but Show opts to nail him in the gut for some reason.  Why would you do that when he’s wide open like he was?  Jericho follows up with a mic shot and then they get Taker in the ring for more double teaming.  Show goes to whip Jericho into Taker, but Taker moves and Jericho hits the post.  Now Taker takes over with a flying clothesline on Show and a couple of bodyblocks on Jericho.  He follows with Snake Eyes, but now Show drags him back to the floor.  Taker manages to send him to the post anyways while Jericho then springboards right into a fist from Taker.  He sets up Old School, but Jericho crotches him.  After a couple of tries, he gets a superplex for 2.  Lionsault hits knees, but he’s unhurt and goes for the Walls instead.  He gets it on and Taker struggles for quite awhile before Show comes in and breaks it in the first sign that it’s everyone for themselves here.  Show then chokeslams Jericho, and goes to do the same thing to Taker, but Taker counters to a DDT.  Jericho sneaks over and gets covers on both guys for 2.  They all slug away now until Show and Taker grab each other by the throat.  Jericho grabs the physical representation of the Championship and goes to nail Taker, but he ducks and Show takes the shot instead.  The announcers play up that Jericho may have intentionally nailed Show, but if that’s what they were going for it didn’t look like it at all as Taker clearly pulled Show forward into it and there was no hesitation by Jericho.  Taker then takes Jericho down with a big boot for 2.  He stomps Show to the floor and sets up the Last Ride on Jericho, but Jericho has the, oh screw it, the belt and clocks Taker on the upswing.  That gets a couple of two counts which frustrates Jericho.  He goes for a Tombstone, for no conceivable reason other than so Taker can reverse it to his own, which sure enough happens, but Show comes in and knocks Taker out with the Big Right Hand.  Show covers, but Jericho saves at 2.  Jericho then covers, but Show breaks that one up at 2 as well.  Now Jericho goes for the Codebreaker on Show, but it’s blocked and Show hits the BRH on him to put him out.  He then goes for the chokeslam on Taker, but Taker hooks him in the Hell’s Gates and that gets the submission to retain at 13:39.  Not a bad match, but not that great either.  Undertaker is seemingly going on to face Batista, while any issues between Jericho and Show are set aside as they are currently announced to defend the Titles against DX at TLC.  **1/2

We get a promo by the survivors of Team Miz as they put themselves over.  Now this was good stuff.  No stupid comedy or anything.  They just came out and talked about what they’ve done and what they’re going to do next.  Was that hard?  The writers must have been on vacation for something like this to slip by.  Either that or they spent all their time working on Christian’s rap.

Women’s Champion Michelle McCool (Captain), Layla, Beth Phoenix, Jillian Hall, & Alicia Fox vs. Mickie James (Captain), Gail Kim, Kelly Kelly, Eve, & Divas Champion Melina

Ok, here we go with the token women’s match, which is bound to be bad, but they’ve spent all night talking about “tradition” and that’s as long running of a tradition as any in this company I guess so it makes sense.  Kelly and Layla are in first and they trade some shots with Kelly then hitting two clotheslines and a legdrop for 3 at 1:16.  Michelle and Gail go next with Gail hitting a dropkick and getting a rollup for 1.  Michelle then gets her with the Styles Clash for 3 at 2:05.  Eve tries a rollup for 1 and then Michelle tags Jillian who drops an elbow for 2.  She gets a hairtoss and then Eve misses a dropkick and Jillian covers for 2.  She goes for the handspring elbow but gets kicked in the back and Eve comes off the top rope with a sunset flip for 3 at 3:35.  Beth is in and immediately hits Eve with the Glam Slam for the pin at 3:52, which is followed by Kelly also taking a Glam Slam for another elimination at 4:09.  Mickie is in next, hitting a dropkick and then pinning Beth with a crucifix at 4:44.  This is rather brisk so far.  That’s not a bad thing though.  Beth nails her after the fact which lets Alicia Fox sneaks in for the cover and get a 1 count.  Alicia then gets a Northern Lights suplex for another 1.  They get backed to the corner and Mickie kicks her off, and then hits a top rope Thesz press for the 3 count at 6:25.  Michelle comes in and pounds Mickie, dropping a knee and a leg for 2.  They trade some shots, but Michelle is able to cut her off from making the tag.  She stomps Mickie down and gets a 2 count, but this time Mickie gets away and tags Melina.  Melina is in with a spear and she pounds away.  She gets a spin kick, followed by a rope straddle and faceplant for 2.  She does her “Matrix” avoiding of a big boot, but Michelle ends up dropping her anyways.  She hits a belly to belly suplex for 2 and then sets up a powerbomb, but Melina rolls through and gets the 3 count at 10:39.  Survivors: Mickie James and Melina.  Nothing more to say here.  ½*

Main Event, WWE Championship Match: John Cena vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels

So like the earlier Title match we again have the Champ against a tag team, but in this case Shawn Superkicks HHH right off the bat and puts him out of the ring.  This gets a big positive reaction from the crowd by the way.  Even Cena seems stunned by this course of action.  So now he and Shawn go one on one with Shawn hitting a neckbreaker, followed by a Thesz press.  Corner whip is reversed and Cena nails a bulldog off of it.  Suplex gets 2 for Cena.  He sets up the Attitude Adjustment, but Shawn counters it to a DDT for 2.  Shawn then clips the leg and hooks the figure four.  Cena eventually reverses and Shawn breaks the hold.  Cena goes for the shoulderblocks, but misses the second one and goes to the floor.  Shawn nails a dive and then preps the announce table, but takes too long and is set up for the AA again.  But finally, after about five minutes, HHH has recovered from that Superkick and makes the save, but only because he wants to put Shawn though the table himself, which he does with a spinebuster.  He then gets Cena in the ring and hits him with another spinebuster for 2.  After working Cena over a bit, he gets 2 off a corner whip and a neckbreaker.  He sets up for the Pedigree, but Cena blocks and catapults him to the buckle.  HHH comes out of there though with a clothesline for 2.  Cena gets sent off, but connects with a shoulderblock.  He follows with a second one and then hits the Protobomb.  Five Knuckle Shuffle hits and sets up the AA, but now Shawn makes the save, sending Cena to the post.  Now we have a DX showdown, but HHH has to stop and toss Cena for good measure and that allows Shawn to hit him with an inverted atomic drop.  Irish whip is reversed and HHH hits the high knee.  He then gets the facebuster, but Shawn comes back with a clothesline.  He kips up, but is right into a HHH spinebuster.  Shawn then backdrops out of a Pedigree attempt and goes up, but Cena is there to crotch him.  Cena now goes up for the legdrop on HHH, but that misses.  Shawn is up top again, and comes off with the elbow on Cena.  HHH tosses Shawn, but quickly gets hooked in the STF by Cena.  Shawn makes it back to save though by hooking a crossface on Cena, who powers to his feet, then drops Shawn and puts him in the STF.  Shawn makes the ropes, and after they break, he gets Cena with the Superkick.  He hits another on HHH as well, but HHH falls on top of Cena and the ref counts, but Cena kicks out at 2.  The crowd was convinced that was the finish.  Cena then hits HHH with an Attitude Adjustment.  Both Shawn and Cena crawl to make the cover on HHH and the there at the same time, but HHH kicks out at 2 anyways.  Another Superkick is blocked by Cena and then Shawn goes for a piledriver on HHH.  HHH backdrops Shawn to avoid it, but he lands right on Cena’s shoulders.  Shawn slips off and hits another Superkick on HHH, but turns right into an Attitude Adjustment.  Cena opts to cover HHH instead, but still gets the 3 count to retain at 21:14.  Really good stuff here, but then I would expect nothing less with these guys as they’ve all done so many main event three ways that they could probably put one on in their sleep.  Cena will have a bigger challenge next month as he gets to face Sheamus, who is completely untested in a big match environment, so we’ll see what kind of miracle working abilities he’s got.  As mentioned earlier, DX goes on to what will probably be the real main event of TLC to face Jericho and Show for the Unified Tag Team Titles.  For this match, it squeaks ahead to take match of the night honours at ****.

Final Thoughts: If this year’s WWE PPV’s could be summed up in one phrase, I think it would be “Solid, but completely unremarkable”.  From an in ring perspective, they rarely put on a bad show and this was certainly no exception, but there’s just nothing there that’s gonna make you remember this show even a few months down the line.  The Divas match was the lowlight, but that’s to be expected, and Mysterio/Batista wasn’t that good, but it worked for the story they were telling so it’s forgivable.  Main Event was the big highlight, although it suffers from the dreaded Same Old Match Syndrome.  Thankfully they do appear to be legitimately addressing that issue, although it will take time to see if they’re doing it with the right guys.  As for Survivor Series, I can’t say it was a bad show overall.  In fact, it gets a Thumbs Up, but the truth is that if you missed it, it’s not a big deal which is becoming more and more of the trend.

Please vote in this poll. I’ll keep it open until Sunday or so. Then I’ll go with whatever has the most votes and will have it written by Thursday as promised. They are all easy subjects for me. At some point I’ll write them all, but this poll is to determine what I write first. The other two will have to wait until the new year.

Hay un sentimiento en la WWE de hacer algo “especial” con The Undertaker para WrestleMania 26, más importante aún, algo fresco que los aficionados no hallan visto antes, según comenta PWI. También se habla de un match entre Triple H vs Shawn Michaels para el gran evento,ya que nunca han tenido un match mano a mano en WrestleMania

También había un plan para un match de CM Punk vs Rey Mysterio en WrestleMania 26, pero esto es poco probable que suceda por ahora teniendo en cuenta los problemas de lesiones Mysterio, aunque aun podria ser posible

Ok, I’ve been a terrible blogger. I’m now behind on three weeks of Smackdown and one week of Raw. Oops. Those catch-up posts will be up tomorrow, promise. But for tonight, let’s focus on Survivor Series.

Batista vs. Rey Mysterio
Is there anyone who thinks Mysterio is winning this? I didn’t think so. Batista looks better and stronger as a feel than he ever has a face and it makes no sense for him to lose now. The only question is how badly will he hurt Mysterio?
My Pick: Batista

Michelle McCool, Jillian Hall, Beth Phoenix, Layla and Alicia Fox vs. Mickie James, Gail Kim, Kelly Kelly, Eve Torres and Melina

First of all, can I comment what an oversight it is that Natalya is not in this match? She’s probably the most talented woman on the WWE roster and I loved seeing her in the ring at Bragging Rights, it was one of the highlights of the terrible show. She would be a much worthier contribution than Layla or Alicia Fox, just saying. That said, team McCool is a little less useless than Team Mickie, so they’re winning.
My Pick: Team McCool

John Morrison, Matt Hardy, Finlay, Evan Bourne and Shelton Benjamin vs. The Miz, Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre, Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler
Team Miz seems stronger since it’s got five hot, young stars including two guys (McIntyre and Sheamus) who are getting major pushes from the powers that be, while Team Morrison has three guys who are mid-carders at best and never going to be more than that, as well as two hot, young stars. But… The Miz and Jack Swagger seem to be headed for a big feud and I see that getting in their way tonight and giving the win to Morrison’s team.
My Pick: Team Morrison

Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase Jr., Cody Rhodes, William Regal, and CM Punk vs. Kofi Kingston, Christian, R-Truth, MVP and Mark Henry
We actually get to see Christian at a PPV! Yay! That said, I don’t think we’ll see much of him. This match is really about Kofi Kingston and Legacy, particularly Randy Orton. My prediction is that Kofi will be the last man standing on his team and he’ll be left facing Legacy, but that the three members of Legacy will start squabbling and somehow Kingston will manage the victory. This would solidify Kingston as a major player and it would start the long over-due destruction of Legacy. Not saying they’re breaking up tonight, but I think after tonight we’re going to be one step closer to the final split.
My Pick: Team Kofi

The Undertaker vs. The Big Show vs. Chris Jericho for the World Heavy-Weight Championship
I’d love for Jericho to win this, but we all know that’s not happening. And The Big Show doesn’t seem like a legitimate contender either since he hasn’t managed a one-on-one title shot in the last year, neither has Jericho for that matter. The Undertaker is retaining, but the destruction of the tag team champions is going to happen. They might not break up tonight, but the end will be in sight.
My Pick: The Undertaker

John Cena vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWE Championship
Cena got a clean pin over on Triple H on Monday, which makes me think he’s losing the belt tonight. The only thing I went back and forth over was which member of DX is going to win the title. In one way it made more sense for it to be Shawn Michaels to win to set up the eventual DX split since we all know they’re facing each other at Wrestlemania. After all Triple H used to be the guy who was all about the title, it would drive him nuts to see his friend with the belt and lead to a Triple H heel turn. But then, I realized that it also made sense and would be in character for Shawn Michaels to help Triple H win the belt (remember Michaels once laid down to give Triple H the European Championship) and would allow for tension down the road. The fact that Triple H took the pin on Monday made me think that that’s the way it’ll go.
My Pick: Triple H

So I’m about a third of the way through watching RAW last night when it hits me that I’m actually ENJOYING at and looking forward to the rest of the show!  So far we had Jesse Ventura come out as the night’s Host.  He was doing a fine job and told us that we’ve been seeing too many of the same faces in the Championship scene.  He set up a battle royal filled with wrestlers that have never had a title shot.  The winner of the battle royal will receive a shot at his brand’s championship at the next Pay Per View, “TLC” (Tables, Ladders and Chairs).

SWEET!  Somebody gets a chance to break through to the top of the scene!  As much as I love Shawn Michaels and Triple H, there’s only so many times I can get excited about seeing one of them fight in the main event, and goodness knows the world doesn’t need another Cena/Orton match.

Side note about Orton:  I’m really liking him!  I disliked him personally for a few years because he’s been pretty immature behind the scenes, but getting married and having a kid has done him good.  I can feel good about liking him again.

We got a pretty good Cena / CM Punk match.  My favorite part was before the match when Punk told Cena, “Through these sober eyes, I can see you.”  I’ve mentioned before how awesome I think Punk is, but I don’t think I’ve brought up how bored I am of Cena.  BORED.  Turn him bad and I’ll like him again, but I was pissed off when he pinned Punk.

CM Punk is Straight Edge. That means he's better than you.

I think the thing I was most excited about was the DX vs. Hart Dynasty match.  Here we have TJ Wilson and David Hart Smith (the son of the legendary British Bulldog, Davey Boy Smith).  The Hart Foundation in the past had huge issues with DX (Shawn Michaels and Triple H) and this would be the first time in over TEN YEARS that DX would face members of the Hart Family.  There was so much history between the two factions and I couldn’t wait to see this explored!  You’ve got the legitimate screwing over of Bret Hart for the WWE title at the Survivor Series in 1997, you’ve got Shawn beating the British Bulldog for the European title in the UK after Bulldog dedicated the match to his dying sister, and so much more!

The Hart Foundation... coolest group ever (provided you disregard Davy Boy's fanny pack)

We get to the match.  NOT ONE WORD of the history between the two groups is mentioned.  You could have had TJ and Smith do an interview before the match and really tear into DX vowing revenge for all sorts of deeds.  Nothing.  DX wins a five minute match after a superkick from Shawn and a pedigree from Trips.

Fuck you guys.  Seriously.  Fuck you guys.

Then Chris Jericho came out and talked smack to DX.  Jericho is exactly what he says he is: the best in the world at what he does.

Jericho!

It’s the week of Thanksgiving, and thankfully we all got to relive the Survivor Series moment from 1990 when the Gobblygooker was unleashed!  Back in ‘90 they had a big egg that Mean Gene promised us would hatch at the pay per view and every week speculated as to what could be in it.  I speculated as well!  I was sure that Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake was ready to return and would POUNCE out of that egg ready for action!  Some people thought that Ric Flair was coming in.  Instead we got this:

Yup.  This friggin’ turkey-or-what-have-you popped out of the egg, danced around the ring, did some gymnastics, then clucked off, not to be seen or heard from for many years until the fine folks at WWE realized it could be brought out as a joke to remind us of how goofy things were at one point.

SPEAKING OF GOOFY: there was a six woman tag match featuring the Pilgrims (the bad team) vs. the Indians (the good team).  Normally I fast forward through woman wrestling matches because it’s pretty much tna but I was watching the show live and didn’t have the option.  And it’s a good thing, because the entrance music used for the Indians was TATANKA’s old entrance music!!:

Oh, the hilarity!

So speaking of hilarity and golden moments from the past, it was decided that Jesse Ventura and Vince McMahon would do commentary on the main event – just like they did in the ’80s!  Vince even put on his tuxedo with the red tie!  It was amazing and … well, just all sorts of amazing!

Now the main event itself?  The next challenger to John Cena’s championship is this guy:

If he wins the title at the ppv I’ll eat my hat.

I’ll purchase a hat, then eat it.  But best of luck to you, Sheamus.  Hopefully this gives you some credibility and is a jump start to a big career.  You’ve been handed the ball – how far can you run with it?  Personally I’m skeptical but keeping an open mind.

I had texted my friend Ray who was still at work and told him, “best RAW in years”.  I was clearly wrong, but was going off the potential of the night.  A fresh contender for the title?  A DX/Hart match?  Jesse and Vince on commentary (granted, that did pay off). 

This night should have ruled.  When the part of the night that got me most excited was a tie hearing Tatanka’s old music and seeing the Gobbledygooker… there’s trouble a’brewin’.

Well Enough is Enough, and it’s Time for a Change!

Kev

WWE presenta Monday Night Raw  desde Hershey, PA.  19:55 horas.

