You’ve read all our predictions for tonight’s WWE Draft, but tonight…we get to see how much the WWE shakes things up. I’m your man for the next three hours, so let’s get ready to RAW!
WWE – The Power Is Back (But did it really leave?)
3…2…1…PYRO! We’re live from San Antonio, Texas! We have announcers from all three brands tonight. All the matches will be INTERPROMOTIONAL matches, with the winner getting to have a draft pick for their brand. This means I have to sit through three hours of Adamle? Well Worth it.
WWE Million Dollar Mania Password:Â Night of Champions
Time for our first match tonight and our WWE Champion is opening the show!
Triple H v. Mark Henry
This will get bowling shoe ugly, I guarantee. They stare off in the center of the ring as Trips is concerned. They mouth each other and Trips tells Henry to suck it. They lock up and Trips collide with the brick wall that is Mark Henry. Trips tries to fight out of the corner only to get headbutted. Henry uses his head again and Trips is in the corner. Opposite corner we go and Henry WALKS into a Big Boot by Trips. Trips RUNS right into a lariat and Henry gets two for it. Henry goes to the mid section and he chops the back of Trips head. Scoop slam follows and Henry drops the elbow for two, not hooking the leg. Henry goes back to what works, and that’s the headbutt. He gets on the second rope and hits the Vader Bomb, called by JR, and Trips gets to the ropes. Successive counters get two a piece. Headlock is applied as I’m typing about 20 words a minute. Henry looks for a Military Press and Trips floats over. Trips takes and he rocks the big man…KNEE SMASH CONNECTS, but Henry is still up. The Harley Race high knee takes Henry down. The Pedigree is countered to the WORLD’S STRONGEST SLAM and Trips kicks out.   Trips hits the Pedigree successfully for the win!
Winner:Â Triple H
Grade: C
The TitanTron animates among the stars and we get our first draft pick…Rey Mysterio! Rey makes his comeback right here right now! Color me shocked. Rey hits the ring and he shakes hands with Trips.
There’s money to be given away…NEXT!
Commercials.
We’re back to the show as Vince is ready to give some money away. Five people will win $100K and one will win $500K! Vince brings out the hotness in Kelly Kelly to help him. We have Crystal Vega from the Bronx on the line! She’s not too thrilled from the sounds, but people in the background is screaming! She gives out the password, but Vince says that that’s NOT the password. Kelly Kelly says different and she wins. We win too as we get an impromptu Kelly’s Expose.
Backstage, Rey is talking with Trips and Cena comes in. Cena complains because Trips beat him up last week for helping him. It’s personal now and Cena will never be as good as he is. He copies Flair and Trips copies him from last week.
Commercials.
We’re back and we have another RAW v. SmackDown Match.
Finlay & Hornswoggle v. Santino Marella & Carlito
We get the bell and Santino asks for Hornswoggle to enter the ring. Finlay cheapshots him and Hornswoggle enters the ring. Hornswoggle hits the Stunner for a one count and he hits a butt bomb for another one. Santino has the coat, but he takes it off and Horny tags in Finlay. Santino throws the coat to Finlay, but Finlay sends Santino outside inbetween the apron and the ring. Finlay has his way with him and Horny flies onto Carlito. Carlito gets into the match and does a number on Finlay before tagging back. Finlay looks to use the shaeligh, but Santino has the weapon and the ref takes it away. Finlay hits the Celtic Cross and Horny hits the Tadpole Splash and Santino wishes he was in TNA…
Winners: Hornswoggle & Finlay
Grade: C+
SmackDown gets a draft pick and they get…Jeff Hardy! Another shocker. Hardy comes out and he seems to be happy with that choice. Randy Orton is here tonight, staring coldly at the moniter with his arm in a sling as we take a break.
Commercials.
We’re back and Vince has more money to give away and he asks for Randy Orton’s help. Orton gets a decent pop tonight. Randy has something to say to Cena and Triple H. He doesn’t care who the champion is after Sunday, but they better hope that he gets drafted because he’ll be back sooner than anyone thinks, which is a dig at Metzler. Orton heels it up by saying to Vince that he’s not in the mood to give $100K away. Vince is, however. Not only that, he makes Edge/Cena for tonight! We have Samira from Hamtramck, Michigan…and she’s breaking up. She thinks that Trips will win at Night of Champions.
Still to come:Â 15 men tri-branded battle royal for TWO draft picks!
Commercials.
Notice how the WWE is still making money off the Rock and he’s not even caring anymore?
We have another tag team match and we have Mike Adamle, Jerry Lawler, and Ted DiBiase for commentary.
