RAW LIVE Coverage & Discussion Thread - 14th Jan, 2008

[Kellie]

When Raw travels south to Mobile, Ala., this week, Jeff Hardy will have family on his mind. Last week, Hardy proved that his Royal Rumble challenger, Randy Orton, may have gotten under his skin when he assaulted his brother, Matt, but he didn’t get inside his head. The “Rainbow-haired Warrior” defeated Umaga in a Steel Cage Match as the WWE Champion looked on. What other dirty tricks does Orton have up his sleeve for his opponent? What will Hardy do to get back at the man who went after his brother?

In other action, Triple H brutalized William Regal last week in a First Blood Match for helping to put him out of the Royal Rumble. Unfortunately for the Raw General Manager, The Game appears to be on a mission and may not be finished getting even with him just yet. Just how much more punishment can a frustrated Triple H dole out?

The rivalry between Chris Jericho and JBL also continued to gather steam last week when the Lonestar Loudmouth interfered in their Handicap Match as Jericho tangled with Snitsky. JBL ruthlessly attacked Y2J by dragging him on the floor with a TV cable. Has JBL’s loathing for Jericho blinded him with rage? Just how will Y2J exact his revenge?





Please feel free to discuss RAW here. No need to wait for updates!



RAW Results - 14th Jan, 2008
Location - Mobile, Alabama
Announcers - Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

RAW begins with an excellent recap of the Hardy-Umaga match, highlighted by several different views of Hardy performing Whisper in the Wind off the top of the cage. And speak of the devil, it's the ultimate risk taker himself. Jeff Hardy is excited and reiterates that he has a chance to be WWE champion in a couple weeks. He's thrilled, but also angry. He wanted to take Orton out before the Rumble and it didn't happen last week, but tonight it will. He tells Orton to come out now or he will go to the back and find him.

After a brief pause, Orton's music begins to play and the champion is on the stage. Orton has one condition. Orton says only two men have held the Intercontinental Title and the WWE Title at the same time. Orton wants to be third. He says they fight for the Intercontinental Title tonight. Holy hotshot, Batman! Hardy agrees. Hardy says he will take Orton out


Ashley, Maria & Mickie James vs. Beth Phoenix, Melina & Jillian Hall

Plastic fantastic, it's a Silicon Valley match! Ashley and Jillian start. Jillian takes down Ashley and pounds her on the mat. Ashley blocs a charge and hits a body press off the second turnbuckle. Hall tags in Melina. Ashley hits a clothesline and tags Maria in. Maria with a back elbow and handstand kick. Maria kicks Melina on the ropes, but she is tripped and Melina chokes her. Pheonix tags in and hits a side slam for one. Maria with a jawbreaker and Mickie tags in with a rana. Mickie takes out Jillian and hits a Thesz Press off the top. Phoenix with an elbow and she lifts James up, but Mickie kicks out and scores two with an enziguri. All the divas start to brawl. Mickie kicks Phoenix, but runs into a Hot Shot on the ropes, and Phoenix hits her Fisherman's Suplex for the win.

Winners: Beth Phoenix, Melina, & Jillian Hall!



Backstage
Vince is in the back with Regal and says he is confident that Regal can win. Regal says he can end his career and in the most undignified way possible. He gives Regal a gift.....an enema. Vince copies Bret Hart's famous line, but replaces Pittsburgh with Mobile, Alabama. Vince turns around and talks to Snitsky, who wants to make an impact (wink, wink). He says it's Snitsky, one on one with HHH. Commercial.


Royal Rumble Qualifying Match: Shawn Michaels vs. Trevor Murdoch

Before the match, Michaels is incredulous that he needs to have a qualifying match to get in the Rumble. He reminds the audience that he was last year's runner up, and he is a two time winner. He's challenged Mr. Kennedy to the match so he can beat him and eliminate him from the Rumble. He gets Murdoch instead.

Murdoch knocks Michaels down and then hits an inverted atomic drop, before connecting with a big boot and pounding HBK in the face. He throws Michaels into the corner hard for two, and then wrenches HBK's head. Michaels fights back and blocks a back body drop. The two trade shots and Michaels takes his opponent down with a Lou Thesz press. Flying forearm by Michaels followed by an inverted atomic drop and scoop slam. HBK goes to the top and nails the Diving Elbow. He tunes up the band. Murdoch falls down to avoid it, but Michaels applies a modified figure four to get the victory by submission.

Winner: Shawn Michaels!


Kennedy is on the Titantron (have a nice honeymoon, Ken!) and says that HBK can't handle the fact that Kennedy beat him, left him laying two weeks in a row, and passed him by. Kennedy says it's natural...the law of the jungle. Kennedy says he turned down the challenge because he has nothing left to prove, but out of kindness, he will give Michaels another day in the sun next week. He starts to call himself the future, but stops and says he is the present and future of sports entertainment. Murdoch sneaks up on HBK, but gets hit with Sweet Chin Music.