Resultados:

• Justin Roberts anuncia al anfitrión de esta noche Jesse Ventura, en su lugar suena la música de Randy Orton, quien dice estar cansado de ver siempre la misma rutina de los anfitriones en RAW, entonces dice que Ventura realizará esta noche el mayo anuncio relacionado con el WWE Heavyweight Championship, que debería pedirle a John Cena enfrentarlo esta noche y que ya entregue el cinturón, suena la música de Jesse Ventura.
• Jesse dice que  “The Body is back” dice que no hay nada como volver a la lucha, mejor que ser un gobernador, admira el estilo de Randy, pero Orton  pero que no tendrá una oportunidad por el título.  Dice que está harto de ver cada semana a los mismo tipos luchar por el título, por ello esta noche realizará un torneo para obtener al retador.
• Orton le dice a Ventura  que está cometiendo, un error, Ventura, le dice que mucha gente le ha dicho eso en su carrera, pero en fin, el quiere  a John Cena contra CM Punk y a D-X contra The Hart Dynasty, porque ese es lo que la gente quiere ver, luchas que nunca se han visto, así que seguirá con su torneo  ahora mismo, y presenta a la primer estrella: Kofi Kingston.

• 1 Kofi Kingston venció Dolph Ziggler-Qualifying Match
• Dolph poco puede hacer contra el en rachado moreno, al final de la lucha Kofi aplica su  Trouble In Paradise, pero Dolph lo frena e intenta su movida final, Kofi mete las manos y de inmediato aplica contra llave para llevarse la victoria.
• Segmento especial de Thanksgiving con The Miz.
• Ganador y calificado: Kofi Kingston
• 2 Sheamus venció a Finlay-Qualifying Match
• Sheamus gana con una variante de la cruz celta, luego de la lucha vuelve a atacar a Finlay.
• Vikie Guerrero en backstage con Teddy Long, intercambiando impresiones.
• 3. John Cena venció a CM Punk
• Intercambio de varias llaves y movimientos finales por parte de ambos, al final luego de dos intentos fallidos, John Cena le pone un AA.
• 4. 6-Man Qualifying Match MVP, Mark Henry & R-Truth vencieron a Chavo Guerrero, Jack Swagger & Chris Masters.
• Randy Orton y Jesse Ventura hablan de la Batalla real para sacar al retador de Cena.
• 5. Evan Bourne vs Primo Randy Orton.- Qualifying Match
• Randy Orton aparece, y noquea a Primo, pide que suenen la campana, sale Ventura y le dice que por eso le cae bien, por romper las reglas, así que la lucha continua, Orton aplica algunas guillotinas y rodillazos y luego una RKO y acaba con Bourne.
• Ganador y calificado: Randy Orton.
• Video recordando a Vince McMahon y Jesse Ventura como comentaristas de WWE, hace 25 años.
• Promo de The Marine 2 con Ted DiBiase Jr.
• 5. Especial Match Thanksgiving: Peregrinas (Michelle McCool, Layla y Jillian) vs Indias (Melina, Mickie James y Kelly Kelly). Referí especial: Doodly Cooker
• Ganadoras: Melina, Mickie James y Kelly Kelly
• Al final de la lucha  Melina es entrevistada por Jerry Lawer, pero es ataca da por Doodly Cooker que en realidad es Maryse.
• 6. D-X vs. The Hart Dynasty
• Shawn Michaels y Tyson Kidd inician las hostilidades, David Hart Smith saca ventaja de la situación, pero HBK resiste, luego de un rato por fin Triple H entra al salve, después de algunos intercambios de golpes quiere aplicar un Pedigree sobre Smith, pero Kidd interviene, HHH, se ensaña sobre el Kidd, ahora se va con Pedigree sobre Tyson Kiddpara después llevárselo a la cuenta de tres.
• Ganadores: Degeneration X
• Al final de la lucha Chris Jericho llega y les dice que Jess Ventura le ha informado que en el PPV Tables, Ladders, & Chairs, DX se enfrentara a JeriShow por los Tag Team Championships.   Aunque Big Show no esta noche el habla por los dos, luego Michaels lo persigue
• Promocionan el nuevo porgrama de Jesse Ventura: Ventura Conspiracy Theory con Jesse Ventura.
• Se aproxima Batista al ring, habla de las lesiones sobre Rey Mysterio, suena la música de Mysterio y este nunca aparece, Batista dice que el pasará el Thanksgiving en una cama de hospital, y que dice que ahora que se ha quitado ese obstáculo, se concentrará en el World Heavyweight Title.  Y dice que si alguien de RAW se atreve a ganar la batalla real esta noche, el se ira sobre él. Suena la música de Kane que aparece.
• Kane  lo cuestiona sobre que es lo que le está pasando, Batista se muestra soberbio ante el monstruo rojo Kane, la gente abuchea a The Animal, y se prenden las luces rojas de Kane.
• 7. Cryme Tyme vs Legacy- Qualifying Match
• DiBiase se va con todo sobre los morenos, primero le aplica una patada a JTG, luego Rhodes toma la iniciativa pero es frenado por Shad con un PowerBomb, Bi Biase aplica su llave de los sueños a Shad y con eso califican ala mini batalla real.
• Gail Kim, Eve Torres y Alicia Fox, con Vickie Guerrero y Sanntino Marella que hacen un segmento cómico alusivo al día de acción de gracias.
• Jesse Ventura llega al ring y dice que está muy complacido de volver a casa, quiere sentirse vivo y será comentarista esta noche, pero dice que eso no sería lo mismo sin Vince, así que lo pone también de comentarista para narrar la lucha estelar.
• 8. Kofi Kingston vs Legacy vs Sheamus vs MVP vs Mark Henry vs R-Truth vs Randy Orton – Breakthrough Battle Royal for Number One Contendership
• MVP es eliminiado por Legado. Legado es sacado por Henry, luego entre Sheamus y Randy Orton acaban con el gigante de chocolate.
• Sólo quedan Sheamus, Orton y Kofi.
• Kofi saca a Randy, Sheumus elimina a Kofi, convirtiéndose en el retador al título.
• Luego del ùltimo comercial, presentan la firma del contrato, con Jesse Ventura presidiendo, después de eso Shemus azota contra la mesa Cena, mostrando su dominio.
• Fin del show.

Antecedentes:

• Esta noche Jesse “The Body” Ventura: ex Marino de los Estados Unidos, ex estrella de la WWE, ex comentarista de lucha libre, ex gobernador de Minessota, estrella de cine, miembro de Salón de la Fama de la WWE, y ahora productor de TV, que presenta su nueva serie de TV: “Ventura Conspiracy Theory con Jesse Ventura” la cual  se estrenará  el próximo 2 de diciembre por el canal TruTV.

Presentamos un vídeo de un encuentro, ocurrido hace casi un cuarto de siglo contra  Hulk Hogan.

Tras lo ocurrido en Survivor Series 2009, esta noche esperamos:

• Quién será el nuevo retador al título WWE en poder de John Cena
• ¿Qué pasará con la relación entre los miembros de DX?
• ¿Qué pasará con Legado?
• ¿Qué hará Randy Orton para vengarce de Kofi Kingston?

wwe.com

WWE presenta Survivor Series 2009 desde Washington, D.C.

Cobertura patrocinada por Smackdown vs RAW 2010, a la venta en Gameplanet y otros puntos de venta.

Resultados en proceso:

• Dark Match: Santino Marella venció a Chavo Guerrero con rollup.
• Video de la historia de Survivor Series PPV, con el debut de The Undertaker. Pirotecnia y la bienvenida por parte de Michael Cole.
• 1. Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match: TEAM MORRISON: John Morrison, Matt Hardy, Evan Bourne, Shelton Benjamin, Finlay vs. TEAM MIZ: The Miz, Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger
• Evan Bourne y Jack Swagger inician las acciones,  Ziggler entra a querer amedrentar a Bourne.
• Entra Matt Hardy y entre él y Bourne eliminan a Ziggler.
• Drew McIntyre entra y aplica una DDT sobre Bourne y con esto queda eliminado.
• Finlay entre, Sheumus por parte de los rudos, después de un rato, pasan la acción a Bourne y a Swagger, Morrison aplica the Starship Pain sobre Swagger con lo que es eliminado.
• Miz y Shelton Benjamin sobre el ring, el Campeón de los Estados Unidos aplica su The Skull Crushing sobre el moreno. Benjamin es eliminado.
• McIntyre aplica su DDT sobre Matt Hardy que es eliminado.
• Al final The Miz elimina a Morrison.
• Sobrevivientes: Sheamus, Drew y Miz.

• En backstage, los miembros de Team Kofi , discuten, Christian alega ser muy diferente al resto de los miembros pues el es Campeón de la ECW
• 2. Rey Mysterio vs. Batista
• Mysterio emprende al ofensiva contra Batista, de inmediato quiere aplicar una619 pero Batista lo evade, luego The Animal toma el control de la lucha con un Batista-Bomb pero ahora es Batista el que se escapa, lo pone para 619, y ahora va por una plancha cuando Batista lo atrapa y aplica una lanza, luego le propina una serie de  Batista-Bombs, lo que hace que el referí pare la lucha.
• Ganador, por decreto del réferi: Batista
• Después de la lucha Batista sigue ensañado sobre Rey y le tunde con una silla.
• 3. Traditional Survivor Series Match: TEAM KINGSTON: Kofi Kingston, Mark Henry, MVP, R-Truth and Christian vs. TEAM ORTON: Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase, William Regal and CM Punk
• Entra primero el equipo Orton
• Henry limpia la casa, aplica un Bear Hug sobre  Orton, pero The Viper se safa y le aplica un RKO, para eliminarlo.
• Eventualmente entran MVP y Cody Rhodes para dejarle toda la acción a CM Punk posteriormente, que elimina a R-Truth.
• Christian elimina a Ted DiBiase, que casi no vio acción.
• Christian esta inspirado y ahora se sigue con William Regal.
• Rhodes y MVP, frente a frente, el de segunda generación elimina al más valioso.
• Entra Kofi sobre Rhodes, para sorprenderlo, lo pone espaldas planas, intenta rendirlo, pero nada, la cuenta llega a 2.99
• Christian se queda ahora frente a Rhodes, está inspirado y elimina a Cody con corto circuito.
• Al final quedan Christian y Kofi Kingston vs. CM Punk y Randy Orton. Christian es eliminado por Randy Orton.
• Sorpresivamente en menos de 7 segundo Kofi elimina a CM Punk y  Randy Orton con Ranita y Patada resuelve problemas, respectivamente.
• Único sobreviviente: Kofi Kingston.
• 4. WHC – The Undertaker © vs. Chris Jericho vs. The Big Show.
• Los campeones de parejas son presentados por separado.
• Jericho intenta vencer en dos ocasiones a The Undertaker, en una de ellas lo nokea con el Campeonato, pero siempre The Big Show impide que el canadiense se haga del título, es tal la discordia entre los Campeones de parejas que el máximo Campeón de la WWE, noquea a Jericho en un descuido y aplica su triángulo del infierno a The Big Show que se rinde golpeando la lona.
• Ganador y aún Campeón: The Undertaker.
• Josh Mathews en entrevista con Sheamus, The Miz y Drew McIntyre, que hablan de su victoria.
• 5. Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match: TEAM MICKIE: Mickie James, Eve Torres, Kelly Kelly, Melina, Gail Kim vs. TEAM MICHELLE: Michelle McCool, Jillian Hall, Beth Phoenix, Layla, Alicia Fox.
• Kelly Kelly elimina a Layla con patada guillotina.
• McCool elimina a Gail Kim con variante de Code Red.
• Eve elimina a Jillian con ranita
• Beth Phonix elinia a Eve y a Kelly Kelly con su movimiento final en menos de 30 segundos.
• Mickie James elimina con una variante de casita a Beth Phonix, molesta The Glamazon la golpea una vez que es descalificada.
• Pese a estar débil Mickie elimina a Alicia Fox.
• Melina llega y quiere ayudar  Mikie, que ya está muy diezmada.
• Melina elimina a Michelle McCool.
• Sobrevivientes: Melina y Mickie James
• 7. WWE – John Cena © vs. HBK vs. HHH
• DX, a diferencia de Jerishow, si son presentados en pareja. Luego entra el campeón más polémico de la historia como es anunciado Cena.
• Al inicio de la lucha ante  el asombro de todos Shawn Michaels le aplica una patada biónica a Triple H. John Cena queda perplejo, pero no se des concentra. Un buen rato de intercambio de llaves entre Michaels y Cena, para que luego Triple H regrese a la acción, ahora Triple H deja en el piso a Michaels.
• Intercambio de golpes y llaves entre Triple H y Michaels, Cena después de un rato hace varias tacleadas para tunbar a Triple H  “You Can’t See Me”, pero antes de que lo derrote, entra Michaels, ahora lo avienta contra el poste.
• Cena toma con STFU a Michaels, quiere tomar la cuerda el rompe corazones para acabar con el castigo. HBK se salva.
• HBK aplica su Sweet Chin Music sobre Cena y una vez más HHH, entra, ahora es entre Hunter y  Cena que va por su Attitude Adjustment, llega Michaels, Cena está exhausto, ahora HBK trata una Sweet Chin Music lo bloquea, desesperado Michaels aplica su Sweet Chin Music sobre HHH. Cena aplica su Attitude Adjustment sobre HBK, cubre a HHH., luego de un azotón y Cena retiene el título
• Ganador y aún campeón: John Cena
• Fin del show.

Antecedentes:

• Pronósticos para Survivor Series 2009.
• A un año de distancia como ha cambiado la WWE?
• Dream Teams en Survivor Series
• Rey Mysterio vs. Batista

WWE presents the 2009 Survivor Series tonight on pay-per-view, featuring two championship triple threat matches, three traditional Survivor Series elimination matches and a singles encounter between two former best friends. Survivor Series is usually one of my favorite events of the year, and this one definitely has the potential to be quite good.

Hit the jump for my preview/prediction for the annual event.

The match I’m most looking forward too may be quite surprising to a lot folks, but I have high hopes for the Team Morrison vs. Team Miz elimination match. With the possible exception of the Motor City Machine Guns, John Morrison and The Miz were my favorite tag team of the past couple of years, and I think both men have grown from that team to become great singles competitors. This match, to me, is the match of the future. What I mean by that is that I can see most of the guys in it main-eventing in the next few years.

Team Morrison is loaded with Shelton Benjamin, Evan Bourne, Matt Hardy and Finlay. Benjamin is high on my list of WWE favorites, he’s a tremendous wrestler and can easily be a show stealer. He’s not the most entertaining guy, but based on wrestling ability alone, he’s got World Champion written all over him to me. The same goes for John Morrison, who really is on my short list for WWE breakout performer of the year. He is excitement. Evan Bourne is a terrific wrestler himself. These three alone make this a fantastic team, having solid veterans like Hardy and Finlay are just the icing on the cake.

As much as I like Team Morrison, I think Team Miz is definitely more “where the future lies”. This team features surefire future main-eventers all over the place, all young and hungry and looking for a breakout night. Dolph Ziggler leads the pack in my eyes, which is surprising considering this is a guy who I see a lot of Mr. Perfect in (for those of you who don’t know, Perfect is my all-time favorite wrestler). He’s followed closely by Jack Swagger, who the only thing that could possibly hold him back is his promo ability. Swagger is a natural, and he’s as solid as they come. Meanwhile The Miz has matured into a well-rounded wrestler and a very entertainer character, a far cry from when he first debuted. He’s a heat magnet, and in a good way. Sheamus and McIntyre are the noobs of the team, and actually two guys that I have grown to like (I see a ton of potential in both, especially McIntyre).

If this match gets the time it deserves, then it could be a show stealer. My prediction: Team Morrison

Kofi Kingston had a breakout moment a few weeks ago when he destroyed Randy Orton’s stock car. He had a star making moment Monday night on RAW. He’s definitely riding a wave of momentum and is on the brink of being elevated to that next level. His team isn’t all that impressive though, even though I like MVP and Christian. I don’t care for Henry or R-Truth, so I would like to see them get eliminated pretty quickly. Win or lose, Kofi needs to be the sole survivor for his team, and he needs to come out of it looking like a million bucks (which can still happen in defeat).

Randy Orton’s team on the other hand is stacked with the Viper himself, Ted DiBiase, Cody Rhodes, the veteran William Regal and my current favorite, CM Punk. This is a top notch team. Ideally, I’d like to see DiBiase turn, but with the current push of Kofi, that doesn’t need to happen and I assume it won’t happen on this night. I’m going to predict a win for Team Orton, and I’m hoping that Orton, DiBiase and Punk all survive,

There’s a women’s elimination tag match that doesn’t involve Katie Lea, hence it’s a match I don’t care about. I’ll go with Team Michelle though, because it has Beth Phoenix.

In another match I don’t care about, Batista battles Rey Mysterio. It would make no sense for Batista to lose, so I’ll pick him.

The two championship triple threat matches are both interesting for the same reason; a babyface champion is defending the title against two tag-team partners. So you have a WWE or World Championship being dangled between partners, which obviously can create some tension in the ranks. If Shawn Michaels were to super kick Triple H, I’d be extremely happy. I’d be even more happy if that super kick led to the break up of DX, with a heel Michaels against a face Hunter. It won’t happen of course, but I’d definitely mark out for it. Superman (John Cena) will retain the title here, although I’d love to see Michaels with it.

Chris Jericho and Big Show, tag team champions, battling one another and Undertaker for his World Championship, is probably the more interesting of the match ups. I could easily see this one going all three ways. Chris Jericho is without a doubt the best all around performer in WWE today, he’s really on top of his game and there’s simply no one better right now. Jericho, especially with his current character, would make a wonderful champion, and he’s my hope to win it. Big Show is probably due a reign as champ, and I can’t say I’d be opposed to a short term deal for him, but I don’t think it’ll happen tonight. My pick will go with the champion retaining, Undertaker getting the win after Jericho gets tangled up with Big Show.

Cue Jericho berating Big Show and whining because he didn’t let him win the title when they’re suppose to be friends, even though both men were challenging for the title. Oh, sorry, I was just thinking how absolutely shitty the Batista heel turn has been.

Survivor Series is LIVE tonight on pay-per-view at 7pm CST. If you don’t have PPV, or simply won’t be watching, join us for live coverage of the event tonight.

UPDATE: LIVE results are currently ongoing, visit the home page and refresh it for the latest updates.

