What happens when you have four egos that are out of control? You make money by sticking them to a match. Three men go down and two men technically stand tall. Also, we get our “true Mania Main Event”, even if it won’t be the main event. It isn’t Hogan, but that is a good thing. Click through to see the full results!
We take a journey down to memory lane, which was last week. John Cena defeated Randy Orton to get himself placed in the main event at Wrestlemania XXIV! However, the night was Triple H’s as he downed both men.
No video intro for the second week in a row, but we get a three way Wrestlemania photo opp with William Regal hosting the event.  Surprisingly, they posed for the cameras and each men will have mic time. Cena’s first and he has a problem with one of them. He gets in Triple H’s face and he thanks him for not screwing him over and doesn’t thank him for hitting him with a Pedigree. Triple H wants Cena in the ring at Wrestlemania. He tells Cena to get used to it. Cena tells Triple H that he tapped out to him two years ago and that causes the jacket to go off and the microphone to drop.
Randy Orton interrupts the fun and he says that he will still be the WWE Champion. He goes on a tirade that both Cena and Triple H gave him their best shot and the other two ignores Orton while he steals Cena’s catchphrase. They beat up on Orton and toss him out of the ring before brawling in the ring. RKO to Triple H! RKO to Cena! The message was sent…via Fed Ex and Orton delivers standing tall.
Commercials.
Backstage, Mr. Kennedy runs into Randy Orton and proclaims that he will cash in Money in the Bank in the same night after the Triple Threat Match. Randy Orton says that he will turn his challenge back. Time for our first match. The King has some Bunnymania later tonight. Maria looks lovely as she is followed by Carlito and Santino Marella.
Carlito & Santino Marella v. Cody Rhodes & Hardcore Holly
Non-Title
The contenders have singles victories over the champions and this is non-title. Slap by Marella and Cody responds with a shoulder block. Arm drag countered and Santino is in trouble. Santino sends Rhodes into an arguing Carlito, but Marella manages to follow up. Carlito is in and he continues to put the pressure on Rhodes. Lateral press gets a two count as King is more interested in Maria. That King, I tell you. Rhodes is standing up, but Carlito takes him down for two. Marella tags back in and Rhodes is in bitg trouble. Rhodes misses a fury punch and gets a Russian Leg Sweep on Marella. Carlito is in, so is Holly! Holly goes to school on Carlito with a back body drop. Kick to the shins connects and the King tosses his crown at Maria. Marella tags in Carlito and he notices King talking to Maria. Marella gets tossed from his perch. Alabamaslam and that is over!
Winner:Â Cody Rhodes & Hardcore Holly
Grade: C (Was a C+ style match, but the King was too damned annoying, so I had to take a penalty on the match. Maria was hot, so the penalty wasn’t severe.)
Marella curses at King inaudibly. Up next, it seems that Floyd Mayweather throws dollar bills to the crowd at a Wrestlemania press conference.
Commercials.
Welcome back! Last week, the big story involved Big Show and Floyd Mayweather. Things got heated up after Big Show challenges Mayweather to a match. Earlier today, the match was made official and it will happen at Wrestlemania XXIV!Â
In the back, Todd Grisham stands next to William Regal. He announces a tag team match pitting Mr. Kennedy & Randy Orton against John Cena & Triple H. Enter Jericho, who reminds Regal of the embarrassment he had caused him years ago. Jericho wants in the Money in the Bank Ladder match. Regal says he has to qualify and he books him against a superstar that had already qualified…Jeff Hardy. That match…is NEXT!
Commercials.
WWE Rewind:Â Jeff Hardy beats Snitsky to qualify for the Money in the Bank match!
Jeff Hardy v. Chris Jericho
Non-Title Money in the Bank Qualifying Match
It’s official, the Intercontinental Championship is dead in the water. At least this has the chance of being entertaining. The bell rings and both men circle the ring. Greco-Roman lock and a clean break is utilized. They jockey for position and Jericho gets the upperhand. Hardy counters with an arm wringer of his own, but Jericho reverses it to a headlock. Hardy sends Jericho to the ropes and he stops Hardy cold. Hardy nails an arm drag, but Jericho tries to elevate him out of the ring. Springboard dropkick misses and a cross body by Hardy is reversed to a rollup for two! Vertical Suplex by Jericho and he covers for two again. Jericho sends Hardy to the ropes and Hardy counters Jericho’s offense to a catapult out of the ring! Baseball slide misses and both men are back inside the ring staring a hole into each other as we go to break.
Commercials.