Hardcore Holly & Cody Rhodes v. Bam Neely & Chavo Guerrero
Neely takes it to Rhodes from the get-go. Ted says that only he (and the IWC) knows the partner for the tag title match at Night of Champions. Chavo tags in and takes it to Rhodes. In comes Holly and he schools Chavo with the back drop. Kick to the stomack connects, but Holly rins into a boot. Chavo hits a splash off the ropes. Alabamaslam try is countered by Neely. Rhodes takes care of Neely, Chavo takes care of Rhodes, and Holly takes care of Chavo.
Winners: Hardcore Holly & Cody Rhodes
Grade: C-
RAW gets CM Punk…I called it! Punk is happy to be on RAW. Chris Jericho is making his way to the ring…NEXT!
Commercials.
RAW is now Jericho. He makes his way to the ring. He calls the crowd out for booing him again as Jericho continues his self-righteous ways. We head back to 1992 where Shawn sends Marty straight into the glass. 1995 when Shawn kicks Big Daddy Diesel, 2005 when he kicked Hogan, 2007 when he kicked Cena, and 2008 when he kicked Batista. Chris isn’t going to let the fans cheer for a “honest man”. He introduces his disciple, Lance Cade. Cade praises Jericho as someone he can trust. Wait until Jericho turns on Cade. Jericho is awaitting his opponent for Night of Champions, but he knows it won’t be Shawn Michaels. We now head back to two weeks ago where Jericho tosses Michaels into the Jerichtron. The worst is yet to come, and that cues Shawn Michaels! He walks down the ramp…runs down and he beats the holy hell out of Jericho! Jericho drop toe holds Michaels on the commentary table and Michaels holds his right eye! He is total agony as the trainers try to help him.
Commercials.
We are back as we update who was drafted in the first hour. Time for yet another tag team match, yo! Vickie Guerrero interrupts us as she has a change of plans because of recent developments. That recent developments is…the Hardy Boys have been reunited.
John Morrison & The Miz v. The Hardy Boys
Better than Hawkins & Ryder by a long shot! The bell sounds and it’s Miz and Mat beginning things off. Matt mocks Miz after a shoulderblock. Miz gets a bit of control in the corner. Matt bashes his head into the turnbuckle and explodes into a clothesline for two. In comes Jeff and POETRY IN MOTION connects! Jeff nails the turnbuckle dropkick for a two count. Headlock into a flipping headlock connects by Jeff. Miz fights out of it and Morrison interferes. Catapult into a PUNCH gets a two count for Morrison. Headlock is applied as the crowd chants for the Hardys. Morrison kicks Jeff’s head from the outside. In comes Miz and they nail the double rib breaker for two! Back to a headlock for Miz as Jeff is in trouble. Miz connects with the turnbuckle clothesline and Morrison gets in. Double team by the tag champions gets a two count!
Frustration sets in on the tag champions as Miz gets inside and gets a two count once again. Jeff fights back and WHISPER IN THE WIND CONNECTS! Both men are down! Morrison is in, Matt is in! Matt takes and rams the shoulder on Morrison. SIDE EFFECT/CLOTHESLINE on the tag champs. Side Effect hits Morrison again, but Miz saves him. Hardy goes up top, but Morrison beats him to the punch. Superplex try as Miz sends Hardy INTO THE RETAINING WALL! Matt hits the leg drop, but Miz interrupts. Morrison gets the rollup with the tights for the win.
Winners: The Miz & John Morrison
Grade: A
ECW gets…Matt Hardy! Words cannot describe this year’s draft.
Commercials.
Vince is back on RAW tonight and he has Ric Flair to help him give away some more money! They call someone and we get Donna from Selden, New York. She wins $100K and a WOOOOOOOO for her thoughts!
The Women are…NEXT!
Commercials.
We’re back and the next match is for a draft pick and only television announcers, interviewers, and the like are elligible to be picked. This will be very interesting.
Mickie James & Melina v. Natalya Neidhart & Victoria
The bell rings as Melina and Natalya begins the match. Natalya takes Melina down in a headlock takeover. She brutalizes Melina to the heel corner, but Melina fights out of it. Powerslam by Natalya for two and Victoria enters the fray. The commentators are paying no mind of the match as Victoria thrusts into Melina. Melina goes SPLAT as Victoria sends her to the ropes. Thez Press gets a two count by Melina. Inside Cradle by Melina also gets two. Melina heads up top and she takes a ten feet fall from the top to the outside and that spells trouble! The fight spills out as the referee calls for the bell. It’s a Double DQ and both RAW and SmackDown gets picks.