• WWE Champion Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit – (Royal Rumble 2003)
  

Matt: Up to this point, this match was exactly how a match between Angle and Benoit should go: with the top prize on the line. Nobody was better. Why SHOULDN’T these two be fighting over the WWE title? These two traded back and forth between anklelocks and crossfaces and just absolutely ruled everything that had happened on the show prior to this match. Just an absolutely awesome affair. And even though Benoit lost, he still received a standing ovation on his way out for his excellent performance.

Justin: As if Benoit and Angle didn’t have enough pressure on them, they were tasked with waking up a comatose and jaded crowd as well. The bout was mat based to start as both men worked a quick, crisp pace and traded control as it wore on. Adding the great action, Cole and Tazz did a wonderful job telling the story of the match and they proved that they were really starting to become the premiere broadcast team of WWE with their insight and storytelling. The brief slow down of the bout would be short lived, as the pace got ratcheted back up with a crazy flurry of stiff, impactful offense moves. The final five minutes or so were just tremendous. It started with a nice battle over the crossface and transitioned into a counter maneuver buffet. It felt like a true heavyweight war as the momentum kept shifting with each move. Angle would finally land the win when he traps Benoit in the Anklelock and Chris was forced to tap. This was just a beautiful, old school clean wrestling match. They proved that they didn’t need weapons, gimmicks or blood to get the crowd invested in their match. It was an instant classic that won over the fans big time. The closing portion was just fantastic and Benoit looked strong even in losing.

Scott: Another pair from the Smackdown Six, and just like all of their other PPV battles Benoit and Angle tear the house down for 20 minutes. This match, however, seems to go down as more special, more unique than the others. Maybe because of the fact that it’s a title match or that Angle has this tag team of backups now to make him even more hated, or the fact that Benoit and his fans have been waiting for that first elusive World Title. So with all the plot points and the history these two have, we are presented with one of the greatest title matches ever put together in a ring. Both guys, awesome mat technicians and clearly in superior physical condition, go all out for 20 minutes with the WWE Title on the line. The crowd is clearly all over this one after just having to watch that last piece of shit. Both guys know how to dictate and sell better than almost anyone, and there’s no wasted motion by either guy. They both want to be the best, and they went out and showed it.

• Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho – (WrestleMania XIX)
  

Matt: Chris Jericho gets to wrestle his idol. According to Jericho for the storyline, Shawn Michaels is the reason he became a professional wrestler and now he’s going to have end his career. When Sweet Chin Music wasn’t enough, HBK had to surprise Jericho with a rollup to secure the win. And then Jericho punches his idol in the balls. Another heck of a match on the PPV of the year.

Justin: For the first time in five years, Shawn Michaels stepped onto the grandest stage in the game to compete in a match. This feud had been simmering since December and there was a lot of intrigue surrounding it. Michaels was Jericho’s idol growing up and Chris now had a chance to face him at WrestleMania. Both men seemed fired up by the crowd and the magnitude of the match. The two showed great chemistry right away as their work together was smooth as silk. The second half the match was quite good with great near falls and reversals. Michaels would quickly recover and roll Jericho up to steal the win and bring a close to a fantastic match. I think there are a couple of points that prevent this match from being graded even higher. I thought Michaels was a bit spotty in selling his back. Jericho punished it for almost the whole match, but Michaels would pretty much ignore it for various stretches. Also, there is always the usual debate over whether Michaels really needed the win. At this point, Shawn was still a part time wrestler and Jericho had been floundering a bit. A big win over Shawn could have bumped him back up a level. They tried to get Jericho’s heat back by having him kick Michaels in the nuts after the post match hug but I thought that cheapened the emotion of the story and the match. I am not too upset about Michaels winning, only because shortly after this he decided to return full time and this was no longer a part time guy beating a potential main eventer. Overall, however, the match was great and Michaels announced to the world that he could still deliver an awesome WrestleMania match.

Scott: Chris Jericho said many times during this buildup that he wanted to be Shawn Michaels. This match shows that Shawn Michaels, on the drop of a dime, can step up on the WrestleMania stage and Jericho finally got his wish and wrestled his idol. We almost saw a tearful reconciliation, but Jericho kicks him in the nuts to keep his heat. Except for the lack of back selling by Michaels, the match is perfectly done.

• WWE Champion Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar – (WrestleMania XIX)
  

Matt: Brock Lesnar gets put over FOR REAL this time. He’d already been champion after beating Rock at SummerSlam, but now Angle makes him look even better than before. Of course that shooting star press flub didn’t help. Some people say he didn’t get enough rotation, others say Angle was too far away. Anyhow, great wrestling match that helped make both guys look incredible.

Justin: This bout officially ushered in the next chapter in WWE history. The main event style would no longer be characterized by a crazy overbooked brawl with dozens of finisher trading and reversals. We were now seeing two legit amateur studs throwing down the gauntlet and putting on a hard hitting, mat based slugfest. Kurt Angle proved his toughness, and maybe solidified his stupidity, as he fought through a major neck injury to put on an epic main event with the Next Big Thing. Angle would unleash a great 360 release German that was just awe inspiring. After Angle kicked out of an F5, Brock got desperate and headed to the top rope. As the crowd buzzed, Brock unleashed his legendary shooting star press. Until this point, it had never been seen on WWE TV. Unfortunately, it isn’t always wise to debut a move that big in a match this big, because Brock miscalculated the distance and crashes onto the top of his head in a super scary moment. It was an awesome sight, but it could have been really bad if Brock was seriously injured. As it was, you could tell he was out on his feet. Even in the post match, Brock was starry eyed as he celebrated with the championship. Despite the flub, this was still an incredible match as both men went all out and delivered a classic. It is even more incredible when you factor in how injured Angle was heading in. Brock is back on top of the Smackdown world and would be looked at as the torch bearer and the future of WWE. The book on the Attitude Era has officially been closed and, for better or worse, a new era is now upon us.

Scott: Brock Lesnar certainly earned his keep in 2002, defeating Rock and Undertaker to establish himself. Then losing the WWE Title at Survivor Series to Big Show, he needed to change gears and become a fan favorite. He’s been gaining the fans respect with a win at the Royal Rumble and a quest to become champion from the cheating weasel Kurt Angle. The match is great, different from the previous matches here. Not a lot of quick strikes or fast paced action. Angle grounds the early pace and Lesnar sells well as the crowd is trying to stay energized after a long night filled with emotions and action. Angle was due for surgery after this match so he was going to do everything he can to make Lesnar look like a million bucks.

• Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero – WWE U.S. Title Tournament Finals (Vengeance 2003)
  

Matt: Out of all the matches they have had, this is the ONLY time they faced one-on-one on PPV! Can you believe that? This was their usual great wrestling match that was ruined somewhat by Rhyno interfering in the finish and turning on Benoit, but hey there’s still 20 minutes of awesome before that.

Justin: This bout features two of the best going at it for the newly minted United States Championship. Benoit and Guerrero fought their way through and reached the finals to renew their rivalry. The crowd was really hooked in by the time Eddie was able to hit Benoit with the belt and drop a frog splash on him for a near fall. Benoit’s buddy Rhyno would come down to the ring, but he turned on his friend and dropped him with a gore, allowing Eddie to win the match and take the title. The match was flat out awesome, but the ending was weak and unnecessary. The match should have had a clean ending and they could have saved the Rhyno turn for TV. Either way, it was still a great match and a fantastic opener to what would end up being a tremendous show.

Scott: So really, can you think of a better opener to fire this show up? I can’t remember of the last PPV opener to pass the twenty minute mark. Obviously there’s Owen & Bret from WrestleMania X, but if you think hard I don’t think there’s another since. As usual these two always bring the goods. I think this match is even better than their last PPV outing back in December at Armageddon. The pace is crisp, and even with all of Eddie’s antics, it adds to the match and makes him even smarmier. Rhyno’s heel turn at the end was out of the blue, but I guess it bails the writers out of having to job Benoit clean. No problem, doesn’t take away from a great match and an awesome start to that show.

• The Undertaker vs. John Cena – (Vengeance 2003)
  

Matt: I don’t think Cena was ready for Brock at Backlash, but he was ready for the Undertaker. This was an awesome brawl and probably the first match where Cena was able to back up all the smack he was saying on the mic back in those days. Even though Taker got the win, he still managed to make Cena look like he could hang and that was really all that the match required.

Justin: The push of John Cena continues as he steps into Undertaker’s yard for another big PPV match. Cena had really been gaining steam and was getting some quality pops from the crowd due to his biting raps and overall hip feeling. Taker hadn’t really been doing much other than mentoring Orlando Jordan, so he was used here to help elevate Cena. The problem is Taker pretty much just destroyed Cena in five minutes and he had him pinned with a chokeslam but Taker picked him up to allow the match to continue. That annoyed me. Cena would control for a while until Taker would battle back and sneak in a mammoth Last Ride out of the corner to pick up the win. After the stupid squash part of the match, Cena looked really good as he hung with Taker throughout a stiff war. I didn’t like how they basically had Taker win the match twice, especially with relative ease the first time. If they wanted to do the squash portion early, Cena should have won in the end. Cena was good enough here to gain from the outing, but Taker didn’t need the win, and really didn’t need two wins within 16:00. Despite that, this was still a really good brawl and the crowd stayed hot for it.

Scott: Cena went right along with Taker’s pace and let the big guy dictate. I’m sure almost all the fans in Denver on this night didn’t expect this match to go sixteen minutes, but indeed it did. Cena had a couple of moments where maybe, just maybe the upset could happen. Alas, Cena is set right up for the Last Ride and three seconds later respect has been laid out. A great match that shows Undertaker was slowly getting into the best shape of his career and putting on better and better matches. As for Cena, that match may have punched his ticket to bigger and better things down the line, but a little vig was paid here to get there. No bother, both guys went out and did what they had to do and it was the surprise match of this show.

• WWE Champion Kurt Angle vs. The Undertaker – (Smackdown 9/4/03)
  

Matt: Taker had showed signs of changing over to a more MMA-based style in the past. It was never more evident before than in this match. You know these two looked back to this match when they were getting ready for their No Way Out 2006 match that completely turned Taker’s career around for the better. Just when it looked like Taker was going to pull out the win and regain the WWE title, Brock Lesnar runs in for the DQ.

Justin: This was an extremely good TV match that featured some great mat based wrestling. Angle was on a roll at this point and Taker seamlessly meshed with to put out a fun well worked bout. Taker was able to escape the anklelock multiple times and looked to be ready to take home the WWE Title until Brock Lesnar showed up and cost him the belt. Angle and Taker always worked well together and this was further proof of their great chemistry.

Scott: They wrestled the previous summer when Taker was the Champion and Angle was the challenger. That was a great match, and this one was just as good. Their first few matches in 2000 were not the best, but they slowly learned to work each other’s style and by their last big match at No Way Out 2006 they were spot on. This match is one of the more forgotten in their series, but the pace was good and Taker who was in a creative funk on the show really looked motivated and brought the goods for the now back from injury Angle.

• WWE Champion Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar – 60-Minute Ironman Match (Smackdown 9/18/03)
  

Matt: In the ten years of the show, this was the most important match on Smackdown to date. Think about it – this was strictly a PPV match and you were getting for free. Two of my best friends went to this show and absolutely loved it. Why didn’t I go? I have no idea. Anyways at one point in the match, Brock Lesnar beat Angle up with a chair to get DQ’ed, then pins Angle to gain a fall for himself. Brilliant! Why hadn’t anybody ever thought of that before? I know that’s a bad example, but this was a great wrestling match too. Angle vs. Lesnar for 60 minutes. It has no choice but to be good.

Justin: Ah, the forgotten Iron Man match. I enjoyed this one because of the intelligence shown by both men, especially Brock. I also liked that he won the match and title cleanly to really put over how great he was. The commercials break the flow up a bit, but it is still a fantastic contest as the two men just went at each other nonstop, especially in the second half, and really delivered on a stipulation that played into the rivalry perfectly. I would have liked to have seen this on PPV as I think the stipulation plays out better there, but it is still a lost classic during a time when Smackdown was producing a lot of them.

Scott: It should have been #1 on the DVD of Smackdown’s 100 greatest moments. A great match between what I think is 2003’s Feud of the Year. These guys were joined at the hip and carried what was the better show in 2003 with one awesome match after another. Even as a heel, Lesnar still played it pretty straight and became the first guy in WWE history to have a lead in an Iron Man match and not blow it.

• Kurt Angle vs. John Cena – (No Mercy 2003)
  

Matt: Cena was wrestling the finest stars on Smackdown all year – Brock, Taker, Eddie, and now Angle. It could only be a positive thing for his career to try and keep up with Angle. Just a great match to continue pushing Cena along. Of course they would turn him babyface pretty soon, but he was an excellent character as a trash-rapping heel while it lasted.

Justin: Man, Kurt Angle just dominated this year. And he had nearly three months off with a major neck injury. Amazing. This was another great outing that saw the pace dictated by Angle. Cena went along for the ride and really held up his end of the bargain well. Many thought Cena should have grabbed the win here, but a hard fought loss was just as good, really. He was slowly proving that he could hang with the big boys and the fans were slowly starting to turn him face at this point as well. Really fun match that fit the classic Angle formula.

Scott: I honestly don’t remember this match that much, but what I do remember is that Cena really cemented himself as a player in the WWE landscape. Many thought his great match with Undertaker at Vengeance was a fluke, but this proved that was not the case. No Cena doesn’t have Angle’s skills, but he is a good worker and will bust his ass.

• Randy Orton, Mark Henry, Scott Steiner, Chris Jericho & Christian vs. Shawn Michaels, Rob Van Dam, Booker T, and the Dudley Boyz – 5-on-5 Elimination Match (Survivor Series 2003)
  

Matt: Let’s face it – Survivor Series 2003 as a show sucked. Well it sucked until this match came along. Do you remember anything else from this show without looking it up? I don’t. This was just a prime example of Shawn Michaels’ ability to take a rather lame situation and turn it around into a match that gets you on the edge of your seat and changes a mediocre match into something memorable. When it came down to Orton, Jericho, and Christian against HBK, he turned it on and had an awesome final ten minutes of wrestling.

Justin: I really love this match. It officially signaled the return of the classic Survivor Series style match as well. The early portion of the match was somewhat forgettable, but once it came down to Michaels against Orton, Jericho and Christian, business picked way up. Michaels’ blade job was insane and he just sold the beating like a champion should. He was just battered and abused and barely eeked out two pinfalls. Just when you thought he would steal a win and save Steve Austin’s job, Randy Orton was able to outsmart and defeat him, with some help from Batista, to win it. This was epic storytelling by one of the all time greats. It also gave Orton a big time win to help set him on his way to stardom.

Scott: Pretty solid match with a lot of chaos and activity. This was also the match that began Randy Orton’s legacy as Mr. Survivor Series, winning an elimination match 3 years in a row. The catch that Austin had to leave Raw didn’t really matter in terms of the match, but the endless chaos and the miracle run that Shawn Michaels ALMOST finished made for a great ending.

• World Heavyweight Champion Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels – (Raw 12/29/03)
  

Matt: I didn’t watch Raw much at all in 2003. It took 51 weeks for them to have a match I remember six years later. Once again, Shawn Michaels handled 30 minutes better than anybody else on Raw at the time with his arch nemesis Triple H. Hunter had just regained the World title from Goldberg two weeks earlier and he wasn’t about to give up the belt. Even with all the distractions from Flair, Bischoff, and Austin, this was an incredible match where you really didn’t know if Shawn was going to pull out the victory or not in the end. Check out this forgotten classic on HBK’s Heartbreak & Triumph DVD set.

Justin: This match officially signaled the return of the workrate freak Triple H and the death of boring, routine based Triple H that we had been stuck with since 2002. These two worked a beautiful, clean battle over the World Title, just as it should be. This match also came out of nowhere as Raw hadn’t really been known for delivering epic TV matches at that point. Many thought Michaels should have won the match, because the finish killed the crowd, but they had bigger plans for that title at this point. This was a great match to close out the year and got everyone’s hopes up that the good Triple H was back.

Scott: After not facing each other for almost a year, this rivalry was renewed with an unbelievable match right in Michaels’ backyard. Yeah the Bischoff screwjob at the end sucked, but it didn’t take away from the pace or the workrate. Not as violent or dramatic as the SummerSlam 02 match, but still one that’s in the annals of both these men’s careers.

Next week, we’ll see ten more matches from the year of 2004!

Last Monday’s episode of RAW was at times sloppy, at times inspired, and all over strange.  Hosted by Rowdy Roddy Piper and emanating from WWE’s most hallowed venue Madison Square Garden, the show did little to advance story lines or promote next Sunday’s Survivor Series PPV.  Instead it saw the booking team indulge its own off-the-wall whims: inciting and then blowing off a feud between Piper and McMahon, having DX beat down and then offer medical attention to Hornswoggle, and opening the Garden’s doors (and handing TV time) to all manner of B through K level celebrities.

The one segment that not only abided by RAW’s week to week continuity but actually advanced it was also the best segment of the night: the brawl between Randy Orton and Kofi Kingston.  It was excruciatingly obvious that Kingston was coming out to make the save, as Orton wound up to punt a beaten-down Roddy Piper in the temple.  Orton certainly saw it coming, stopping in mid-punt and looking angrily down the entrance corridor before Kingston’s music even started playing.  Clearly the sound technician missed his or her queue, or maybe Kingston wasn’t ready on time.  Whomever was at fault, it was unfortunately Orton who looked bad, stutter stepping toward Hot Rod, with a look on his face like that of a high school actor whose stage partner just said the wrong line.  However, the segment recovered quickly from the botch, as Kingston stormed to Piper’s rescue and engaged Orton in an intense, spot-laced, extracurricular slugfest.