Back to the match as Jericho has the upperhand after a mistake by Hardy with a missed turnbuckle dropkick. Hardy battles back up and he eats a kick to the shins for two! Jericho takes a page out of the dirty book as he is getting frustrated. Both men think the same move and they collide for the double KO spot. The referee counts and both men are up at five. Hardy builds momentum, nailing a wraparound clothesline! Hardy evades a bulldog, crotching Jericho on the middle turnbuckle. reverse turnbuckle dropkick connects for two! Jericho gets back into it and nails a lariat for two! Jericho nails some clubbing blows to the back and he sends Hardy to the corner…Whisper in the Wind is BLOCKED! Hardy dispatches Jericho and he nails a standing moonsault for TWO! TWO! Hardy looks for a hurrancurana, but Jericho counters to the Walls of Jericho! Hardy hits the ropes and Jericho kicks Hardy in the lower back. Jericho runs into a kick in the chest…Frontal Suplex connects and Hardy goes up top…he MISSES the Swanton. Jericho hits the Lionsault and only gets TWO! Hardy nails an inside cradle for two. Twist of Fate is reversed, the Walls is blocked, they roll each other up, but Jericho gets the rollup that counts!
Winner:Â Chris Jericho
Grade: A- (Pretty decent match. Both men worked their asses off and it shows.)
Post match, both men share their respect towards each other. Up next, Vince McMahon gets prepared for his own public apology to Hornswoggle.
Commercials.
Commercial Complaint: Burger King tries to enter McDonald’s and they get the law called on them. Again, thanks for the free publicity, Burger King. You gave me another reason to not eat at your restaurant.
Tomorrow night on ECW:Â Looks like Kofi Kingston faces off against an actual superstar…maybe.
You got No Chance in Hell! Vince McMahon powerwalks to the ring for his apology to Hornswoggle. Apparantly we’ve never heard Vince make an admission. He made a mistake for the first time of his life. He takes responsibility for JBL’s actions. He actually apologizes, but it isn’t good enough for the fans. There’s a slight catch…JBL is set to apologize as well, under Vince’s demand. After a slight delay, JBL makes his way to the ring minus his usual swagger. Vince gets in JBL’s face as it was learned that JBL was supposed to take care of Finlay. JBL hesitates before he apologizes that he didn’t do it sooner. He has it on very good advice that Hornswoggle is NOT Vince’s bastard son. It’s announced that Hornswoggle is Finlay’s son by JBL and Vince is not wanting to believe it. JBL says that Finlay knew the whole thing since day one and he has proof. Next time Finlay is in a WWE ring, JBL will beat the truth out of him. What a shocker. Guess the feud with Jericho got stopped cold.
Backstage, Triple H talks for John Cena. He answers for him anyway. John Cena actually came in to see if Triple H had an extra bottle of water, HAHA! Cena says that he doesn’t need anyone to watch his back, but Triple H better watch his own back.
Commercials.
We are back and the Samoan Bulldozer, Umaga makes his way to the ring. J.R. remembers Chris Jericho’s codebreaker! His victim…D.H. Smith, who returns to RAW!
D.H. Smith v. Umaga
Return Match for D.H. Smith
The bell sounds and Smith can’t do anything to Umaga. Umaga chops him around and out of the ring. Back in the ring, Umaga climbs the ropes and he nails the flying splash! He lines Smith up for the Rear End Collision and he hits it. Poor D.H. Smith. Samoan Spike connects and the lights go out for Mr. Smith.
Winner:Â Umaga
Grade:Â F (Pure squash match, which warrants an automatic fail.)
Backstage, Paul Burchill is in the office with Katie Lea and Paul Burchill. He reads a letter from Vickie Guerrero, who challenges him to bring one superstar from RAW to face someone from SmackDown. Regal picks Umaga to send over to SmackDown. Katie seduces William Regal and tries to offer Burchill as a better alternative. They leave as Burchill says to Regal that his sister likes him. O…K…
Tomorrow Night on ECW: Santino Marella teams up with Layla to take on Kofi Kingston and Kelly Kelly. Scratch what I said about the last ECW Commercial.
Last week:Â Ric Flair gets inducted to the WWE Hall of Fame.
In the ring, Lance Cade is set for singles action….against your personal Jesus…Shawn Michaels!
Shawn Michaels v. Lance Cade w/Trevor Murdoch
Standard Match
The bell sounds and they lock up. Michaels locks on a headlock and Cade levels him with a clothesline. Back suplex by Cade connects for a one count. Michaels gets introduced to the turnbuckle and he sends him to the ropes. Michaels gets a backslide for two! Cade takes it to Michaels with a neckbreaker for two. He works the back and neck – good psychology. Michaels is back up and he chops Cade around the ring. To the ropes Cade goes and Michaels spits out some chicklets! Cade spits some out as well as Michaels walks into a Rock Bottom! He misses the diving elbow, so Michaels goes up top and he shows him how it’s done. He tunes up the band…Murdoch interferes to no avail. Michaels gets the reverse figure four locked in and Murdoch takes it to Michaels for the DQ.
Winner:Â Shawn Michaels (DQ)
Grade:Â B- (Good ring psychology between the veteran and the up and coming Lance Cade.)