A video package shows how Ultimate Warrior became the first to simultaneously hold the Intercontinental Title and World Championship. Not mentioned is that the IC belt was quickly vacated.

Vince is with his son Hornswoggle, saying he is proud of him. He says Horny has no experience in a Royal Rumble match, so he wants to give him some with a mini Royal Rumble match tonight. Horny will be in first, and the first person to compete with him will be Mr. Kennedy, followed by Mankind, and then Batista. Out of nowhere, Vince begins to choke Horny and says his last name is McMahon, reminding him that anything can happen. He lets go and then says he is proud of him.


Triple H vs. Snitsky

Snitsky, you'll remember, is the sole reason for WWE delaying the move to HD for as long as possible. Snitsky powers Triple H into the corner, but H fires back with some punches. Snitsky regains the upperhand and kicks The H in the corner. HHH rebounds out of the corner with a clothesline. Trips punches Snitsky, but runs into a shoulderblock. HHH pulls down the top rope and dumps Snitsky from the ring. Commercial.

Back from the break, HHH has the advantage, but he is quickly kicked to the mat. Snitsky pounds HHH in the corner. He whips Hunter hard to the opposite corner. Snitsky with a side slam for two. Snitsky with some elbow drops for another two count. Snitsky with a Bear Hug. HHH fights out, but Snitsky goes for the pumphandle slam. HHH floats over and nails a DDT to knock both men down. They get up at the same time. HHH with a facebuster, followed by a AA Spinebuster. HHH goes for the Pedigree, but is back body dropped to the floor. Snitsky follows him and throws HHH into the steel steps. Snitsky breaks the count up and goes to crush HHH with the steps. H avoids it and wallops Snitsky with a steel chair.

Winner: Snitsky!


After the match
Triple H rolls Snitsky into the ring and grabs his trusty sledgehammer. H nailes Snitsky in the gut with it and hits The Pedigree. Probably Snitsky's best match yet, but there wasn't much competition in his oeuvre. Trips really had the proverbial working boots on.


Backstage
Vince appears on the mini Titantron and says Triple H gets angrier by the week because he is not in the Rumble match. He advises HHH to calm down. HHH smashes the screen and the set begins to smoke. He throws the sledgehammer in to "destroy" the Titantron.


Vince wants to know what the hell that was. He says HHH is back in the Royal Rumble...as long as he wins his match next week. HHH says, "My match?" Vince ominously replies, "Yeah...your match."

JBL comes to the ring with much fanfare (fanfare = balloons). He talks about Save Us before showing some footage of his beatdown on Chris Jericho from last week. He asks where the savior is now. He answers his own question by saying he's at home, where he should have stayed all along. JBL loves power and he imagined he was dragging all the fans who wanted Jericho to be the savior. JBL speaks directly to the camera and tells him to move over, cause he wants to talk to the children. He asks them if they see what he did to their daddy. He says their daddy is a coward and gutless. JBL tells Chris he doesn't want to make it personal and he asks Jericho to tell his kids that he is just better. He says Jericho will need saving from him. More pyro. JBL walks up the ramp, and jeez...MORE pyro. He starts to leave again, but still more pyro. We get it. Commercial so the poor ring guys can clean up the balloons.

Footage of Triple H becoming the second man to hold both the Intercontinental Title and World Championship. This was the match against Kane that briefly retired the IC belt.


Five Man Mini Royal Rumble

Predictably, all of JBL's pyro has made it difficult to see in the arena. Hornswoggle and mini-Ken Kennedy start. Lawler loves midgets! Mini-Kennedy calls for the mic, but h e can't reach it. Ha! The mic goes back up and the bell rings. Horny blocks an attempt to toss him and clotheslines mini Kennedy. He tries to throw him from the ring. Horny misses a charge and gets stomped. Mini Mankind is next. Mini Kennedy attacks immediately and pounds Mini Mankind in the corner. Horny and Mini Mankind team up on Mini Kennedy. Mini Mankind grabs mini Mr. Socko (an ankle sock!). Horny tosses mini Mankind out, and then gives Mini Kennedy a military press over the top rope onto mini Mankind! Mini Batista is the next competitor. Horny ducks a clothesline, but runs into a mini spear. Mini Batista shakes the ropes. He goes for a mini Bomb, but is back dropped. Horny swings around the ropes. Mini Bats tries to get him out when Mini Kane comes makes his entrance. Mine Kane with an uppercut. Mini Animal with a spinebuster on mini Kane. Mini Batista Bomb. Horny kicks him down low and tosses mini Batista from the ring. Mini Kane kind of sits up and uppercuts Horny. He charges him in the corner and hits a clothesline from the middle turnbuckle. Mini Kane goozles Horny, but the chokeslam is blocked. Horny elbows out and gives mini Kane the Celtic Cross before kicking him out.