Orton first got the better of his rival, landing a few blows and executing a beautiful guillotine catapult on Kingston.  When the former champ went for his patented head punt, however (inspiring Michael Cole’s panicked call: “He’s about to end Kingston’s career!”), Kofi nimbly spun out of harm’s way and landed a cross body block/knee to the chest.  The pair then brawled to the outside and into the the audience, coming to rest at one WWE’s trademarked backstage tables, littered with unmanned production equipment (they really shouldn’t leave that expensive stuff lying around).  Kingston used one item of said equipment to strike Orton across the forehead (giving him a hard-way in the process).  He then laid RKO out on the table and climbed to a nearby railing.  The crowd popped when he suggested a leap from the railing, and then booed heartily when a group of officials denied the spot and restrained him.  A moment later, however, they got the blood that they paid for, as Kingston dashed through the wall of referees, perched again on the railing, and leapt off to land a devastating double leg drop on the still prone Orton.

It was interesting how Kingston, with the refs hot on his heels, still took the time to preface the leap with his patented shoulder shuffle.  You can’t deny the man’s showmanship.  I wonder how the officials (off camera at the time) indisposed themselves to give Kofi the time he needed.  My guess is they repeatedly fell all over each other, like the Keystone Cops on brown acid.

The notoriously defiant NYC crowd was whole-heartedly behind Kingston for this segment, and he delivered in a big way.

Elsewhere on the show:  Roddy Piper did a fine job as host.  He was often scatter-minded and very self-referencing, but we expect as much from the Hot Rod, and it remains entertaining to be reminded of his past exploits (speaking of which, I wonder if the fire extinguisher he had backstage was the same one he used to douse the late Morton Downey Jr. at Wrestlemania V… or did he buy a new extinguisher and name it Morton?).  Piper certainly plays his part to perfection, no matter how infrequently he steps into it.  Either he’s got a method actor’s evolved commitment to character or his advancing years have turned his old unstable, cockeyed work into a shoot.

The teased street fight between Piper and McMahon was an odd segment, and in the end turned out to be nothing more than filler.  Their verbal confrontation was entertaining, especially on Hot Rod’s part.  McMahon was his usual smug, un-engaging self.

 Jack Swagger avenged his loss to Evan Bourne by squashing him in a rematch.  It’s strange that creative continues to cast Bourne as a struggling under-carder who can only manage fluke victories.  I know I’m not alone in my belief that, when it comes to the WWE audience, Bourne is capable of drawing more than just sympathy. 

 Both the Miz and MVP performed well in their surprise United States Championship match.  The crowd was solidly behind MVP (which again should not be undervalued, considering New York fans’ reputation).  Their support for him, however, may have been partially in thanks to the Miz, who garnered some serious heat during his pre-match promo (in which he suggested that the Yankees did not earn but buy their recent World Series win).  Miz is excelling in his role as the heel who tells the truths that the masses would rather ignore.  He’s still kind of annoying, but he’s using that to his advantage as well.

 The DX segment was unremarkable save for its surreal ending.  The one relevant piece of story-telling it offered was in the team’s acknowledgment of their competing against one another for Cena’s championship at Survivor Series, and their insistence that they could do so without fatally wounding their partnership and friendship.  As Triple H put it, “It doesn’t matter which one of us wins the championship.  [All that matters is] that the championship comes to DX.”  We’ll see.  So far there has been no hint of dissension between Triple H and Michaels. 

As for their double crossing of Hornswoggle: I don’t think the stunt went over with the crowd.  Michael Cole tried to pass it off as DX being DX, the edgiest, most unpredictable tag team in WWE history (although personally I believe that honor belongs to the Jumping Bomb Angels… but maybe Cole just meant within the men’s division).  The crowd, however, didn’t see it that way.  Their booing was warranted.  A man of Triple H’s size assaulting a little person, and doing so with a face’s impunity isn’t easy to get behind.  Plus Degeneration X is supposed to be an anti-authority faction punishing those who abuse the power they have over others.  If they target instead the marginalized and powerless, their gimmick makes no narrative sense.  At this point it seems like Hornswoggle will somehow factor into the triple threat match for the WWE Championship at Survivor Series.  The bout really won’t suffer from his involvement;  Michaels, Triple H, and Cena have been so jovial and nonchalant about the match, that there’s really no intensity for the Leprechaun to diffuse.  It should be interesting anyway, to see how it all plays out.

 The Lumber Jill match, in which Melina defended her Diva’s Championship against Alicia Fox was actually quite good.  Fox is slowly perfecting her heelish swagger, and it was nice to see the crowd get behind Melina, a good worker who often seems  to suffer from low confidence.

 The show’s main event was epic in design:  DX v.s. Jerishow v.s. Cena and the Undertaker, in a triple threat tag match.  Such a star-studded contest on free television is bound to fall way short of its potential, and this one did.  Still it was fun to watch, and all the competitors got in some nice spots.  The Undertaker in particular looked faster, better balanced, and more energetic than he has since WM25.  Of course the Dead Man’s tombstone pile driver on Cena after the latter scored the pin over Triple H, stole what thunder the match itself had.  It was a bizarre move (though a popular one with the crowd, which true to NYC form was mostly anti Cena).  In the coming months, I have a feeling this unprovoked attack will play over and over again and be regarded as the moment that sparked the Undertaker/Cena program, which will likely culminate at WM26.

 On the official Lateral Press ratings scale, this episode of RAW gets:

Three and 1/2 out of Five Stars.

WWF Survivor Series 1996
November 17, 1996
New York City, NY
Madison Square Garden

The current WWF champs were as follows:
World Champion: Shawn Michaels (3/31/1996)
Intercontinental Champion: Hunter Hearst Helmsley (10/21/1996)
World Tag Team Champions: Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith (9/22/1996)

Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Jim Ross.

• Phil LaFon, Doug Furnas, and the Godwinns (w/Hillbilly Jim) vs. The New Rockers, Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith (w/Clarence Mason)
  

Furnas and LaFon are making their WWF debuts after being awesome in All-Japan for the last five years or so. Jannetty and LaFon start us off. Jannetty flips off the ropes out of a wristlock, but LaFon lands on his feet to counter a monkey flip and runs Jannetty down with a clothesline. Tag to Cassidy, he leg whips LaFon over to Phineas for a tag. Cassidy gets him all riled up, which causes him to make a mistake and become the face in peril for a while as everybody gets in their licks on him. Jannetty misses a flying elbow, allowing Phineas to tag in Henry. SLOP DROP to Jannetty sends him to the showers at 8:13. Owen runs in with the Spinning Heel Kick out of nowhere and pins Henry at 8:19. BEAUTIFUL! That evens the sides. Phineas cleans house on Owen and Cassidy, but stumbles into a RUNNING POWERSLAM from Davey Boy for the 1-2-3 at 9:04. Furnas comes in for the first time in the match and lands funny after a dropkick. Sambo Suplex from Cassidy gets two. Tag to Bulldog, he blind-tags Owen to catch Furnas with a missile dropkick. Awesome. Davey Boy tags back in for the Stalling Suplex. Once Cassidy misses a corner charge, LaFon gets the tag and gives Cassidy a REVERSE SUPERPLEX! WHAT. That puts Cassidy away at 13:43. We’re down to the tag champs versus Furnas and LaFon. Hook Kick to Bulldog, but then LaFon gets launched. Tag to Owen, he nails him with the Belly to Belly Suplex for two. Flying elbow gets two. Uh oh, ENZIGURI! Cover, 1-2-NO! Bulldog tags in and kicks LaFon in the balls. DQ, ref? Off a front headlock, Owen releases and knocks Furnas to the floor. Owen and Bulldog try a double-clothesline, but Furnas trips up Owen while LaFon surprises Bulldog with a crucifix into a sunset flip for the 1-2-3 at 17:24. The crowd is POPPING for Furnas and LaFon. Before Bulldog leaves, he clips LaFon good from behind. Naturally, Owen goes to work on the knee leading up to the Indian deathlock. SHARPSHOOTER! Furnas breaks it up as LaFon comes back with a spinning mule kick. Tag to Furnas, he nails Owen with a cool dropkick for two. Overhead suplex doesn’t get the three count, but a DANGEROUSSSSSSS German Suplex will. (20:42) Survivors: Phil LaFon and Doug Furnas. Those two boys came in and made quite the impact on the tag champs. ***¼

• The Undertaker vs. Mankind (w/Paul Bearer)
  

Paul Bearer gets placed in the misbehaving manager cage for this one. If Taker wins, he gets Bearer for five minutes. Taker descends from the ceiling with bat wings? He also has no gloves! Aww, he’s got the teardrop on his cheek too. Are you sad because you got buried alive, Undertaker? Big brawl to start and then Taker busts out a drop toehold! He goes after Mankind’s claw hand and bends back on his fingers during a cross armbreaker. Mankind avoids an elbow drop and Cactus Clotheslines Taker out, but he lands on his feet and chases Mankind through the crowd. Back to the ring, Mankind low blows Taker to make him stop smashing his hand on the turnbuckle connectors. With Taker on the floor, Mankind gives him the CANNONBALLLLLL. In the ring, Mankind hits the running knee in the corner. Taker ducks low off a whip and takes the Pull Up Piledriver! They trade finisher attempts and head back to the floor. Eww, Mankind gets kicked back down to the bottom of the guardrail. He gets his head slammed on the steps and they head back in for Old Skool. VINTAGE UNDERTAKER~! Mankind comes off the top, but flies down into a GOOZLE. Whoops, MANDIBLE CLAW! His arms drops once, twice, but not three times! Taker fights up and Chokeslams Mankind, but he misses a charge and flies to the floor. Mankind misses a CANNONBALLLLLL this time. Back inside, Mankind pulls out his Abdullah spike and has some fun with that. DQ, ref? As Mankind climbs up on Taker’s back in the corner, Taker maneuvers him around in position for the TOMBSTONE! Cover, 1-2-3. (14:53) Another good match from their ‘96 series. Once UT gets his chance to put his hands on Paul Bearer, the Executioner (Terry Gordy) runs in for the distraction while Paul Bearer waddles away. Next time, Paul Bearer. NEXT TIME! ***

• Rocky Maivia, Jake Roberts, Barry Windham & Marc Mero (w/Sable) vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Jerry Lawler, Crush & Goldust (w/Marlena)
  

Sunny joins Vince and JR for commentary. Since JR thinks she missed all her trips to the woodshed, they argue back and forth the whole match. Jake Roberts is the surprise partner subbing for Mark Henry who is somehow injured. Oh yeah, this match is best well-known for being the WWF debut for the Rock. He’s just a kid here. Helmsley doesn’t want none of Mero, so he tags in Goldust. Mero armdrags him around and tags in Windham for a lariat. In comes Maivia. It looks like he’s going to be stuck in the wrong corner, but Lawler brings him out for a shoulderblock. Rocky NO-SELLS and leapfrogs all over Lawler to put him out on the floor. Tag to Hunter, he gets all aggressive with him. He’s already mad that Rock turns out to be a bigger star than him! Okay, now Rocky becomes the face in peril for a few minutes. He backdrops Helmsley and makes the tag to Jake. He cleans house and goes for the DDT on Hunter, but he gets backed into the corner. Lawler comes in and punches Jake silly. He’s all wobbly-legged, so King makes fun of his drinking habits. That gets him DDT’d just like that at 10:01. After Goldust wears Roberts down with a chinlock, he tags out to Windham. Goldust fights off a SUPERPLEX attempt, but flies down into a gutshot. Crush punches Windham into the CURTAIN CALL to put him away at 12:44. Now it’s Mero who gets worked over for a while. Pretty standard stuff. He comes back with a tilt-a-whirl headscissors on HHH, but then he goes to the eyes and gets tossed to the floor. Jake tries to get him some of Hunter, but meanwhile Mero ascends to the top for the Merosault on Helmsley to pin the IC champ at 19:20. Crush takes a dropkick to the floor, but Goldust pulls him away from a pescado by Mero. Crash and burn! Back in, Crush pins Mero after the HEART PUNCH at 20:33. Jake tries to set up Crush for the DDT, but Crush catches him with the HEART PUNCH to send Jake to the back at 20:54. Oh boy, now Rocky Maivia is all alone against Crush and Goldust. Dang, and MSG is already chanting “Rocky!”. Crush suckers him into a test of strength, but Rocky counters a suplex with an inside cradle for two. Goldust comes in for the failed double team, but the low blow certainly works. He holds Rocky for the HEART PUNCH, but Rocky moves and Goldust gets nailed. Crossbody to Crush gets the 1-2-3 at 23:12! Shoulderbreaker to Goldust gets Rocky the win. (23:44) Survivor: Rocky Maivia. Since Rock’s offense had no sizzle, the fans turned on him instantly, and he wouldn’t get over legitimately until he turned heel. *½

• Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin
  

After months of bashing Bret, these two finally meet in Bret’s quest for respect from the man who respects no one. Since the birth of Austin 3:16 at King of the Ring, Stone Cold has REALLY came into his own as a worker on the mic. He was never bad on the mic, but now he’s become great and it shows in his pre-match interview. As for Bret, this is his first match back on TV since WrestleMania XII. The winner of this dream match gets the next WWF title shot. Austin shoots him the double-bird and runs his mouth to start. Bret wants him on the mat and gets Austin there with a hammerlock. Great bit of psychology as Bret makes Austin think he’s on a roll when he escapes and hits him with a series of elbows, but then he takes Austin right back down into the armbar. Austin finally knocks the wind out of Bret with a Stungun and chokes him in the ropes. He grounds Bret with a chinlock for a while. Bret comes back with an inverted atomic drop and a clothesline. Rollup gets two. Russian legsweep connects, but Austin shoves off the bulldog into the corner. Bret avoids a superplex and hits the Flying Elbow for two. Austin claws out of the backbreaker and dumps Bret out for a ride spine-first into the ringpost. That fires him up as Bret backs Austin into the guardrail and breaks it loose while he’s punching on Austin! He tries to separate himself from Bret, but he’s just setting him up for a catapult onto the Spanish announcers table! JR – “It always happens to the Spanish guys.” Austin adds the exclamation point by dropping an elbow onto Bret’s chest from the apron. Back in, Austin drives another flying elbow onto Bret for two. Austin’s getting desperate! Bret takes a hard ride into the corner and receives the Bossman straddle for 1-2-NO! Austin goes all Mike Rotunda on him with an ab stretch near the ropes for some added leverage. Bret wins a slugfest and hits a Stungun of his own. Oklahoma roll gets 1-2-NO! Desperation piledriver gets Bret another two. He gets the backbreaker this time, but Austin stops him up top and beats him senseless so he can hit the top-rope superplex this time – a page out of Bret’s playbook. A funky double pin situation occurs. I’m glad that didn’t wind up being the finish. As Bret walks over to Austin with his back turned, he takes a STONE COLD STUNNER! Austin pulls him away from the ropes for the cover, 1-2-NO! Austin tries and tries, but he just can’t get the three-count. He grabs a Texas Cloverleaf (!!), but Bret makes the ropes. Bret takes his signature sliding bump into the ringpost and that earns Austin another nearfall. Austin locks in the bow and arrow, but Bret squirms out for the SHARPSHOO-no! Austin gets away into the ropes. Bret hooks on a sleeper and Austin tries backing him into the corner. Bret won’t break the hold, so Austin instead drops to the mat for a jawbreaker to break the hold. Austin applies the MILLION DOLLAR DREAM, but then Bret walks up the turnbuckles and drops back on top of Austin for the 1-2-3! (28:34) Just a great story with fantastic psychology that made Austin into a bonafide main event guy. I’m so glad to see Bret back on these PPVs again. ****¾

• Flash Funk, Savio Vega, Yokozuna & Jimmy Snuka vs. Diesel II, Razor Ramon II, Vader & Faarooq (w/Clarence Mason)
  

Cornette joins us for commentary. This is Flash Funk’s WWF debut. You may know him best as Too Cold Scorpio. Just inducted in the WWF Hall of Fame class of ‘96, Jimmy Snuka is *your* special surprise partner. Cornette seems mildly concerned from the announce table. Interesting tidbit: Ron Simmons introduced Too Cold Scorpio to the WCW audience at a Clash of the Champions show in November 1992 and now he’s wrestling Scorpio in November 1996 in his debut in the WWF. Flash Funk gives Vader a spinning heel kick and sends him to the floor for a MOONSAULT PRESS! Awesome. Back in, Vader blocks a rana with a powerbomb. Yokozuna comes in illegally to save with a terrible Sambo suplex. The man just can barely perform anymore. Pretty sad to know his best years of his career were over at the age of only 30 years old. Of course, he died in 2000, so it’s not like he got a lot older. Still though. Savio nails Faarooq (no longer wearing the blue gladiator gear in favor his new Nation of Domination look) with the SPINNING HEEL KICK, but he goes to the eyes and tags in Razor Ramon II. Gosh that guy was terrible in the ring. He hits the Fallaway Slam and everybody boos. In comes Diesel II – better known as KANE. He was at least somewhat better than the new Razor Ramon. Flash Funk leapfrogs into a SICK Spinebuster from Faarooq. Savio beats Vader back into his corner and out comes Diesel II as Vega tags Snuka. He gets a great reaction from his favorite crowd. He hits the Jumping Headbutt on Vader and slams him. Back to Savio, he nails Diesel II with the SPINNING HEEL KICK, but crashes out to the floor thanks to Vader pulling the top rope down. On the outside, Faarooq slams Vega’s kidneys into the ringpost a bunch. Back inside, Diesel II delivers the JACKKNIFE POWERBOMB to him for the 1-2-3 at 8:33. Snuka quickly puts Razor Ramon II away with the SUPERFLY SPLASH at 9:29. Then out of nowhere, Diesel II WHACKS Snuka in the back with a chair. That triggers a huge brawl and the ref completely throws the match out. (9:45) Boy that escalated quickly. I mean that really got out of hand fast. Match was lame, but it showcased Flash Funk well as a threat who can boogie Plus the crowd got their nostalgia fix from seeing Snuka land the splash one more time in MSG. *