Result: Double DQ
Grade: C-
Jim Ross heads to SmackDown and Michael Cole heads to RAW. JR isn’t too happy about that move.
Commercials.
We are back and it seems that Melina is legitimately injured. Pulse Wrestling will have updates on her condition as we know it. Vince brings out Khali to help him give more money away. This will be good. Vince asks Khali to talk about his movie he’s in, “Get Smart”, which hit #1 this weekend. Dwayne “Not the Rock” Johnson was in the movie too. We get a caller and Vince asks “Who’s this”. The reply, “Wrong Number”. What a dumbass! We get another number and we get somebody else. We get Justin from Somerset, New Jersey. Khali says that Justin is a winner. Somebody please…oh, my wish is granted. Edge interrupts things. Edge takes on Cena NEXT!
Commercials.
We’re back and it’s time for our pre-Main Event!
Edge v. John Cena
Cena dodges a corner charge, but Edge is not as lucky. Edge does escape the corner and he takes it to Cena. Bulldog by Cena is scouted by Edge and he kicks Cena in the head! Cena gets up and Edge headbutts Cena. Cena blocks getting smashed at the corner, but Edge gets a powerslam for a nearfall. Edge chokes Cena at the ropes. To the corner they go and Cena is reeling.  Edge hits a clothesline and he mocks the fans! Edge drops the knee to the back and he builds momentum. Cena comes back and he hits the Throwback for two! Cena runs into a dropkick and that gets two for Edge! They unload on body shots and both men take each other out!
Sign of the Night:Â Chuck Norris can see John Cena
Both men are back up and Cena hits the FIVE MOVES OF DOOM! FU try, but Edge blocks the first time…a second time is countered into the Edgecution DDT! Cena barely kicks out and Edge is looking for the spear! Cena counters into the STFU! Edge grabs the ropes. Cena goes after Edge, but gets dropped head first onto the ropes. Edge hits the top, but Cena looks for the SUPER FU, but Edge sends Cena to the outside! Edge hops into the FU try and Cena carries Edge to the steps, but Edge counters again. Cena gets inside the ring and Edge says FU.
Winner:Â John Cena
Grade:Â B
Batista gives Edge a preview of Sunday and RAW gets Batista!
Commercials.
Edge celebrates early with Vickie Guerrero, but Vince comes in to remind Edge that he’ll defend the title against Batista. Vince asks what if Edge gets drafted tonight and Vickie is worried.
MVP makes his way to the ring…Â Mike Adamle forgets that Matt Hardy was drafted to ECW.
Montel Vontanious Porter v. Tommy Dreamer
Greamer sucker punches MVP in the opening minutes, but MVP hits the Yakuza kick, but Dreamer is GOD! MVP gets a slam for two and he follows up with a kick to the back. Dreamer and MVP hits haymakers left and right. MVP misses a corner charge and gets bulldogged for his troubles. Dreamer looks to punch MVP, but MVP gets out of the way and he kicks Dreamer to a loss…
Winner:Â MVP
Grade: C-
And SmackDown gets Umaga. He hits the Samoan Drop on Tommy Dreamer and SPLASHES COLIN DELANEY TO THE CORNER! Dreamer is set up for the REAR END COLLISION! And poor Colin gets Black Hole Slammed to HELL!
Commercials.
We’re back and John Bradshaw Layfield (who’s not retired!) is set to compete tonight! His opponent…Boom Boom, Kofi Kingston!
John Bradshaw Layfield v. Kofi Kingston
The bell rings and JBL uses his power against Kingston. Club to the back connects and it’ll be interesting how Kingston can react to the brawler in JBL. Headlock applied, but Kofi gets out of it for a second. Kofi kicks JBL into a pissed off mood and he throws him to the ropes, but Kofi takes it to JBL. Boom Boom leg drop hits and now JBL hits a big boot, gaining control. He drops an elbow and he clubs the back. Modified Full Nelson is locked in, but Kofi gets out of it. Kofi jumps into a JBL Fallaway Slam! He covers for two. Kofi tries to fight, but JBL swats him away. JBL gets a bearhug locked on, but Kofi gets out of it. JBL runs into a boot from Kofi and he misses a charge. He almost gets powerbombed, but Kofi hits a dropkick for TWO! Kofi goes uop top and he misses, but JBL hits the Clothesline to Hell for the win.
Winner:Â JBL
Grade: B
RAW gets KANE!
More Money….NEXT!
Commercials.