Out next is the Great Khali, but that's no midget. Mini Batista runs in and attacks Hornswoggle. Khali gets in the ring and manhandles Horny. Finlay runs in and pounds Khali with the shillelagh. Ranjin Singh goes for it, but Finlay catches him and knocks him down. Finlay stares down Khali. Finlay tosses Singh out of the ring, then celebrates with his friend.


Backstage
Finlay confronts Vince in the back. Vince says he had nothing to do with Khali coming out. Finlay calls him a liar and references some sort of deal, but Vince quickly shuts him up. He tells him to blow off some steam on Smackdown in a match with Khali.


Ric Flair vs. William Regal

You all know the stip. Commercial before the match really gets started. Back from the break, Regal is working over Flair's leg with a half crab. Flair makes the ropes and stomps Flair. Flair slides outside of the ring and slams Regal's left leg on the apron, and then ring post. Chop block by Flair. Regal punches back, but gets caught in a shinbreaker. Flair gets the Figure Four locked in, but Regal is able to grab the bottom rope. Regal with a headlock, but Flair gets out. Regal goes for a roll up with a fistful of tights, but gets caught by the ref. As Regal argues with the ref, Flair rolls him up and, you guessed it, grabs the tights for the win.


Winner: Ric Flair!


Intercontinental Title Match: Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy (c)


Randy Orton punts Hardy with a low blow immediately for the DQ. Orton grabs a mic and says the show is not over. He tells the audience they don't want to miss this. Orton slides Hardy out of the ring. He follows him out and exposes the concrete. He picks Hardy up and asks if he is ready. Hardy shoves him off and starts to punch Orton. Orton and Hardy fight up the ramp. Orton tosses Hardy into the stage. They move to the edge of the set. Orton backs up and goes to kick Hardy in the head, but Hardy back drops Orton off the stage.

Hardy makes like he is going to jump off, but it's a bad set up for the Swanton. He climbs down the steps, and then climbs a tower onto some lights. Hardy looks up and then climbs higher. He's pretty high up on the stage at this point. Bah Gawd! Hardy leaps at least twenty feet and crashes through Orton and the stage with a Swanton Bomb to end RAW with a Holy &Q^! moment for the second week in a row. Orton and Hardy get carried out of the rubble on boards. Neck braces are applied to both men. The crowd is going pretty nuts and chanting Hardy's name. Very effective ending, with WWE wisely having JR and Lawler remain silent, so all you here is the officials tending to the wrestlers and the crowd. RAW stayed on until 11:12 to get this moment over, and it worked.

[Kellie]

WWE.com has announced the following for tonight on Raw:

- Ric Flair vs. William Regal.

- Shawn Michaels will wrestle in a Royal Rumble qualifying match.

WWE.com is also teasing more the in the Jeff Hardy-Randy Orton feud, what's next for Triple H (who isn't allowed to compete in the Royal Rumble) and JBL making a "second coming" since his initial Raw return was ruined by Chris Jericho.

[)85(]

the best match EVER!!!!!!!!!

The chokeslam..... Gifs will be on the way....in a week or so. <.<

[)85(]

:shock: at hardy's dive. best RAW i have seen in a long time.

[Bad Boy]

wow, this sure seemed special... wud love to see the mini rumble and the end...

[maddoggjim51]

Man, Jeff Hardy is crazy...You know, I've noticed something tho. It appeared that, apart from the Swantan and the Whisper in the Wind, since his return he really hasn't done anything spectatcular. The Jeff during his original run went weekly doing crazy shit, from the Whisper off the Cage against E&C, to the Swantan off the New Smackdown Fist, to the Hurricana off the movable Backlash set, to the failed Swantan through a table against the Dudleys off the Steel Cage, to anyone of his famous Swantans in the audience or off various ladders. Plus, TLC and Ladder match moments....as you can see, if you didn't know, he's crazy, lol

Now, this time around, with the exception for Wrestlemania with his leg drop, he really hasn't done to much. So, over a years and a half after his return he has begun to live up to his own standards with two weeks in a row of crazy shit. I just really hope he doesn't hurt himself. This is the biggest push of his career. Personally, I dont think hell win at RR but if he could somehow enter the RR and win after Orten wins and it sets up a match at Wrestlemania...that would be awesome...

[Black Widow]

i find jeff extremely boring.. his promo put me asleep at the start i woke up at the end for the swanton..

thankyou for the PBP kellie

[Bad Boy]

wow, just saw the swanton... well, Jeff is only good for one thing... putting his body on the line, and yeah Kurt... I do agree, his promo's are really boring... he is really a big face, almost after every line, the crowd cheers for him, and that's his promo... lol

[Black Widow]

yeah just the swanton lol, they should cut his mic off and play heat clips in the corner it would make his promos watchable