• WWF World Champion Shawn Michaels (w/Jose Lothario) vs. Psycho Sid
  

Sid won a match against Vader to earn this title shot at the last In Your House PPV, but since then some misunderstandings have led to contempt amongst these two friends! We’re in MSG where the crowd is extremely pro-Sid and anti-Shawn. They run up a headscissors-kip up sequence and then Sid goes for the POWERBOMB, but HBK escapes to the floor before any harm can come to him. Back inside, Shawn attacks the knee and hooks on a Figure-Four. Sid rolls into the ropes and blocks a second attempt at the hold by kicking Shawn off into the ringpost. Sid misses a corner charge and jams his knee in the corner. As Shawn goes after the leg again, Sid kicks him out to skin-the-cat, but Sid clotheslines him to the floor instead. Down on the floor, Sid whips Shawn into the ring apron and then drops him on the guardrail. Back in the ring, Sid slowly covers for two. Shawn does the Ray Stevens flip out to the apron and hotshots Sid, but flies down into a backbreaker for two. Shawn tries to rope-a-dope with Sid and winds up slamming the big guy. Too bad he immediately flies down into a boot to the face. Sid grabs a cobra clutch (!) and nearly puts Shawn away. Shawn thumbs Sid in the eye to block the Chokeslam and goes for the SWEET CHIN MUSIC, but Sid catches the kick and spins Shawn around for the Chokeslam! Instead of covering the man, Sid basks in the praise and approval of his MSG fans. Thanks to his distracting fans, Shawn counters a powerbomb attempt with an inside cradle for two. Shawn hits the Flying Forearm, but kips up into a clothesline. While Sid stands alone in a corner waiting for Shawn to get to his feet, he grabs one of the huge WWF video cameras off the cameraman and teases blasting Shawn with it, but then he knocks Jose Lothario off the apron with it. When Sid drops the camera, he turns around into SWEET CHIN MUSIC! Now Shawn’s not covering when he has the man won and heads out to check on Lothario. It appears the man is having a heart attack! He’s crying for help, but then Sid rolls Shawn back into the ring. Shawn goes for a crossbody out of the corner off a whip, but Sid ducks and ref Earl Hebner gets wiped out. Looks like they screwed up something there. As Shawn heads back outside to check on Lothario, Sid walks over and slams that camera down across Shawn’s shoulders and gives him a hearty FCK YOU!! Wow. Back inside, Sid works the crowd into a frenzy and puts HBK away with the POWERBOMB to win his first WWF world title. (20:00) Shawn lets Sid have his title and his celebratory moment because now all he cares about is the condition of his mentor Jose Lothario. Hands down, Sid’s best singles match ever. ***½

Final Thoughts: Funny how the entire Survivor Series concept where good guys form teams to take on bad guys who form teams is all but an afterthought on this show. While those matches are booked and quite well I thought for the talent involved, the most important matches on the card were definitely your standard singles matches. Survivor Series 1996 is a great PPV for not only some very memorable matches, but for the historical aspect as you can see where guys like Shawn and Bret are losing their star power to make way for the future main event stars like Austin, Taker, and even Mankind. Survivor Series 1996 is an easy thumbs up and it’s widely agreed upon as the best PPV of the year for the WWF.

The following results come from WWE.com’s Greg Adkins. I’ll have the HeelZone RAW Rundown posted tomorrow sometime.

QUICK RESULTS:

- United States Champion The Miz def. MVP
- Santino Marella def. Chavo Guerrero
- Divas Champion Melina def. Alicia Fox in a Lumberjill Match
- Jack Swagger def. Evan Bourne
- WWE Champion John Cena & World Heavyweight Champion The Undertaker def. Triple H & Shawn Michaels and Unified Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho & Big Show in a Non-Title Match

NEW YORK – “Live from New York … it’s Monday Night Raw!”

That was how Raw’s special guest host, none other than “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, officially kicked off the broadcast from a place he knows well, The World’s Most Famous Arena, Madison Square Garden. And boy, the WWE Hall of Famer sure wasn’t kidding.

WWE Champion John Cena & World Heavyweight Champion The Undertaker def. Triple H & Shawn Michaels and Unified Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho & Big Show in a Non-Title Match
Madison Square Garden has been witness to some of WWE’s most amazing Superstars throughout its storied history: Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant and Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka to name but a few. Rare, nonetheless, seems the time when such legends converge at once. That was inarguably the case, however, as WWE Champion John Cena teamed with World Heavyweight Champion The Undertaker against Triple H & Shawn Michaels and Unified Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho & Big Show in a Triple Threat Tag Team Match.

Looming large in the subtext was Survivor Series, during which The Champ will face The Game and HBK in a Triple Threat Match while The Phenom must battle Jericho and Show in a three-man affair. Tonight, though, all six Superstars would compete in one colossal clash.

In the end, the two World Champions would prevail when Cena secured the victory for his team. As if to let the WWE Universe know that he needs no assistance, The Deadman suddenly turned on his partner and Tombstoned Cena, leaving the WWE Champion razed and confused.

Raw’s special guest host for next week will be Jesse Ventura
He’s taken control of the ring, the announcer’s mic and even the state of Minnesota. And next week, it’ll be time for Jesse Ventura to take over as special guest host when he drops by for a three-hour Raw Thanksgiving special.

“Rowdy” Roddy Piper challenged Mr. McMahon to a street fight; Randy Orton attacked, Kofi Kingston rushed to the rescue
Raw’s special guest host, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, has beaten cancer and cheated death on numerous occasions. One mountain he hasn’t climbed, though, is tackling Mr. McMahon in a street fight, which is why the plaid maniac challenged The Chairman to such a battle earlier in the evening.

As Piper waited in vain for Mr. McMahon to show, Randy Orton emerged, wanting a fight of his own. The Viper attacked the WWE Hall of Famer and had him on the ropes when Kofi Kingston charged into the melee. The respective Survivor Series captains of Team Kofi and Team Orton share a resentment-fueled history, which includes Kofi trashing Orton’s customized NASCAR automobile and slapping him across the face – twice! The two scuffled outside of the ring, trading blows amongst the WWE faithful. The action intensified when Kofi slammed Orton across the head, opening up a nasty gash and leaving The Viper lying hurt atop a table. The dreadlocked dynamo then climbed atop a railing and hit a Boom Drop onto Orton, severing the table into two and leaving his nemesis in gut-wrenching pain.

Jack Swagger def. Evan Bourne
Jack Swagger – rarely has a name seemed more fitting. The cocky collegiate All-American wrestler appeared to lose a bit of bluster last week when he dropped a match to high-flying Evan Bourne. In their rematch this week, Swagger wasn’t about to allow his strut to be stripped. He grounded Bourne’s aerial assault and proved that he will be a force to contend with when he joins Team Miz this Sunday at Survivor Series against Bourne and Team Morrison.

Sheamus attacked Jerry “The King” Lawler
His Irish temper has already claimed one victim, Jamie Noble, who retired last week after suffering a severe beating at the hands of The Celtic Warrior. This week, Sheamus issued an open challenge to the Raw roster, which no one accepted. Apparently, in a need to satiate his wicked ways, the Irishman attacked Raw’s timekeeper and then went after ring announcer Jerry “The King” Lawler, leaving the WWE Hall of Famer lying motionless.

Divas Champion Melina def. Alicia Fox in a Lumberjill Match
Judah Friedlander never had it so good. The 30 Rock actor and comedian was honored as special guest ring announcer for the match between Divas Champion Melina and Alicia Fox. Friedlander announced that the bout would be a Divas Championship Lumberjill Match then happily looked on from ringside.

While Fox has showcased amazing resilience in recent weeks, Melina’s gutsy performance proved too much as the Latina lovely retained the golden butterfly. Apparently, a few of the Divas disapproved and the entire ring was covered with sexy, smart and powerful women clashing with one another.

Santino Marella def. Chavo Guerrero ; Triple H Pedigreed Hornswoggle
The week prior, Chavo Guerrero wanted to fight Santino Marella, but, thanks to a misunderstanding, he ended up battling boxing great Ricky Hatton and getting knocked out by the special guest host. This week, he got his wish. Instead of trampling The Italian Stallion, however, the self-proclaimed “Mexican Warrior” fell short when Hornswoggle distracted him.

While the leprechaun, clad in DX gear, disappeared under the ring, the real DX emerged to quell rumors and settle matters once and for all. Triple H and Shawn Michaels informed the crowd that they will indeed fight one another at Survivor Series in their Triple Threat Match with WWE Champion John Cena, but that competition will not be their undoing as a team. They also called out a reluctant Hornswoggle to, as they put it, include him in DX. When the little guy showed up wearing neon green and performing DX chops, though, he suffered a damning Pedigree at the hands of Triple H in an extreme effort at thwarting the little imitator once and for all.

United States Champion The Miz def. MVP
With his smarmy tone and taunting smirk, United States Champion The Miz makes it oh-so-easy to dislike him. Which is why it’s too bad the guy just keeps winning. This week, he defended his title against MVP and emerged victorious, despite The Franchise Playa having The View’s Sherri Shepherd cheering him from ringside. The bout may prove to be a primer for when Miz leads his team this Sunday against Intercontinental Champion John Morrison, also the captain of his team, in a Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Tag Team Match.

“Rowdy” Roddy Piper opens Raw
Before greeting the WWE Universe to another edition of Raw, the WWE Hall of Famer welcomed New York actor Luis Guzman, who has had memorable roles in Boogie Nights and Traffic and can be seen in the upcoming comedy Old Dogs. Piper announced that the two would be joined by a Guzman favorite, Iron Chef Bobby Flay. Unfortunately for the Puerto Rican actor, a mix-up produced not the Iron Chef but The Iron Sheik.

After telling Piper that his favorite WWE moment from The Garden involved Hulk Hogan, Sheik flipped his head dress, rambling angrily and mimicking beating up on Hulk with a pair of action figures.

With that, the WWE Universe welcomed another wild and crazy edition of Raw to The Garden, complete with a rockin’ new opening theme song compliments of Nickelback.

I’ve been a bad blogger, mainly because I’ve been sick. One of those nasty colds that just seems to be lingering and lingering, plus I’ve got a ton of my plate right now, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that I’ve missed two weeks of recaps. Oops. So here’s my condensed thoughts on the last two weeks of Raw.

I’m loving the Cena/Triple H/Shawn Michaels promos, these three have good chemistry. I know the angle should be played as more serious as it is, especially between the members of DX, but there’s still several months between now and Wrestlemania (where we all know we’re getting a HBK/HHH match) and they’ve got time to get to the serious stuff, so right now I think they’re making the right decision. Let things fall apart after Survivor Series.

I’m really enjoying the elevation of Kofi Kingston and his feud with Randy Orton. It’s been very well-done so far and it moves Kofi closer to main event status, I move I think he’s been ready for for sometime. I also like that Ted DiBiase seems to be taking on more of a “Millon Dollar” man attitude, with the comments to his financial status, I’ve been predicting a face turn for him, but a change in that direction would be just as good, I think.

I love the Miz and I love the idea of a The Miz/Jack Swagger rivalry, I just hope it’s done well and not dropped suddenly like the potentially awesome Jack Swagger/MVP rivalry from earlier this summer.

Seamus is coming out strong and I kind of like it. It might be a little soon, but let him build a reputation and get some heat. The attack on Jamie Noble looked vicious, which was the point. I winced at the bumps Noble took and it definitely made Seamus look like a monster, which was the whole point.

Final thought: Ozzy Osbourne made a much better guest host than Ricky Hatton. In fact, the Prince of Darkness was kind of awesome, Sharon got on my nerves fast thought.

Monday Night Raw 11/16/09
Madison Square Garden
New York, NY
Announcers: Michael Cole & Jerry Lawler

- We open the show backstage where Roddy Piper is sitting inside Piper’s Pit. He is back and he has Luis Guzman with him in the Pit. They pimp Guzman’s upcoming movie before Piper goes into a random rant about how he destroyed Mr. T. As a treat, Piper flew in the Iron Chef Bobby Flay…actually it is just Iron Sheik, not the Iron Chef. Luis brings up Hulk Hogan and Sheik goes off on a rant about that jabroni. Sheik has old school LJN figures and has his replica beat on the Hogan figure. The Bella Twins come in and all five of them do a SNL style opening to send us to our new animation and theme music. We then head inside the World’s Most Famous Arena, Madison Square Garden where the NYC fans are revved up and ready to go. Cole and King run down the card as we head to the ring for our opening contest.

1) Miz vs. MVP for the United States Championship

Miz makes his way through the sweet old school entrance way that we are rocking tonight. Miz has the mic and says the people have chosen to hate him before even uttering a word. He gives MY World Series Champion New York Yankees a plug…before tearing them down a bit, using the lame “they bought a championship” excuse. Miz is drowned out by a “Let’s Go Yankees” chant as the Garden is flat out rocking tonight. He didn’t have to buy his US Title because he earned it and he will prove it tonight. MVP makes his way out to a great pop as he is sporting a Yankee hat. He gives it to his girl Sherri Shepherd, who is at ringside. MVP starts hot and dominates Miz, eventually knocking him to the floor. MVP tosses him back in but Miz catches him with a boot to the knee and then spikes his head into the ring post. MVP fired his way back into things and was able to drop the Ballin’ Elbow. Miz avoided the Playmaker but MVP got a good near fall off a big boot. Miz would regain control with a boot to the gut and then pick up the win with the SCF in a peppy opener. MVP loses again but Miz needs these quality TV title defenses. They kept the crowd into it as well. Nice match. Miz d. MVP with the Skull Crushing Finale; Grade: 1.5

- Miz takes off with his belt as we hit a break.

- Our Sonic Slam of the Week takes us back to last week when Ricky Hatton knocked out Chavo Guerrero. We then head back inside MSG for our next match.

2) Chavo Guerrero vs. Santino Marella

Chavo hits the ring first and then is followed by Santino, who is rocking a Rangers sweater. He takes that off to reveal a Giants jersey, then a Knicks jersey, then a Jets jersey, then a Mets jersey, then a Phillies jersey and finally a Derek Jeter Yankee jersey! Chavo wants to fight and Santino obliges. Chavo hits the Three Amigos and tries to go for the Frog Splash but Santino keeps rolling around the ring. Chavo keeps climbing every corner, but Santino just rolls all around. Degenerate Horny comes out to run interference, allowing Santino to roll Chavo up for the win. Well that was pure comedy and not much else. Marella d. Guerrero with a roll up; Grade: 0

- And the bell has barely stopped echoing before DX makes their way out to the ring to a big pop. Hunter puts over MSG and the DX Army. They wanted to come out, have some fun and sell some merchandise but it isn’t going to happen. Shawn says they aren’t coming out here to let us know that the DX book is out on WWEShop.com right now. Shawn tosses a copy to Sherri Shepherd as Hunter says they are here to talk about the Big Fat Elephant in the room…and not the Big Show…but the triple threat match this Sunday. Hunter says they are on the same page and will not implode or turn on each other. They have come to terms that only one of them can be champion and the only thing that matters is that the belt comes to DX. Shawn now wants to move on to another small piece of business and that involves a member of the Leprechaun community. Hunter says he has been warned but keeps wearing the DX merchandise that he did not pay for. Hunter tells him to come out now and they will consider letting him join DX. Horny pops out from under the ring and is very excited. He crotch chops his way around the ring until Hunter makes him stop. They have Horny line up to do the Suck It catchphrase, but Hunter stops in the middle, kicks Horny and drops him with a Pedigree. They tell Horny to Suck It and leave him lying there and I just have no idea where this is all heading. Hunter and Shawn reach under the ring and pull out a mini stretcher that is tagged with the DX logo. They load Horny on it and carry him to the back as we go to break.

- We are back and getting a quick look at last segment once more. Hunter’s goofy smile before dropping the Pedigree was pretty funny. Cole and King then pimp Jay-Z’s newest CD. They put over MSG and intro a great WWE in MSG History video package set to “Empire State of Mind”, highlighting all the big moments. That was an awesome piece of business. Cole talks about our main event before we head backstage. Piper is prancing around the Pit when he is joined Chris Jericho. Jericho says all guest hosts have disrespected him, and Piper is included in that group. He makes fun of Jericho’s hair and then brings in Chris Masters. He cues up “Boom, Boom, Boom” by the Black Eyed Peas and Masters does his dancing pec act for us. The Bellas are all about that as well. Masters, the Bellas and Piper all take off as Jericho glares angrily. Back in the arena, we see that the two Black Eyed Peas that are not Will.I.Am. or Fergie are in the house before heading to break.

- Back from break, Justin Roberts brings out Judah Friedlander from 30 Rock with a crazy over the top introduction. He will be the guest ring announcer for our next match.

3) Melina vs. Alicia Fox in a Lumberjill match for the Divas Championship

Melina is out first and is ready to defend her title. Alicia is out next and we are good to go. Alicia wants Judah to announce her as the new champion. Judah refuses because he only came out here to watch Melina’s entrance. And he also has to announce that this is now a Lumberjill match. All the Divas involved the Survivor Series bout head out and surround the ring. We get some standard Diva action mixed with the usual Lumberjill antics around the ring. Melina hits a nice flapjack but Alicia countered with a stiff tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Melina eventually hits the Last Call for the win. Melina d. Alicia with the Last Call; Grade: 1

- After the bell, Michelle comes in and jumps Melina to trigger a big brawl. The face team wins out and Judah hops in the ring to celebrate as well. Cole tells us that Piper’s Pit will be next after this break.

