RAW Report March 3 2008

RAW RUNDOWN
    Good evening ladies and gentleman to another edition of “The Spotlight”. This report is just to give my breakdown and opinions on what transpired on Raw this past Monday night ( and just for the record, I’m not posting EVERY SINGLE EVENT. Just the ones that appealed to me the most ).

    1)      William Regal announces Triple-Threat Take Over: William Regal kicked off RAW with Randy Orton, Triple H, and John Cena standing in his office. He informed them that for the next three weeks (starting that night), one of them will be in charge of RAW at random. So this night just happened to have John Cena as the chosen one. So after listening to Randy Orton’s idea of having the other two have a night off while they are not in charge of RAW, John Cena informed him and Triple H that he had something very interesting in mind for the evening.

    2)      Cody Rhodes vs Carlito (Money in the Bank Qualifier): The current ½ World Tag Team Champion continues his “rivalry” with Carlito as they meet up for a shot at what I like to call the “bank sweepstakes”. With almost everybody thinking that Cody is too “inexperienced for WWE”, I didn’t think he would stand a chance at beating Carlito (unless Hardcore Holly had interfered ), and sure enough, the “Carribean” won himself not only into another shot at the “bank sweepstakes”, but into his 3rd or 4th Wrestlemania ( not sure how many it is at this point ) after connecting Cody with not one, but TWO backstabbers.

    3)      John Cena announces Randy Orton vs Triple H for Main Event: After William Regal finished his phone call, telling whoever the person that he was talking to that John Cena was in charge for the evening, John Cena told him that the main event for the evening would be WWE Champion Randy Orton going head to head against Triple H. William Regal then assumed that John Cena would give himself the night off, but Cena responded by saying “ No Way! I’ve had enough nights off to last me a life time thank you very much” and then informed him that he scheduled himself to have a match against Mr. Kennedy. Cena then went on to remind Regal that he told him that it was his night to take over and told Regal to leave the office as he was no longer needed in his presence.

    4)      Big Show vs Brandon “the thrill” Hill: In a effort to prove to Floyd Mayweather the dangers that awaits him, The Big Show had an exhibition match against Brandon “the thrill” Hill. Well in my opinion, I wouldn’t call it much of a match. I mean after a few shrugs, and rough tosses around the ring following it up with a vicious Chokeslam, the story was said and done…well at least it was done until Big Show decided to pick up Hill and literally launched him out of the ring, showing his great deal of strength. Mayweather later responded by saying that “I already broke your nose and at Wrestlemania I’m going to break your jaw”.

    5)      Maria’s Playboy shoot revealed: Congratulations to Maria to being the latest WWE Diva to pose for Playboy. On this night, Santino Marella tried to spoil her evening by planning a “sabotaged” version of Maria’s playboy cover. He had a cover of Maria’s playboy shoot with her body parts covered with small images of his face. He then went as far as trying to use his normal “Let’s go Maria!” chant but this time Maria stood her ground and said “No!”.  So after starting what look like a normal couple’s argument, Jerry “the King” Lawler did the best thing he knew how…punched Santino right in the jaw and out of the ring. Afterwards, Candice Michelle and Maria revealed the real playboy cover which sent the crowd into an uproar of cheers.

    6)      Ric Flair & Shawn Michaels vs Cade & Murdoch: The Heartbreak Kid obviously wanted some revenge after the “double team” that Cade and Murdoch nearly delivered last week. The revenge turned out to be a success as both The Nature Boy and The Heartbreak Kid made Cade and Murdoch tap out to a Figure Four Leglock. However, after the match, Shawn Michaels once again told the Dirtiest Player in the Game that he did not want to face him at Wrestlemania. Infact, his words to Ric Flair were “I am the Showstopper and at Wrestlemania it’s going to be YOUR SHOW that gets stopped…so you have a choice to make”.

    7)      The Highlight Reel: Yes ladies and gentleman…Chris Jericho’s “Highlight Reel” has returned to RAW. Tonight, Y2J chose WWE Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy as his special guest, with the topic being the upcoming Money in the Bank Match at Wrestlemania. Y2J showed the crowd a little reminder of how he qualified to be in the MITB tournament ( he showed the video clip of his triumphant defeat over Jeff Hardy ). Jeff Hardy then made his statement by saying that any other time he would have shook Y2J’s hand and wished him luck, but he’s tired of being himself. He then went on to say that he will do whatever it takes to become the next WWE Champion. Y2J responded by saying from this moment on, he would be considered nothing more than a stepping stone to getting what he wants ( those weren’t his exact words but that’s what he meant ). So as Jeff Hardy agreed, he stunned Y2J as he pretended that he was going to shake his hand…only to nail him with a Twist of Fate.

    8)      John Cena vs Mr.Kennedy: Last week on RAW, Mr. Kennedy gave John Cena a “reality check” with his signature “Mic Check” and John Cena wanted revenge. The entire match pretty much went both ways, looking as if Mr. Kennedy could possibly pull off a major upset over the former WWE Champion on his night as an “Acting General Manager”. However, after a few counter moves and slapping in a fatal “STFU”, Mr.Kennedy was left with no choice but to tap in the middle of the ring.

    9)      Finlay-JBL Confrontation: After a long, grueling week…Finlay came out to the ring and Vince McMahon joined him for the scheduled confrontation between Finlay and JBL. At the beginning, Vince regretted the fact that JBL could not be in the ring with Finlay because he had business to attend to. Then all of a sudden, the titantron came on, revealing JBL at the hospital with Hornswoggle. After admitting that he was the father to Vince McMahon, Finlay warned JBL not to harm Hornswoggle and the two set up a date for Wrestlemania. However, right before the confrontation came to an end, JBL turned off the lights and beat the daylights out of Hornswoggle, leaving the poor leprachaun to cry like a little baby.

    10)   Randy Orton vs Triple H: IT’S TIME TO PLAY THE GAME! Triple H and Randy Orton fought there hearts out. However, towards the end of the match, Randy Orton tried to take the easy way out by taking his title and headed towards the ramp. John Cena stopped him and while the two started arguing, Triple H came out of nowhere and attacked Randy from behind. He then tossed him back into the ring, where Randy quickly tried to grab his belt and hit “THE Game”, but the King of Kings quickly kicked him in the stomach and then went for the Pedigree until John Cena came in and served him a hot dish of an “F-U”. Cena was then treated to his own dish of a deadly RKO from Randy as Orton stood tall in the ring, raising his title up high with one thing in mind…leaving Wrestlemania as WWE Champion. The message from the One-Man Dynasty was plain and simple : "Dont EVER forget about ME!"

    My Opinion: RAW was pretty good. Personally I like the Triple Threat Takeover idea, because it gives RAW the opportunity to have some quality main event matches over the next few weeks. Also with Randy Orton being in charge of RAW next week for the 3-hour special, I am assuming that it will be Triple H vs John Cena in a Wrestlemania Rematch. I am also assuming AND hoping that Batista will face off against The Undertaker. Also at Wrestlemania, I think that Finaly will defeat JBL. I'm also smelling a rematch between CM Punk vs Chavo Guerrero for the ECW Championship. And  as far as the Santino/Maria situation is concerned, I do not think that they will be together much longer. The playboy saga has really got Santino turning into a nutcase.

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