Welcome back as Vince calls another lucky winner. We get a Steve Austin dial tone and the winner IS AT THE SHOW! That’s Vanessa from Robstown, Texas! Talk about surprise surprise!
We run down the card to Night of Champions!
Tri Branded Battle Battle Royal
Representing RAW:Â John Cena, Kane, CM Punk, Batista, & Triple H
Representing ECW:Â Matt Hardy, The Miz, John Morrison, Shelton Benjamin, & Chavo Guerrero
Representing SmackDown:Â Big Show, Edge, Great Khali, Jeff Hardy, & MVP
All this…NEXT!
Commercials.
We’re back. I don’t do battle royals that well, so bear with me here. We’re JIP as no one has been eliminated yet. The fighting is surreal, but everyone dumps Khali out of the ring, but the Big Show is still involved. He dismantles everyone. Trips gets sidewalk slammed for his trouble. Fighting continues everywhere as it’s hard to follow. Hardy saves himself from getting eliminated. Benjamin got eliminated, however. Edge is very close to get eliminated, but he saves himself. ECW loses Miz and Morrison via Batista. Big Show comes close to eliminating Punk, but he’s crafty. MVP goes to town on Cena in one corner and almost gets eliminated by him. Edge spears away at everyone as we go to break.
Commercials.
We’re back as Punk got eliminated during the commercials. Hardy kicks Chavo out of the ring as Matt Hardy is the only ECW star left. MVP goes after Jeff Hardy like an idiot and gets eliminated by Matt Hardy. Jeff and Matt stare down and they BREAK IT DOWN! Jeff almost eliminates Hardy, but he dropkicks him to seal the deal. Edge cracked heads with Batista!  Batista is busted open because of this! DAMN! Kane has a choke on Big Show. Jeff misses the Whisper in the Wind on Trips and he gets tossed, but is still alive…but Trips ditches him anyway. Four RAW members v. 2 SmackDown stars. Batista hits the Spear on EDGE! Batista had a choke on Show, but Batista is GONE! Kane looks to chokeslam Show, but he counters into a chokeslam, but that’s countered! Kane can’t hang on and it’s two on two! Cena and Trips get suplexed by Big Show! Edge is still out and Show is in trouble! Show is eliminated and it’s down to Edge! Edge shoves Cena into Trips, knocking Trips out and Edge tosses Cena out!
Winner:Â Â Smackdown (Edge sole survivor)
Grade: A
SmackDown gets Mr. Kennedy and TRIPLE H!!!!? TRIPLE H!!!!!!?Â
Vince is about to give away $500K. The lucky caller is Michael! Suddenly something drops off the ceiling and EXPLODES! The stage where Vince is standing gives way and the money sign FALLS ON TOP OF VINCE! The superstars frantically try to lift the thing up and fireworks explode everywhere! Vince is unconscious, but still has a pulse! Vince opens his eyes up as the medics try to get him out of the fallen structure. He asks “what happened?” Vince calls Trips “Paul”, so I wonder. We suddenly fade out as everyone is wondering why Vince would do what he did last year again.
The WWE RAW Report Card
Edge & SmackDown win the Tri-Branded Battle Royal:Â A
JBL d. Kofi Kingston: B
MVP d. Tommy Dreamer: C-
John Cena d. Edge via Countout: B
Mickie James & Melina v. Natalya Neidhart & Victoria went to a double DQ: C-
The Miz & John Morrison d. The Hardys: A
Hardcore Holly & Cody Rhodes d. Bam Neely & Chavo Guerrero: C-
Finlay & Hornswoggle d. Santino Marella & Carlito: C+
Triple H d. Mark Henry: C
The Grade for WWE RAW 6/23/08: C+
The WWE 2008 Draft Picks
Rey Mysterio (SD) heads to RAW
Jeff Hardy (RAW) heads to SmackDown
CM Punk (ECW) heads to RAW
Matt Hardy (SD) to ECW
Jim Ross (RAW) to SmackDown
Michael Cole (SD) to RAW
Batista (SD) to RAW
Kane (ECW) to RAW
Mr. Kennedy (RAW) to SmackDown
Triple H (RAW) to SmackDown
Final Thoughts
I wonder what kind of post-draft transactions will occur between now and the end of the week, because it seems that Triple H to Smackdown just CAN’T HAPPEN. I’m sure we could have lived without somebody attempting to kill Vince McMahon again, but I guess Vince is wanting to run this angle, regardless whether we like it or not. That’s all from me, see you Thursday for the Marshall Report, where I’m sure I’ll be talking about this week’s RAW.