- We are back from break as Cole plugs Survivor Series week on WWE.com. He then announces the USA/WWE TV deal to renew the Raw contract through 2014. And with that, the great “Rowdy” Roddy Piper makes his way into the arena amidst the all too familiar sounds of bagpipes. Piper thanks the fans for his recurring MSG standing ovations. He made his career on not being nice and only New Yorkers would put up with that. He is a NY orphan child. He embarrassed Cyndi Lauper in this ring, but she did a good job of that herself as well. He took on the biggest legends of the ring right here like Captain Lou, Bruno, Andre and Hogan and if they messed with Hot Rod they end up bald or dead. He loves them all, mainly the dead ones and not the bald ones. He takes credit for Hogan’s baldness and says he couldn’t resist the jab. He has one more dirty rotten nasty job to do before he checks out and that is one more match…against Vince McMahon! He knows that Vince is a big fan of his because when he did Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, he got fired right here in MSG afterwards. He knows Vince is here and he barely has to goad the boss before he struts out to the ring. Vince rags on Piper’s dye job and he tells Piper that the most heinous thing he has done in MSG was show up tonight. He rips on Piper’s arms, legs and knees and his catcher’s mitt face. The only thing that hasn’t dried up and withered away is Piper’s kilt. Vince’s forefathers would be ashamed of him if he soiled his hands with Piper here in MSG. Vince calls Piper “Father Time” after Piper makes fun of Vince’s suit and gray hair. Vince is on a roll tonight and says he has always looked better than his opponents and he has beaten all the big stars. Unless there is better competition in his future, Vince is officially retired from ring action. Piper calls him a coward for backing out of a fight. He has 7,000 matches and 30 car crashes and he is not sane. He has been electrocuted, gone down in a plane and beaten cancer and he can beat Vince too. Piper doesn’t want the match on PPV or at Wrestlemania because he wants Vince to come down and fight later tonight. Piper will retire him officially if they fight tonight. Piper heads off as Vince looks around and we head to break.

- As an aside, Jesse Ventura will host next week’s three hour Raw Thanksgiving special.

- We are back and King is wondering if Vince will accept Piper’s challenge. We then head back to the ring for our next bout. Sheamus makes his way down the aisle as we get clips of his destruction of Jamie Noble from two weeks ago. Cole tells us that Noble has officially retired. Sheamus introduces himself and says he has been on Raw for four weeks and has already retired one wrestler. He issues an open challenge to anyone in the back. Nobody answers the call so he heads to ringside and grabs timekeeper Mark Yeaton. He wipes him out with a kneelift and then tosses him across the announce table and onto the floor. Now the King drops his headset and goes to check on Yeaton but Sheamus kills him with a big boot to the head. Sheamus leaves as Cole and some officials check on the King and Yeaton. We get a replay of the brutality and then see King being helped to the back as we take a break.

- We are back and Matt Striker has joined Cole at ringside. They run down the Survivor Series card for us, as we are just six days away. We then head back to the ring for our next match.

4) Evan Bourne vs. Jack Swagger

Air Bourne hits the ring as he is set to take on his archrival, Jack Swagger. As Swagger heads to the ring, we take a quick break. When we return, we see that Swagger has overpowered Bourne to take control. The crowd continues to be lively, so kudos to them. Bourne tries to comeback but Swagger just drills him with a big clothesline from behind. Bourne finally uses his quick strike offense to get on track and pick up some near falls. Swagger catches Bourne on a moonsault attempt, stampedes him into the corner and then plants him with the gutwrench suplex for the nice win. This could have been much better, but was just too short. I hope they get an extended sequence on Sunday. Swagger d. Bourne with the gutwrench suplex; Grade: 1

- Swagger celebrates as we cut backstage to see Piper walking before we head off to break.

- We are back from break and the bagpipes are blaring again as Roddy Piper is in the ring. Piper is looking pretty good I must say. And it looks like Piper’s challenge will be answered, but it won’t be by Vince McMahon, because we are being joined by Randy Orton. Orton doesn’t know if McMahon is coming out, but he knows that Piper has a big problem because Orton is here. The crowd is chanting for Orton. Randy can’t think of a better way to relieve stress than to put Piper down. Orton kicks Piper but Piper fires back with a right hand. Orton kicks him again and then clubs him down. He stomps away at Roddy as Striker eulogizes Hot Rod. This show improved immediately upon Striker taking over for Lawler. Before Orton can punt Piper, Kofi Kingston hits the ring and hammers away at Orton. Orton slithers away and heads to the back, but Kofi goes out after him. Piper cheers Kofi on as he takes it to Randy. Kofi tosses him into the fans and follows him with a flurry of fists. Orton is able to ram Kofi into a cheer but Kofi fights back and runs Orton into the barricade. The fight has evened out as they trade blows. Orton sends Kofi back to ringside and starts to stomp on Kofi’s midsection. Orton tosses him back into the ring and slingshots him throat first into the bottom rope. Kofi is on his stomach and Orton lines up for the punt. Orton charges but Kofi pops up and hits Orton with a cross body. He hammers away until Orton bails to the floor. Kofi follows him out again and they continue to brawl around ringside. Kofi throws Orton back over the barricade but Orton meets him with a boot. They are clubbing on each other as a gaggle of officials breaks things up. That doesn’t last long as Orton breaks free and the fight starts up again. The officials hold Orton back again and that allows Kofi to dive onto him. They keep slugging away at each other and end up in the second level of seats above the tech area. Kofi runs him into the railing and then flips him over it and down to the tech area. Kofi grabs a steel lift and smacks Orton across the head with it. Orton is sliced open and it looks like it may be hardway. The crowd is chanting for Kofi as he hops back up to the second level. He climbs on the barricade and is about to launch onto the prone Orton but the officials stop him before he can leap. Kofi breaks free and charges back to the barricade. He leaps high into the air and puts Orton through a table with a great looking Boomdrop. Kofi is over like rover, boys. Orton is left broken on the table. Kofi stands tall and his music fires up as the crowd cheers him on. That was a great brawl and Kofi has taken the ball and run crazy with it.

- We are back and Matt Striker is thanking Nickelback for the new Raw theme song. We then head backstage where John Cena is standing alone. He does the usual promo, plugging New York, discussing the upcoming main event and putting over the Undertaker. He talks about Survivor Series as well, calling his match a handicap match. A PA walks over and hands Cena a note. He throws it down and says it changes everything. He clarifies that it is a triple threat match and not a handicap match. Cena rants on some more about the match Sunday and then heads off as we hit the ring.

5) Chris Jericho & Big Show vs. Shawn Michaels & Triple H vs. John Cena & Undertaker in a non title match

Big Show and Chris Jericho are out first but first we are taking one last break. As we return, Cole reminds us that Ventura will be the guest host next week and Striker breaks out a good Jesse imitation. DX is out next, followed by Cena and finally Undertaker, who gets the big druid entrance and classic “Undertaker” MSG chant. Taker gets a big time pop, natch. We are well into the over run here and the match hasn’t even started yet. Cena, Jericho and Michaels start things off but Jericho quickly tags in Show. Shawn obliges and tags Hunter so Cena tags in Taker too. Taker and Hunter turn their attention to Show and start double teaming him. Hunter hits a facebuster and Taker clotheslines Show to the floor. We get some vintage Hunter and Taker until Shawn is tagged in. He and Taker stare each other down before going at it. Show makes his way back in and spears Taker before clubbing Michaels down as well. He tags in Jericho who picks apart Michaels before hooking the Walls. Taker breaks that up but Cena tags himself in from behind before Taker can do anything. All six men tag in and out and the flow is pretty good here as the star power is just oozing from the ring. Show plants Cena and Hunter with a double chokeslam in a cool spot. Taker comes in and hits Show with a big clothesline. He knocks Show to the floor but Show whips him into the barricade. Jericho nearly steals a victory but only gets two. Hunter is able to tag Shawn and he hits Jericho with the vintage Michaels moveset. Shawn cues up the band on Cena but Cena ducks it and takes Shawn down with a shoulderblock. He hits the five knuckle shuffle and hoists Shawn up for the AA but Hunter reaches in and tags Shawn’s back. Hunter rolls through Cena and Jericho but Show stops him with a headbutt. Shawn drills Show with SCM, but Jericho catches him with the codebreaker. Taker drops Jericho with a chokeslam, but he gets knocked to the floor. Cena comes in and hits Triple H with the AA for the win. That was a wild little brawl and the crowd was rocking the whole time. Cena & Undertaker d. Show & Jericho and Triple H & Michaels when Cena pins Triple H with the Attitude Adjustment; Grade: 2.5

- Taker comes back in and plants Cena with a Tombstone. Taker stands tall in the ring as we fade out. This was a really fun show tonight that was aided by the fresh MSG look, different entrance and smoking hot crowd. Piper was awesome as always and the show just flowed well from beginning to end. The Kofi/Orton brawl was great stuff as well as Orton has just done everything he can to help elevate Kofi. See you next week for the three hour Raw Thanksgiving special and the Body will be in the house!

Final Grade: B+

Of all the superstars of wrestling, few attract more controversy than Triple H. For years he has been held up by his supporters as being one of the best, if not the best wrestlers in WWE. His detractors have claimed that he only owes his position to his marriage, that he uses his power to hold down other wrestlers and even that he has killed the business. He has, for much of his career, been involved in skits and angles that expose the business, or use insider terms and yet he is known to be a student of the business with a thorough understanding and appreciation of what has gone before him. In short, everyone in wrestling, whether promoter, wrestler or fan, has an opinion on Triple H and those opinions cover every imaginable base. What then, is the truth about the man who is arguably the most powerful and influential wrestler in the business today? The controversy with Triple H really starts with his arrival in the then World Wrestling Federation. Soon after joining the company in 1995 he became close friends with Kevin Nash, Shawn Michaels, Sean Waltman and Scott Hall, better known as The Kliq. By joining this group, Triple H was setting himself up for criticism and suspicion but also gaining opportunities. Depending on who you ask, The Kliq were either a shadowy group of opportunists, manipulating Vince McMahon in order to benefit themselves and harm their rivals, or a group of friends whose enthusiasm for the business had given them a good relationship with Vince. That The Kliq had Vince’s ear was unquestionable. To what extent, whether they were the only ones and how they used and benefited from this are the questions. The other question that Triple H’s critics pose is this: did Triple H deliberately target The Kliq as the group to join in order to further one’s career? After all, they were notorious party animals, famous for their excessive lifestyle, while Triple H himself was a bodybuilder for years and just did not seem the type to get carried away in that manner. So, was it really just a shared love of wrestling that made them friends, or was the young Triple H smart and devious enough to deliberately worm his way into the most influential group on the roster? Given the fact that the friendship between these men has endured for many years, despite all kinds of ups and downs, it seems unkind to try and suggest that their bond was anything other than sincere. Whatever the case, the fact is that they did become friends and Triple H was, therefore, in an influential position. Moreover, isn’t it only natural that a young wrestler entering the company is going to naturally gravitate towards more established and experienced wrestlers? Of course, there was a downside to being the junior member of such a group, one illustrated in the now infamous “curtain call” incident in 1996. By this point, Nash and Hall were about to go WCW and, in their last match they faced Shawn and Hunter at Madison Square Garden in a non-televised show. After the match the four friends embraced, thereby breaking character and “exposing the business” to the live audience. As Shawn and Hunter have told this story, this was intended to be nothing more than a fond goodbye between friends. They had, apparently, cleared it with Vince beforehand and, as far as exposing the business went, well, this was 1996 not 1984 after all. Afterwards, however, some unknown other people got in Vince’s ear and persuaded Vince that what The Kliq had done was disgraceful and that they should be punished. Since Nash and Hall had now gone, and Shawn was the WWF Champion, that basically meant that Hunter was going to be punished. According to Hunter, Vince told him that he was “going to have to eat sh*t and learn to like the taste of it” for some indefinite period. Hunter’s response was that he would endure whatever he had to, as long as Vince assured him that, once his punishment was over, the issue was done with. It wouldn’t be brought up again and Hunter wouldn’t find himself dogged by this time and time again. Vince assured him that, so far as he was concerned, the matter was already done with and thus, a planned push for Triple H was put on hold for about a year. For example, Triple H had been scheduled to win the 1996 King of the Ring, but that honour now went to Steve Austin (clearing the way for “Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass” and therefore possibly saving the company from extinction) and Hunter would have to bide his time. In later years, Triple H has often referred to this as a blessing in disguise, insisting that, at that stage of his career he was not ready to be featured that strongly, and that this “punishment” actually ensured he was ready when his turn came around. I would have to agree with him, particularly as this supposed “punishment” was hardly as serious as one might imagine. For most of the following year Hunter was still featured prominently on television, briefly gained the services of Mr Perfect as manager (before Perfect left for WCW) and even won the Intercontinental Title in October of 1996. To me, therefore, it seems more that Hunter’s push was slowed rather than stopped. Besides which, wrestling is a fluid business. It’s all very well for Vince to say “I’m punishing this guy” but if said guy is getting over with crowd then he’s getting over and you may as well go with it. The next major stage of Hunter’s career was, of course, the formation of Degeneration X with Shawn Michaels and Chyna (and, briefly, Rick Rude as Shawn’s “insurance policy”), which was another of the pivotal factors in the arrival of the “Attitude Era”. DX have often been compared to WCW’s NWO and, given that two of The Kliq formed DX, Nash and Hall were two of the founders of the NWO and Sean Waltman was the only man, prior to WWE’s takeover of WCW, to work in both groups, it is hardly surprising. In point of fact, there are as many differences as similarities between the two groups but one definite connection that both groups had was a willingness to blur the lines between story and reality and, therefore, to frequently run the risk of exposing the business. Now, this was, of course, the late nineties and it was already years since Vince McMahon had taken the decision to “break kayfabe” and publicly admit that professional wrestling was a worked sport. Nevertheless, at that time the business still had not, and many would argue still has not, come to terms with exactly what that meant and how far one should now go in this new era. The Kliq were, though perhaps they did not realise it at the time, in the vanguard of a new group that also included, for example, Vince Russo, who wanted to test the boundaries of the new freedoms and restrictions that breaking kayfabe had instituted. In that sense, they were either iconoclasts or visionaries (or both) but, either way, they got right up the noses of a lot of more old-school people within the business. Regardless of what people thought of DX, and Vince himself was often appalled by their antics, they were a massive hit with the audience. Triple H himself has often said that, at that time, they were “the hottest thing in the business not named Steve Austin” and it is certainly true that, along with the Rattlesnake, along with The New Hart Foundation’s war with America and along with the macabre soap opera that saw Kane introduced to the Undertaker’s back story, they were one of the crucial building blocks of the era of Attitude. It was inevitable, in this era of shifting fan loyalties that DX would come to be popular even as they were supposed to be booed. It only made sense when, after Shawn Michaels’ apparent retirement after Wrestlemania 14, a new Degeneration X became babyfaces. Another important change had taken place, too. Triple H was now a leader. By now, Hunter was a former European and Intercontinental Champion, as well as King of the Ring. His rise had been steady and showed no signs of abating. Critics often say that he was “shoved down the fans’ throats” but, really, this is hardly a justifiable accusation. Triple H joined WWE in 1995, the same year as Steve Austin. By Wrestlemania 14 Austin was champion but he is regarded as a man who earned his spot while Triple H was forced on the fans. Even if one accepts what appears to be a double standard here, on the grounds that Austin had more experience in the business overall, what of The Rock? He joined WWE after Triple H, with less experience, and was made Intercontinental Champion almost immediately. If ever a man was “forced on the fans” it was The Rock. Yet, by the vast majority, he is now rightly regarded as an all-time great and, if people reference his difficult early years at all, it is merely to point out the skill and charisma he displayed in turning heel. In point of fact, all three of these men, along with several others, rose quickly during these years for a couple of reasons. Firstly, because WWE was in a life or death struggle with WCW and the company were therefore willing to try new ideas and new people. Secondly, and very simply, because they were over with the fans! If you don’t believe me, get some tapes or DVDs and watch them back. Triple H was getting a great response from the crowd back in 1998 as a bayface and an even better response in 1999 as a heel. It seems to me that, ultimately, Triple H has been judged harshly for not being as over as Austin and The Rock, two of the three biggest stars in the company’s history, along with Hogan at his peak, rather than receiving the praise he deserves for being as popular as he was in his own right. Since then, of course, it is his marriage to Stephanie McMahon that has cast the biggest shadow over his career. According to his detractors, all of his success since can be attributed directly to this relationship, this despite the fact that he was already a main-event wrestler before said relationship began. Furthermore, he is accused of using his influence to sabotage the career of anyone who might threaten his own spot on the roster, to the great detriment of the company he works for. Triple H himself has always maintained that he would happily give up any creative power he may have if it were for the good of the company, and that he will step away from the limelight whenever his father-in-law, the man who wields the real power, tells him to. However, he also maintains that now is not the time for that, as the company does not have the star power to sustain such a loss. So, what is the truth? It is certainly true that, for the last decade or so Triple H has enjoyed a vast run of success at the top, winning no less than thirteen world championships. It is also true that in the early part of this century the WWE lost a lot of star power, with Steve Austin and Mick Foley more or less retiring and The Rock leaving for Hollywood. It is also true that these men have not been adequately replaced, partly due to the deaths of Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit, plus the defection of Kurt Angle to TNA. The idea that Triple H will not put people over is an arguable point. One can point to Triple H’s feud with Batista, some of his matches with Jeff Hardy, his Wrestlemania submissions to Benoit and Cena, even the recent DX-Legacy feud and say, sure, of course Triple H puts people over. Or, one could look at feuds with, say, Booker T, Rob Van Dam, Scott Steiner and Hunter’s first feud with Randy Orton as evidence that Triple H does nothing but squash people and make them look bad. It should surely be obvious that to go entirely one way or the other is to present a jaundiced view. The real key, of course, is who makes these decisions. Hunter’s critics assert that he is the one deciding to hold down talent and that any examples to the contrary are merely rare examples of times he was over-ruled. Without being part of the creative meetings, how can we possibly know? All we know for certain is this – the WWE is Vince McMahon’s company and the buck for every decision stops with him. If Hunter uses his influence to maximise his own position, why then he’s only doing what countless other wrestlers have done in the past. Moreover, Triple H managed to carve out a main-event spot for himself in an era when Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock were at the height of their popularity. I sincerely doubt that he is at all worried that anyone might ever threaten his spot in this day and age. The other factor that needs to be remembered is that, these days, the WWE is unwilling to take chances. As a company, their inclination is to stick with a safe bet, a proven draw like Triple H, rather than gamble on an unknown commodity. The spur of desperation once provided by the threat of Ted Turner’s millions is no longer present and so WWE will not take desperate gambles. It is not just Triple H’s role but WWE’s entire main-event picture, especially on Raw, that has become static and unchanging. It’s interesting to note that John Cena and The Undertaker, perhaps the only men booked even stronger than Hunter these days, are rarely, if ever, accused of refusing to put people over. In their case, the blame is almost always put on Vince and creative for not using them to elevate new talent. The mere fact that they’re not married to a McMahon does not mean, however, that they have no influence over Vince. What we see hear is a double standard in operation, something that I hope I have shown is nothing new in Hunter’s career. Finally, does Triple H deserve his success? Well, as I’ve said before, it’s difficult to provide a fair, objective view when one is writing about such a subjective issue. There are, and always have been, some fans who consider Triple H a dull competitor and/or a dull speaker. These are entirely valid assertions. Triple H’s ring style is not spectacular enough for the tastes of some, too repetitive for others. His speaking style is realistic, rather than caricatured promo style of many of wrestling’s great speakers. Personally, I have always found his work to be extremely entertaining. Many of my favourite WWE matches have involved Triple H and I have found him to be convincing as both a hero and a villain, believable both when intense and when humorous. For the most part, the crowd have always been into him and his fellow wrestlers tend to speak highly of his work. For my part and, I would guess the majority of fans, yes, Triple H does deserve his success. Maybe we might quibble over the precise number of title reigns but, by and large, I think most would agree that Triple H is a bone fide main event player.

