Credit: David Knapp, PWTorch.com
Sorry if details are a little fuzzy I forgot to take proper notes as the crowd in my section were hot. Also the order of Raw may not be the order it happened in or that they edit it into. Non televised side of the arena had empty space but not much. Crowd was heavily into the night over all.
DARK/HEAT MATCHES
Lilian Garcia sang the English National Anthem then it was on to WWE.com matches
(1) Big Show defeated Two Jobbers in a handy cap match. Good reaction for the Big Show but was ultimately a squash. Big show went over with a chokeslam.
(2) Gene Snitsky & Goldust defeated a different two jobbers. Basic action nothing to write home about but again decent crowd reaction
(3) Lance Cade defeated Eugene. Basic stuff. Props to Eugene tho. Cade won with a stiff looking clothesline.
(4) Kane defeated Trevor Murdoch. Basic stuff. Very. Crowd almost died through this one. Kane chokeslammed Murdoch for the win.
RAW TAPING
Edge came out with a run of the mill promo about having gone over Cena and Triple H. Boring almost until the King of Kings came out. Won’t spoil it but he really was hilarious tonight until the obvious ‘serious’ scripting made him go to the tired intense mode. Then of course Cena had to join in with a run down. Edge and Lita cleared out while Triple H and Cena went at it, that is until the Spirit Squad came to the Titan Tron with a message from the chairman. Mr. McMahon has made tonight’s main event a 5 on 3 tag match. Spirit Squad vs. Cena, Edge & Triple H. Thank god for the Spirit Squad although it sounded live like they’d messed up their cheer a little.
Maria interviews Matt Striker where Matt gets the cheap heat by calling the British idiots. Maria then promises the London crowd a Diva Bikini contest later in the show (amazingly the guys behind us who would need a telescope to see anything got very excited at this).
(1) Rob Van Dam & Charlie Haas & Carlito defeated Chris Masters & Matt Striker & Shelton Benjamin. The crowd was very into Carlito despite the fact he was not involved too much in the match until the end. In fact I think the most popular t-shirt there was Carlito’s. Pretty good six man action, live anyway, with RVD being singled out by the heels for a beat down. The usual disintegration into a brawl happened and ended with RVD going up for the Five-Star Frog Splash on Striker (I think – he and Masters looked very similar from where we were way back). Good pop for all the faces here.
Vince came on the TitanTron next if i remember right and announced Shane vs. Shawn Michaels for tonight.
Maria came out to do the Kiss cam stuff. Having never seen the WWE.com filler I was at a total total loss during this.
Big Show ran into Kane back stage made the mistake of saying May 19th (which the crowd was kind of chanting anyway) once too many times. Kane beat down Big Show but i couldn’t see the Titan Tron so well but I’m sure Big Show was left whining.
Coach got into the ring to judge the Diva Bikini contest. Yay because that’s what i paid for. Your basic contest by numbers which Tori Wilson won but Coach gave it to Candice so he could make a move on her. Just as Candice was about to give in out comes Viscera who decides he’ll do what Coach was planning to do to Candice… Only he’ll do it to Coach. Some Muppet actually cheered this as my mate went for beer. Coach left London promising never to return as a result of his ‘rape’.
Next out is Vincent Kennedy McMahon who will be at ring side for the next contest.
(2) Shane McMahon and Shawn Michaels fought to a no contest. The DX chants during this may well be dubbed down, but they were huge. Shawn had Shane all set up for the sweet chin music but was distracted by Vince McMahon. Vince and Shawn fought outside with Vince ending up laid out on the announce table. Michaels went to the turnbuckle just in time for Shane to come to daddy’s rescue. Shane and Vince laid Michaels out and put him on the table and Shane did the elbow spot to put Michaels through the table. That was insane to see live. Shane Brandon McMahon and Vincent Kennedy McMahon the gloated in a spot light over Michaels, boasting there will be no divine intervention. Thank fully there was no ‘God’ pyro tonight and last weeks was explained as a ‘technical fault’. Vince did the DX crotch chop.
Edge and Cena squabble about tonight’s main event.
(3) Umaga defeated Some local London boy jobber. Squash match absolutely terrible with nothing what-so-ever going for it until the run in after the match of Nature boy Ric Flair. I swear I see Flair on TV and I think he should give up but watching him tonight I am honestly convinced that, 30 years my senior, he is in better shape than I will ever be. But then I was marking out big time and could be biased.
Triple H absolutely tore the house down backstage by verbally dissecting Lita, asking her for advice since she knows all about taking five guys on at once, etc. Hilarious. DX chants again.
Mickie James came to the ring and sounded sane. She realizes she doesn’t need to be Trish, that she is not Trish and that she is better than Trish. Trish then comes out and wont stop copying Mickie. It all got confusing because they both sound alike when they’re like that. Mickie went for Trish and they exchanged blows until Trish hit the Chick (Mick) Kick and Mickie falls out of the ring.
Todd Grisham came out for filler.
(4) Spirit Squad fought John Cena & Edge & Triple H to a no contest. For some reason Triple H sold for the Spirit Squad, suffering a beat down. This match was awful apart from the interaction between Edge, Cena and Triple H. The UK crowd were really hostile to the Spirit Squad only cheering them when they beat down John Cena. Cena and Triple H cleared the Spirit Squad finishing with a simultaneous FU and Pedigree but there was no pin. Edge left ringside with Lita.
Tripe H and Cena made eyes at each other before slugging it out. Trips got the cheers, Cena the boos. Edge ran back as Triple H got the upper hand and regained his feet with a spear to Trips. He then turned straight into an FU by Cena.
End of Raw (presumably)
Cena got on the mic and addressed what he called a ‘tough crowd’. The word understatement John, look it up. He, then Lilian Garcia thanked us all and the lights came up.
MOST HEEL HEAT
Cena
Vince
Coach
BIGGEST POPS
Triple H
Ric Flair
RVD & Carlito (draw)
Credit: PWTorch.com