Post match, Cade and Murdoch take it to Michaels and they look for the Hi-Lo. Michaels has other plans…He kicks their jaws in with Sweet…Chin…Music. Michaels stands tall with a bloody nose.Â
WOOOOOO!!! Ric Flair makes his way to the ring as Michaels drops to his knees in respect. Flair hands him a handkerchief to replace the towel. He calls HBK incredible and thanks him for naming Flair as an inductee in the Hall of Fame. There is one thing that is more magical…a match against Shawn Michaels! Eat your heart out, Hogan…no one cares about your politics. Michaels v. Flair would own Hogan v. Flair a thousand times over. Michaels reminds Flair that Vince made an edict that if Flair loses a match, he would retire. Michaels respectfully declines Flair’s offer. Flair kinda thinks that he thought that if he faced Michaels that he’d lose. He says that everything Shawn said last week would mean nothing if he doesn’t give him the match at Wrestlemania XXIV. Michaels accepts and loses his smile in the process.
Shaq gives WWE his thoughts about Big Show v. Floyd Mayweather. He says that in a fight, Mayweather will own Big Show.Â
Commercials.
Time for the Adamle Minute! Mike Adamle is proud to announce the next inductee or inductees to the WWE Hall of Fame…The High Chief Maivia and Rocky Johnson! Dwanye “The Rock” Johnson will be at the Hall of Fame Ceremony inducting the two superstars into the Hall of Fame!
It will be Maria & Candice Michelle v. Beth Phoenix & Melina at Wrestlemania XXIV. It will be Bunnymania! They show a video of Maria doing her photo shoot. Next week, the cover will be unveiled!
Up Next:Â The Main Event!
Commercials.
It’s KENNEDY Time! Tonight, he has to co-exist with Randy Orton after laying down the threat. We will see how that works.
Mr. Kennedy & Randy Orton v. Triple H & John Cena
Main Event Tag Team Match
The bell sounds and Orton jumps Cena. Orton exits stage right and Kennedy exits via the top! Cena and Triple H stare as we take a break.
Commercials.
We are back as Cena gets a nearfall on Kennedy. Triple H gets involved and he runs into an elbow. Kennedy goes to town, but the mayor has a spinebuster for his troubles. Cena is back in and he mocks Triple H before tagging him in. “Suck it” and Triple H is in trouble as Dr. Orton kicks methodically like a doctor in wrestling psychology. Knee drop connects for two and Kennedy gets back into the fray. Triple H tries to fight back. Kennedy hits the running kick and he covers for two! Orton comes back in and they double team Triple H for a second. Headlock by Orton. Triple H fights back and he gets dropped on his head. Kennedy takes advantage of the ref distraction and Orton nails the rope-assisted DDT for two! Kennedy is back in and Triple H is reeling. Triple H goes opposite corner and Kennedy runs into a pair of boots! Kennedy tags in Orton, but Triple H can’t reach Cena. Inverted backbreaker connects and the RKO is countered to a slam! Cena is in as is Kennedy! Kennedy gets owned by Cena. SPINEBUSTER to Kennedy! West Side Slam connects…YOU CAN’T SEE HIM! The Five Knuckle Shuffle connects and the FU is averted as Orton gets involved. Kennedy goes for the Mic Check, but Cena takes him down in the STFU and Kennedy taps!
Winners:Â John Cena & Triple H
Grade:Â B+ (Decent main event that kept the combustible elements at a minimum.)
Triple H looks like he was going to Pedigree Cena, but he doesn’t. Cena is ready, but Kennedy nails the Mic Check on Cena! Triple H stands over Cena as the show comes to an end.
Show Over.
After reading this report, be sure to check out some other material around the Pulse.
Chris Biscuiti tells us how Jeff Hardy could had helped the Road to Wrestlemania.
Mark Allen give us a recap of last week in the WWE.
Vinny takes us back to Alternate Reality, putting the spotlight on ROH with their Best of Three series between Bryan Danielson and Austin Aries.
Finally, with the WWE cross-promoting a match between Big Show and Floyd Mayweather, I’ll cross-promote as well. Check out John Brodigan and his 5oz’s of Fury over at Inside Fights, right here on the Pulse. He talks about who Brock Lesnar may be facing next, along with a good surprise. I won’t spoil that surprise, so check that out!
Don’t forget to comment on tonight’s show by scrolling down to the bottom and login to the system. See you in seven!
The RAW Report Card
Cody Rhodes & Hardcore Holly d. Carlito & Santino Marella (C)
Chris Jericho d. Jeff Hardy (A-)
Umaga d. D.H. Smith (F)
Shawn Michaels d. Lance Cade via DQ (B-)
John Cena & Triple H d. Randy Orton & Mr. Kennedy (B+)
Extra Credit:Â A Flair for the Showstopper
The Final Grade for RAW 2/25/2008:Â B-