El primer video es al concluir el RAW del 9 de noviembre… ¿Randy Orton es fan de DX?
El siguiente video es del show donde fue tomada una polémica foto comentada hace algunos días, Orton hace la señal de DX, pero las cosas no terminan bien

¿WWE está usando a quién era su principal rudo, como personaje pseudo-cómico?
Sugerencia del compañero Hector Salvador

Side note: I want to thank Justin and Scott for being extra punctual with their writing and putting forth the quality effort that they always do. I completely dropped the ball and had an ultra busy week which explains why the post is a day late. But anyways, it’s here and hopefully a fun read for everybody.

What’s a different world the year 2002 was in the WWE. First of all, the original nWo shows up. Hogan gets a bigger reaction than the rest of the guys and breaks away to bring back Hulkamania. Katie Vick. Good wrestling makes a comeback with the Smackdown Six. Raw is god awful. The ELIMINATION CHAMBER~! After Shawn Michaels gets his head smashed through a car door window, he returns to the ring and later wins Raw’s world title for only a short time. Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Randy Orton, and Batista are all WWE rookies. Wild stuff, for sure. So without further ado, here are ten more matches to add to our list.

• The Rumble Match – (Royal Rumble 2002)
  

Matt: Say what you will. This is HHH’s big comeback match after the quad tear of ‘01. Some memorable moments included Austin and Triple H getting at each other’s throats and Maven doing the impossible by eliminating Undertaker. Plus, Mr. Perfect showed up to work after a five year absence in the WWE and earned himself a job for sure, folks. I’m a fan of the man and that just helped me love this Rumble all the more. Most importantly was Triple H’s return and how this would catapult him into the babyface stratosphere for the next decade. Even though now we know his good guy experiment failed, at the time it was pretty cool. Again, maybe that’s just me, but I really enjoyed this Rumble a lot.

Justin: This year’s Rumble was a strong one as the pacing was good and the action was steady throughout. Also helping the Rumble was the stacked roster of combatants and handful of big returns. Goldust was the returning star to enter and he got a good pop for his classic entrance. In a memorable moment, Undertaker was jumped by the returning Hardy Boys after he had eliminated them. That would lead to the fantastic Maven/Taker showdown and Maven would use the Hardy distraction to shockingly eliminate the Deadman. And as great as that moment was, the post elimination beatdown by Taker may have been even better. Taker would drag Maven all around the arena and punish him for costing Taker a shot at the Undisputed Championship. The bookers were wise to have a lot of the midcard stars carry the early part of the match so they could save the big names for a stacked finish. When it was finally time to start bringing out the big guns, Steve Austin was the first. He came out to an enormous pop and cleaned house, sending everyone to the floor. Triple H then made his way out and the showdown was on. The final major return of the match saw Mr. Perfect strut his way to the ring and return to a WWF ring for the first time since late 1996. Kurt Angle was the main heel out there towards the end and he was still generating solid heat as he was embroiled in feuds with both Austin and Hunter. Kane and Big Show had a cool showdown too and it was one that ends with Kane impressively slamming Show over the top and out of the ring. The final four in the ring were Austin, Angle, Perfect and Hunter and they busted it to bring a hot end to the match. Angle shockingly tossed Austin first but that only allowed the heat to be transferred so Hunter would be cheered when he won the match. If they would have had Hunter and Austin at the end, the crowd would have been split and they needed to avoid that. Thus, Hunter tosses Perfect and Angle and picks up his first Rumble win and the title shot at WrestleMania. This was a really fun, and loaded, Rumble and it got 2002 off to a good start.

Scott: This is the longest Rumble on record and was definitely one of the most exciting. There was something going on in every aspect of the match. The non-stop action with no fluff. All thoroughbreds like Austin, Triple H, Angle, and even Mr. Perfect, who deserved to be with the big players as he makes his first PPV appearance in the ring since SummerSlam 93! The end is frantic and unpredictable as any of these guys could win this thing.

• The Rock vs. Hollywood Hogan – (WrestleMania x8)
  

Matt: I can already feel the hate. Regardless, the heat and crowd reactions for this match was off the charts and completely undeniable. At the time it was very important for Hogan to come back and put some people over without him needing a win back or any other kind of political gain (other than to say in the future that he’s already put people over in 2002 and doesn’t need to anymore) and the Rock was at the top of his list. Maybe not the best match of the year wrestling-wise, but everything else about it rocked (no pun intended) and had you on the edge of the seat all the way to the end. A very important match for the era and one that should have gone on last. Not sure what they were thinking because nothing was able to top it throughout the rest of the night. This match was also the stepping stone to the AWESOME heel turn of the Rock in 2003 when he was acting like a jerk because everybody booed him at WrestleMania x8.

Justin: When Hogan and the NWO showed up on the scene in February, you figured they would play an important role at WrestleMania. I don’t think anybody expected a spectacle quite like this. In retrospect, you can see why the fans turned Hogan face. It all makes sense. Hogan had been gone for so long, had always been a big star in Canada and the fans seemed to be tiring of the Rock’s act and, ironically, his Hollywood aspirations. However, at the time, Hogan was coming off a lengthy hated heel run in WCW. Not only was he a big time heel in storylines, he was also hated with a passion by the smart fans. Many knew of his politicking and poor match quality in Atlanta and everyone knew he played a major role in bringing WCW down. So, when you look at it with some perspective, it was a bit jarring to see Hogan turned into the de facto face a few minutes in. As soon as these two icons had their epic staredown at the start, you knew this should have been the main event. This was an epic dream match that really hadn’t been seen since Hogan met the Ultimate Warrior in this very building 12 years earlier. Early on, the crowd was pretty split but they were tending to lean towards Hogan. The Skydome just felt electric and JR and Lawler started to get into a groove as their hyperbole was matched in reality for once. As the crowd started edging more towards Hogan, Rock seemed to be thrown off guard and the two men would stick to their traditional roles despite Hogan gradually out popping Rock. Despite now being cheered as the face, Hogan kept working as a heel but you can feel the roles change big stride as Rock dug deep into his heel bag of tricks and finally embraced the crowd’s wishes. JR would explain the crowd’s reactions by claiming they were feeling nostalgic, which was pretty true. The actual match itself was just a basic brawl with some big spots mixed in. As the match wore on, Rock’s old heel facials and attitude started seeping through. Hogan would actually drill Rock with a Rock Bottom and that got a mega pop from the fans. Hogan would later admit that he broke a couple of ribs during the match and you can clearly see him holding that area during it. He gave a gutsy performance and really earned the fans back on his side, pushing the reactions past just nostalgia. The crowd was insane the whole time, but the arena nearly split apart when Hogan Hulked Up and the two men followed it up with some crazy near falls. That pop would then be dwarfed by the reaction for Hogan’s big boot and legdrop and subsequent near fall. In a perfect world, that probably ends up being the finish to the match and the show. However, Rock was still the young franchise player and he was to win the match. He dropped Hogan with the three Rock Bottoms, dropped the People’s Elbow and got the win. The crowd booed at first before turning around and cheering the epic encounter they just witnessed. I wish he didn’t win with the lame Elbow, but that is a minor complaint. The clincher to this epic match was the post match hug between the two legends. It brought back instant memories of Hogan embracing Warrior and passing the torch in that very same spot in 1990. This was a truly epic showdown and no matter how many times you watch it, it is hard not to get swept up by it all over again.

Scott: If you want to grade it as a stand-alone match, it was ok; nothing great, but not that terrible. However, this is one of those cases where you have to look at the entire package. This match has the complete package of a great WrestleMania showdown with two absolute giants of the wrestling industry.

• Kurt Angle vs. Edge – Hair vs. Hair Match (Judgment Day 2002)
  

Matt: These two were building quite the rivalry on Smackdown in the first half of the year. Angle snuck out a win on Edge at Backlash, but this time their HAIR was on the line. Just think – Edge’s long blonde locks could be gone! After an unbelievable back-and-forth 15 minute battle, Edge won out in the end and Angle gets his head shaved to dawn the look that we’re most familiar with today. Just a fantastic match though.

Justin: This was Edge’s second opportunity to prove his elevated stock was for real. He delivered a month before, but he needed to show that it wasn’t a fluke. His pop was growing and he was starting to look more like a star with each passing week. Both men would up the ante in the one, and that was proven right off the bell as Kurt unleashed a sick belly-to-belly out to the floor. The bout would keep up the usual frenetic Angle pace and the ongoing theme was both men destroying the other with belly-to-belly suplexes. Edge timed his comebacks well and kept the crowd hooked in and believing. The finishing sequence was tremendous stuff and Edge had successfully delivered. The antics that followed the match were pretty funny and Angle would get shaved clean to give us his current look. I loved the pace and hard hitting style here and you could see Edge pulling himself up a level throughout the match. I actually enjoyed the match even more than the Backlash tilt as they built upon that one and polished it off with a big win for Edge.

Scott: These two put on a great match at Backlash, as Edge really impressed by going move for move with one of the technical greats of our time. Now they add the stipulation that someone will be bald after the match. Clearly Angle was going to lose here since part of Edge’s mystique was his long blond hair, and the fact that Angle was pretty much bald at this point anyway.

• WWE Intercontinental Champion Eddie Guerrero vs. Rob Van Dam – Ladder Match (Raw, 5/27/02)
  

Matt: As far as I can remember, this was Eddie’s first ladder match in WWE. Just when we thought we had seen it all and the ladder match gimmick needed a rest, Eddie and RVD bust out some amazing spots – most notably Eddie’s sunset flip powerbomb off the ladder. Like with most every ladder match, lots of chances were taken, but RVD came out on the winning end this time to recapture the IC belt. Easily the best RAW match of the year.

Justin: When Eddie Guerrero made his surprise return to Raw in April, you could tell right from the start that he meant business. He was jacked and lean and ready to rock. What would follow may have been one of the greatest stretch of matches by one wrestler in WWE history. After splitting their first two PPV matches, these two would duel once more on Raw and they delivered a third classic. They pounded the crap out of each other with stiff offense and vicious ladder shots. RVD would win to close out the feud, but it was clear that both men were elevated from it.

Scott: An excellent end to one of 2002’s best feuds. I love this match because Eddie Guerrero went from an indy nomad after being released, to coming back and having an awesome series of matches with probably the most over guy in the company at that moment. This match was a great capper, even if the guy ran from the crowd to disrupt it. Probably makes it an even more memorable match.

• Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H – Non-Sanctioned Match (SummerSlam 2002)
  

Matt: What a perfect example of psychology and brutality. Triple H was just the guy to come by and exploit Shawn’s lower back injury that took four years off his career. With Shawn Michaels overcoming the odds and still proving to the world that he can tell a story in the ring as good as anybody and Triple H’s “make everything mean something” mind for wrestling, these two went out and put on one amazing show. Many call this the greatest match ever held at a SummerSlam event and it’s really hard to disagree.

Justin: Over four years after his last match, Shawn Michaels returns to the ring for a match. This was something many fans gave up on after 1999 when it was reported that Michaels would never wrestle again. He did have one street fight during his time off. The match took place in the TWA, the promotion Michaels ran in conjunction with his training camp. But this match was slightly different as it was on PPV and in front of millions of fans. The storyline coming is was great as Triple H stabbed Michaels in the back to finally turn heel. Michaels wanted revenge, but Bischoff forced it to be in an unsanctioned format to prevent any liability to Raw. Michaels accepted and it was on. The bout had a big match feel, as expected as it just never seemed possible even six or seven months ago. After the build up this also felt like a real blood feud and match. Hunter would methodically destroy the rehabbed back with some nasty offensive moves. Michaels was valiant as he hung in there and the crowd rallied him the whole way. Michaels looked like a warrior as he got his revenge with a brutal beatdown as the match wound down. Michaels pulled out all the stops and they hit a cool table spot going into the finish. Michaels would eventually reverse the Pedigree and roll Hunter up to pick up the feel good win. We still weren’t sure if the feud would continue or if Shawn could wrestle again at this point. Now, this was an epic match with both men busting their asses to put on a classic. However, I do have a few points that I want to hit on. I feel like the match was a bit too long and a bit too much, especially the crazy table spot. The Michaels comeback story was big enough in its own right that they could have toned it down, shortened it and told just as great a story. But, at the time, it was clear that this could be a one-time only deal for Michaels. That point was hammered home on commentary and it looked like Shawn was going all out just in case it was his final bout. So, I can’t really fault them for going balls to wall and include a wild table spot and all the blood. I enjoyed the heck out of this match and when you take it in context, it is that much better. Michaels would take some time off as he healed but he will be back soon. Triple H is back on the heel side of the fence and things take an interesting turn for him in the coming weeks.

Scott: Simply put, one of my 5 favorite matches of all time. Period. Awesome from beginning to end, and Shawn Michaels proved he had exorcised his demons and become a star again.

• WWE Undisputed World Champion The Rock vs. Brock Lesnar (w/Paul Heyman) – (SummerSlam 2002)
  

Matt: This was the main event of main events in 2002 on the best PPV of the year. Brock was built up as this unstoppable monster since his debut in late March. He’s a man who took crazy hard chairshots to the skull and then speared YOU down. To see him go up against the Rock at SummerSlam and see him completely ANNIHILATE the Rock was just unbelievable. Nobody did this to the Rock. He would kip up, give you the Spinebuster, and the Peoples Elbow to end the match. Not anymore thanks to Brock. When the show was over, you knew you just saw a star-making performance. You left talking about how Brock Lesnar was better than the Rock.

Justin: Since his debut in March, Brock Lesnar had destroyed everything in his path en route to winning the King of the Ring and being named number one contender. The hype surrounding this match was tremendous and it had a big time legit fight feel to it. The training videos were awesome and we get to see condensed versions before the match. Rock gets a big pop when he enters, but those cheers would be surprisingly short lived. The crowd was rocking as the match wound down and came unglued when Rock somehow slipped out of an F5 attempt. Brock recovered, caught Rock and planted him with the F5 to pick up the huge clean win and his first championship. The F5 has been booked as an invincible move since Brock’s debut and the legend grows here. This was a massive win and a felt like a true changing of the guard as Rock passed the torch of the Attitude Era to the new torchbearer of the next generation. Rock proved again why he is the man by laying down and putting Brock over clean as a sheet. WWE now had a new Champion and a new face.

Scott: A surprisingly good match from two guys with different styles. Brock Lesnar was ready to explode and the Rock was slowly weeding his way out of the wrestling business. It was a great combination and a hot match that the crowd was really into.

• Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle – (Unforgiven 2002)
  

Matt: In 2002, these two could not stay away from each other. In the past, they had been in a 30 minute submission match and a cage match, but never really had a great straight 1-on-1 wrestling match. This was *that* match and it’s an excellent lead up to their Royal Rumble match in ‘03. Very underrated in my view, but entirely worth it to see Benoit come out on top in the end.

Justin: With nothing but pride on the line, Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit would again steal the show and put on the match of the night. They were simply trying to see who the better man was. Both men stayed on the mat early on, trying to wrestle each other but Angle was the first to crack and show some frustration. Things would pick up from there with both men working stiff and snug. The crowd really dug this one as Benoit unleashed a nasty 360 German release suplex on Kurt, who sold it like a champ. And just when you think they couldn’t go at a quicker pace, they picked it up and went into a crazy flurry as the match began to wind down. They would trade finishers at a rapid pace and work in some red hot near falls. Finally, in a call back to WrestleMania X-7, Benoit would roll Kurt up and hook the ropes to steal the win. I wasn’t too crazy with the finish but it made sense and was a cool homage to their first battle. Benoit picks up a win to further his up and down relationship with Angle. These two just had a special chemistry that may never be duplicated.

Scott: Since their awesome match at WrestleMania XVII, these two studs have met numerous times on PPV and they never grow old. This match actually seems to mirror that 2001 match in Houston. Both guys grapple and strike the crap out of each other. They have a superb submission exchange, and the endings even mirror each other.

• Edge vs. Eddie Guerrero – No-DQ Match (Smackdown, 9/26/02)
  

Matt: Another one of my personal favorite matches of the year. 2002 was all about getting Edge over and I don’t think he quite reached that level of overness that they wanted until this match with Eddie. He’s been in a bunch of the crazy ladder matches of the last three years, but never one like this violent IMO. The Eddie/Edge feud just kept getting better and better with matches at SummerSlam and Unforgiven, but here they had the ultimate opportunity to outshine those two other great matches. I remember this being one of the all-time best episodes of Smackdown too. Not only did it have this match, but also the Benoit/Angle/Rey triple-threat match in the main event. But after seeing this match, how can you not love it?

Justin: This is easily one of the best TV matches of the decade as Edge continued to elevate himself up the ranks. After a great feud with RVD, Eddie hopped over to Smackdown and started a program with Edge. They had a pair of really good matches at SummerSlam and Unforgiven, but they hit their peak here as they went all out. If you haven’t seen this one, you need to check it out as it is a bit of a forgotten classic. After the Angle feud, Edge had established himself as a major player, but he really solidified his standing as a top flight star with matches like this. Eddie also got a standing ovation from the fans despite taking the loss.

Scott: A superb match that, just like the Eddie/RVD match on Raw in May, ended a great PPV feud. Edge really works his chops as a solo superstar, and Eddie really was the comeback wrestler of the year.

• Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio & Edge – WWE Tag Team Titles Tournament Finals (No Mercy 2002)
  

Matt: If you’re a fan of tag team wrestling, you NEED to see this match. This brought all the elements of a great tag match (convincing last second saves and loads of buildup to an excellent finish) that over the previous ten years except for perhaps a select few matches in WCW, you could only see in Japan and they brought it to the US where it went over like crazy. It was good to finally see some people work hard in a tag match even when they weren’t the legal man. In my book, this is the greatest tag team match of the decade here in North America.

Justin: Stephanie McMahon had claimed that she wanted the best tag team division in the world and she got things off to a hot start with the tournament finals. The big question heading in was whether Angle and Benoit could coexist long enough to take home the gold. To do it, they would have to take out two close friends that had been working as a well oiled machine. All four men were familiar with each other and the match was oozing with chemistry. They had an awesome back and forth pace as both teams traded control of the offense. Rey was especially on fire and just had crazy energy at this point, never stopping or slowing up. I liked the double heat segment by Benoit and Angle as it really got the crowd into things. Angle hit all of his big moves as well which added to the drama. The crowd continued to rock with some tremendous near falls. One of the best spots of the bout was when Rey drilled Benoit with a 619 while he had the crossface on Edge. Edge would get the closest near fall of the match with a quick roll up on Angle, but Kurt and Chris were just a hair better on this night. Angle and Edge would work some nice reversals as Kurt locked on the Anklelock. Eventually, though, Kurt would cinch it in and Edge was forced to tap out. This was just an awesome match and is pretty legendary as one of the last great pure wrestling tag team matches WWE has put on. All four men busted their asses and broke out a classic. Stephanie McMahon was granted her wish as Smackdown now featured the greatest tag division in the wrestling world. If you haven’t seen this one, go find it and check it out.

Scott: When Paul Heyman became the chief writer on Smackdown, he focused on what was known as the “Smackdown Six” that Justin alluded to in our Unforgiven review. Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, Edge, Rey Mysterio, and the Guerreros were unquestionably the six most talented guys in the entire company as they were a slight cut above a few others like RVD, Lesnar and Jericho. So Heyman knew the best thing to do to make Smackdown a show worth watching was to put these guys in almost all the main storylines.

• Edge vs. Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle – Elimination Match (Smackdown, 12/5/02)
  

Matt: And four of the Smackdown Six continue to rule the WWE. Winner gets a WWE title shot against the Big Show, so there’s a lot on the line. Just look at the four men in this match. If you’re giving them 20 minutes on TV, it’s all you need for a MOTYC. Edge and Angle end up as the final two and let’s just say they put together a remarkably dramatic finish. Ladies and gentlemen, check this match out for a good time. It’s on YouTube.

Justin: This was a big time TV match that featured four of the fabled “Smackdown Six” going at it to earn a shot at Big Show’s WWE Championship. These four men had teamed or feuded throughout the past eleven months and they square off here with it all on the line. Edge would get the final word in on Eddie, when he drills him with a spear, allowing Benoit to force him to tap out. Benoit was eliminated next, but the seeds were planted for an upcoming main event run in the following year. As the biggest year of his career to this point wound down, Edge found himself a hair away from earning a WWE title shot. However, his time was not yet here, as Angle steals the win to cap off our 2002 countdown. The win would earn Angle a title shot and he would cash in a couple of weeks later. No matter how many times these four men went at it, it was always interesting, crisp, stiff, athletic and entertaining.

Scott: An oft-remembered match between 4 guys, just like above were part of the “Smackdown 6″. Angle finally established himself as a real main event force who was more than just fodder for the Attitude Era guys. Take 3 of the other SD studs and you have the makings of a forgotten classic.

As always, feel free to share with us your insight and picks from the year 2002. While a lot of the writing that year was horrible and often times uncomfortable to sit through, hey at least Smackdown was good.

Next week, 2003!

Randy Orton al lado de DX

Por Osmarko

En un House Show, Randy Orton se unió a DX, la excusa es que DX tiene actualmente una rivalidad con el campeón John Cena y Orton quiere que ganen para poder volver a disputar el título (Pues recordemos que en Braggin Rights perdió la oportunidad de volver a retar a Cena)

Como sabemos, el histórico comentarista Jim Ross, fue sorpresivamente aquejado de un mal neurológico que le provocó parálisis facial, impidiéndole por ahora cumplir con su trabajo como comentarista en WWE

Y al parecer, WWE ya está tomando medidas en caso de que Ross no pueda regresar pronto, pues el Wrestling Observer señala que se ha visto al veterano anunciador Sean Mooney, en torno a las oficinas de la empresa

Sean Mooney ya estuvo con WWE desde finales de los 80s hasta principios de los 90s, Mooney tuvo un breve retorno en el 2005, durante el pre-show del “Regreso de RAW a USA Network”, actualmente Mooney es reportero deportivo en Fox Arizona, enfocado a la Universidad de Phoenix, así que la razón de su presencia en WWE, también podría tener que ver con la WrestleMania 26, que tendrá como sede esa región

En el video vemos a Sean Mooney, como mediador de un histórico promo que incluye a The Rockers (Shawn Michaels & Marty Janetty) y a Dino Bravo

Source: PWInsider

- There is a feeling in WWE that something ’special’ needs to be done with The Undertaker for WrestleMania 26 this year, and more importantly something fresh that the fans haven’t seen before. This is why the potential match with John Cena is being touted at the moment.

- There is also talk of a Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels match at WrestleMania 26. As often as the pair have wrestled each other, they have never had a match on a WrestleMania stage and it is something that has been talked about over the last 2 months.

- At one point, there had been a plan for a CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio match at WrestleMania 26, but this is unlikely to happen now considering Mysterio’s injury problems.

The following results come from WWE.com’s Greg Adkins. I’ll have the HeelZone RAW Rundown posted tomorrow sometime.

QUICK RESULTS:

- Kofi Kingston def. Dolph Ziggler
- Sheamus def. Finlay
- WWE Champion John Cena def. CM Punk
- Mark Henry, MVP & R-Truth def. Jack Swagger, Chris Masters & Chavo Guerrero
- Randy Orton def. Evan Bourne
- Divas Champion Melina, Mickie James & Kelly Kelly def. Women’s Champion Michelle McCool, Layla & Jillian
- DX def. The Hart Dynasty
- Legacy def. Cryme Tyme
- Sheamus def. Kofi Kingston, Randy Orton, MVP, Mark Henry, R-Truth, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase in a Breakthrough Battle Royal

HERSHEY, Pa. - In a city famous for all things chocolate, special guest host, Gov. Jesse  Ventura, brought to Raw an appropriate revolutionary new concept: sweet for some, bitter for others and a little messy when things got too hot to handle.

WWE Champion John Cena and Sheamus signed title match contract; Sheamus attacked Cena
Gov. Jesse Ventura has never been afraid to speak his mind. So, at the conclusion of the contract signing between WWE Champion John Cena and his opponent at the WWE TLC pay-per-view, Sheamus, Ventura admitted that he thought there was a conspiracy at WWE. As the host of Conspiracy Theory, a truTV program that has Ventura hunting for answers to determine the validity of various theories, the WWE Hall of Famer told The Champ that he feels there’s a conspiracy by WWE officials to maintain Cena as the face of the company.

While Ventura went on to say that he hopes Sheamus defeats Cena, The Celtic Warrior attacked the WWE Champion from behind and slammed him through a table. It was then that Ventura declared that the WWE Championship Match at WWE TLC will officially be a Tables Match.

Raw’s special guest host next week will be Verne Troyer
Next week’s Raw promises to be huge, even if the show’s special guest host packs all his manic energy into a less-than-giant frame. Austin Powers alum Verne Troyer will stroll into Baltimore, Md., to take control and show the WWE Universe that big things come in small packages.

Sheamus def. Kofi Kingston, Randy Orton, MVP, Mark Henry, R-Truth, Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase
With each having earned their spot in the first-ever Breakthrough Battle Royal, Sheamus, Kofi Kingston, Randy Orton, MVP, Mark Henry, R-Truth, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase each appeared focused on what could prove to many to be the opportunity of their careers. Whichever Superstar emerged victorious would compete in either a WWE or World Heavyweight Championship Match.

As special guest host, Gov. Jesse Ventura, alongside Mr. McMahon, announced the bout, the action inside the ring tumbled along at a frenetic pace. While alliances were utilized, they were also tested. Two Superstars that have showcased an unusually high level of rancor, Kofi and Orton, were at each other throats almost immediately. Before the end of the match, though, The Dreadlock Dynamo would get the best of The Viper, sending him over the top rope and out of the competition. Kofi had little time to celebrate, however, since, by the end, it was The Celtic Warrior, Sheamus, who would emerge from the pack of hungry Superstars to become the No. 1 contender for the WWE Championship.

Legacy def. Cryme Tyme
Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase have always been eager to please. And with their Legacy ring leader, Randy Orton, in the Breakthrough Battle Royal, you can just bet that The Viper loudly emphasized the need to have his henchmen in the ring with him. Well, Randy, mission accomplished. The Legacy duo beat back the challenge of Cryme Tyme to qualify themselves for the night’s main event.

Kane confronted Batista
After “embarrassing” his former best friend, Rey Mysterio, at Survivor Series, Batista informed the WWE Universe that he will stop at nothing to get his hands on The Undertaker’s World Heavyweight Championship. Not so fast. The Deadman’s brother, Kane, then entered the ring and confronted The Animal, begging that Batista try to crush him like he did Rey the night before. The Animal, however, would not take the bait and left the ring.

DX def. The Hart Dynasty; Unified Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho & Big Show will defend their titles against DX at WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs
Despite practically trying to dismantle one another at Survivor Series in a Triple Threat WWE Title Match, Triple H and Shawn Michaels reestablished their bond, understanding their actions the night before were in the heat of competition. Once they put bygones behind them, they quickly found their groove while facing off against The Hart Dynasty. While Tyson Kidd & David Hart Smith looked to be in top shape and gave the DX duo a bit of a scare, the veterans pulled out the victory.

Afterward, Chris Jericho paid the two a visit to discuss he and Big Show defending their Unified Tag Team Titles against the challenge of DX at the upcoming pay-per-view, WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs. After listening to Jericho condescend for a while, DX happily informed the self-important Superstar that their bout will be a TLC Match!

Divas Champion Melina, Mickie James & Kelly Kelly def. Women’s Champion Michelle McCool, Layla & Jillian
Forget everything you learned about Thanksgiving in elementary school. On Raw, the Pilgrims and Native Americans didn’t sit down to a fall feast. Instead, they dressed in sexy outfits and tried to tear each other apart in a Thanksgiving Mayflower Melee Match. Clad in Native American apparel, Divas Champion Melina, Mickie James & Kelly Kelly fought Women’s Champion Michelle McCool, Layla & Jillian. To complete the Thanksgiving theme, the Goobledy Gooker even served as timekeeper.

Once the match got underway, Team Native American was able to best Team Pilgrim when Melina managed to pin Jillian. Always eager to speak with Divas, Jerry “The King” Lawler entered the ring for an interview with the beautiful Latina. And that’s when things took a turn for the weird. The Gobbledy Gooker attacked the Divas Champion from behind. Moments later, it was revealed that the turkey costume was actually stuffed with Maryse!

Primo attacked by The Viper/Randy Orton def. Evan Bourne
Like a spoiled child, Randy Orton simply won’t take “no” for an answer. In a desperate attempt to qualify for the Breakthrough Battle Royal, The Viper attacked Primo as the Boriqua brawler made his way to the ring for his qualifying match against Evan Bourne.

As a result, Primo was unable to compete. After consent by special guest host Gov. Jesse Ventura, it was Orton who battled Bourne. Unfortunately for the aerial artist, The Viper proved too much to handle as he slithered into a qualifying position.

DX being sued by Hornswoggle
Just as Triple H and Shawn Michaels were reciting a list of things for which they’re grateful, the two were interrupted by a lawyer representing Hornswoggle. The attorney informed DX that, after last week’s Pedigree on Hornswoggle, the leprechaun is suing the duo for intentional infliction of emotional distress and will see them in “little people’s court” next week.

Mark Henry, MVP & R-Truth def. Jack Swagger, Chris Masters & Chavo Guerrero
As proof that a WWE ring possesses the capacity to support massive amounts of gross tonnage, Mark Henry, MVP & R-Truth climbed into the squared circle to face Jack Swagger, Chris Masters & Chavo Guerrero in a Six-Man Tag Team Match. The contest would determine which three individuals from the winning squad qualify for tonight’s Breakthrough Battle Royal. In the end, R-Truth showed the WWE Universe what’s up by pinning The Masterpiece, Chris Masters.

Jesse Ventura and Mr. McMahon to return to announce table
Being Raw’s special guest host has its privileges. As such, Gov. Jesse Ventura welcomed himself into Mr. McMahon’s office to deliver a message: He’s getting the band back together! Well, actually, just the announce team of Ventura & McMahon, which will reunite to call the Breakthrough Battle Royal.

WWE Champion John Cena def. CM Punk
Raw’s special guest host, Gov. Jesse Ventura, expressed his desire to break free from convention – and tonight he succeeded. He arranged a non-title match between WWE Champion John Cena and a SmackDown Superstar, CM Punk. The preachy pugilist, Punk dropped by Raw just one night after falling shy of clinching victory for Randy Orton and his team at Survivor Series. The Champ, on the other hand, was fresh off a successful title defense against Triple H and Shawn Michaels at the colossal pay-per-view.

The momentum proved too much for Punk to overcome as Cena dug in his heels and managed to triumph over his opponent’s high-energy attack.

Sheamus def. Finlay
The power and peril of Sheamus continues unabated. After channeling his considerable rage at the WWE timekeeper and Jerry “The King” Lawler during the prior Raw, The Celtic Warrior punished fellow Irishman Finlay at Survivor Series, kicking him in the head before pinning him. Tonight, the troubles persisted. Finlay once again found himself on the losing end as Sheamus defeated him and qualified for the Breakthrough Battle Royal.

Kofi Kingston def. Dolph Ziggler
Fresh off his pounding of Randy Orton a week ago and his team captain victory the night before at Survivor Series, Kofi Kingston faced off against Dolph Ziggler in the first-ever Breakthrough Battle Royal Qualifying Match. The wind clearly at Kofi’s back, The Dreadlock Dynamo hit some rough waters but eventually sailed past Ziggler to become the first Superstar to qualify for tonight’s contest.

Special guest host Gov. Jesse Ventura announced Breakthrough Battle Royal
Whether as a WWE Hall of Famer, the Governor of Minnesota or the host of truTV’s upcoming Conspiracy Theory, Jesse Ventura has always proven himself an iconoclast, a man predictable only in his unpredictability.

Ventura hewed close to form when he dropped by Raw to serve as special guest host. Confronted by Randy Orton demanding a WWE Title Match, Ventura informed The Viper that neither he nor anyone who has possessed the WWE or World Heavyweight Championship would be granted title opportunities.

In fact, Ventura devised the first ever Breakthrough Battle Royal, in which a series of bouts would be held between members of Raw and SmackDown who never held a World Title. The winners of these bouts will then participate in the Breakthrough Battle Royal with the winner earning a either a WWE or World Heavyweight Championship Match.

The 2009 edition of WWE Survivor Series is in the books. The biggest story coming out of the event is the continuing of Kofi Kingston’s ascent to the RAW main-event. After several “career making” moments on RAW, the young Kingston found himself in a two-on-one situation against two former champions in CM Punk and Randy Orton. Against the odds, Kofi single handily defeated Punk and then Orton to become the sole survivor for his team in what is without a doubt the biggest win of his career. Kofi is riding a huge wave of momentum, and the fans are getting behind him in a big way. If WWE continues to play it right with Kofi, we could be watching the next big superstar develop before our eyes.

WWE played it predictably with John Cena retaining the title. I would have much preferred Shawn Michaels win the championship one more time, but hey, at least I got my wish of him superkicking Hunter (although I’m sure it won’t lead to a feud between the two, since Hunter isn’t a bitch like Batista). We’ll have more on this event tomorrow, with the debut of a brand new column series.

Anyway, the results are already posted individually, but you can hit the jump to view the complete results right here on this one post. Tomorrow, we debut Winners and Losers (Survivor Series Edition), so check back tomorrow for that.

- Team Miz def. Team Morrison (Miz, Sheamus & McIntyre survive)
- Batista def. Rey Mysterio
- Team Kofi def. Team Orton (Kofi is the sole survivor)
- The Undertaker def. Big Show and Chris Jericho (World Championship Match)
- Team Mickie def. Team Michelle (Mickie James & Melina survive)
- John Cena def. Shawn Michaels and Triple H (WWE Championship Match)

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Match #6 (MAINEVENT): John Cena def. Shawn Michaels & Triple H to retain the WWE Championship

John Cena won after hitting the Attitude Adjustment on Shawn Michaels, who had just super kicked Triple H.

Survivor Series is over with.